Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

His eyes once again swept over the corner where the potatoes had been placed - an empty piece of land, as if mocking his anxiety and confusion.

"The potatoes are gone. Could they just be gone? That's impossible." Li Xiangqian whispered to himself, the doubts in his heart growing heavier.

This was not a small problem. It was not just the disappearance of a few pounds of potatoes. What was hidden behind it might be far more complicated than he imagined. Whenever he tried to understand this matter, his mind was like a tangled mess, unable to sort out or make sense. The situation before him was so ordinary, yet so strange, and he always felt that he had missed some important details.

"Maybe I should go buy some sweet potatoes and make some sweet potato stew, maybe it can make the atmosphere more relaxed." He suddenly thought, frowned slightly, and thought, the potatoes are gone, and the plan to cook is also ruined, so let's try another way. Sweet potato stew, his mother will definitely like it, after all, his mother always said that eating sweet potatoes in winter is the warmest.

Li Xiangqian stood up, gently pushed open the courtyard door, and walked into the alley outside. The moonlight sprinkled on the ground, and the silvery light shone through the old willow tree at the entrance of the alley, reflecting on the bluestone road, which seemed quiet and a little deserted. As he walked, he was thinking about where to buy sweet potatoes tonight. The market seemed a little unreliable recently. Some people said that the price of sweet potatoes was a bit expensive, but he couldn't care about these things - he needed to prepare dinner tonight as soon as possible to find peace of mind for himself and his mother.

When he reached the alley, he stopped and suddenly felt a little uneasy: "If someone took the potatoes, what would happen next? What would they do next?" Li Xiangqian clenched his fists, and his mother's slightly tired face flashed through his mind, and her eyes looking outside, as if she was a little uneasy. What was hidden in those eyes? Was she waiting for someone, or was she waiting for an opportunity?

Li Xiangqian rubbed his forehead, trying to dispel the fog in his heart. Although these speculations were a bit absurd, he vaguely felt that the relationship between him and his mother seemed to have undergone some subtle changes recently. His mother no longer sat idly by the stove like before, nor did she pay attention to the little changes in the courtyard like before. Instead, she often walked to the yard silently after dinner and stood under the locust tree in a daze, with empty eyes, as if she was thinking about some important problem.

"Am I overthinking it?" He laughed at himself and told himself, "Maybe the potatoes are gone and I'm too anxious." He walked towards the market ahead, but his heart couldn't calm down for a long time.

After entering the market, the lights of the stalls around were dim, and the air was filled with the mixed smell of vegetables and meat. Li Xiangqian looked around and soon found a stall selling sweet potatoes. The stall owner was a middle-aged man with a simple face. He smiled and greeted: "Would you like to buy some sweet potatoes? Today's sweet potatoes are fresh, big, and sweet."

Li Xiangqian nodded slightly, and said with an idea: "Buy me some, and I'll make sweet potato stew for dinner tonight."

The stall owner enthusiastically selected some sweet potatoes, and he was skilled in pinching the size and shape of the sweet potatoes, and seemed a little picky. "How about these few pounds of sweet potatoes? But they are a little more expensive than yesterday."

Li Xiangqian paid for the sweet potato without thinking about the price, but he still felt uneasy. He took the sweet potato, walked out of the market, and headed home.

On the way home, scenes kept emerging in Li Xiangqian's mind: his mother's daze in the yard, the occasional whispers coming from the yard, and the shadows under the lights in the middle of the night. At that moment, his mood became even heavier.

He wondered, "What on earth has happened? Since when has the family become so uneasy?"

The emotion surged into his heart like a tide, and Li Xiangqian decided not to endure it any longer. He had to find the answer tonight. He planned silently in his mind: after dinner, he would quietly observe his mother's every move to see if he could find some clues from her reaction.

It was already past eight in the evening when he returned to the yard. Li Xiangqian put the sweet potatoes into the kitchen, took off his shoes outside, and walked into his mother's room. His mother was still sitting at the head of the bed, her eyes drooping with fatigue, looking at the needlework in her hands, but not really concentrating. She seemed to sense Li Xiangqian's arrival, raised her head, and smiled softly: "You're back, are you done with your work?"

Li Xiangqian nodded and said with a forced smile, "Well, I came back a little late. I'm going to make sweet potato stew tonight. You can take a rest and eat later."

"Okay, sweet potato stewed with meat will warm you up." The mother replied with a smile, but her eyes still seemed a little wandering.

Li Xiangqian said nothing more, but turned around and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. He began to prepare dinner busily, but his heart was still restless. What appeared before his eyes was his mother's slightly anxious expression and the empty corner - the potatoes, the potatoes were gone... This matter was like an invisible weight, pressing him so hard that he couldn't breathe.

When dinner was ready, Li walked forward, carrying the dishes, to his mother's room and called softly, "Mom, it's time to eat."

When his mother did not respond immediately, Li Xiangqian knocked on the door and then opened it. His mother was still sitting on the bed, with her head down, and her sewing had been thrown aside. Her eyes were still a little blurry, as if she had lost something or couldn't find something. Li Xiangqian gently put down the bowl, walked to his mother, and whispered, "Mom, what's wrong with you recently?"

The mother seemed not to hear him, still lowering her head, her eyes wandering in the air. Li Xiangqian's heart tightened immediately, he knew that something was wrong with his mother.

Li Xiangqian sat beside his mother's bed, tightly holding her cold hand, feeling uneasy. He made no sound, and his mother did not look at him, but lowered her head, her eyes slightly absent-minded, as if everything in front of her had nothing to do with her. Li Xiangqian's fingers unconsciously stroked his mother's palm, and the cold touch seemed to penetrate his heart and hurt him deeply.

"Mom..." He called softly, the doubts and uneasiness in his heart surging into his heart like a tide.

The mother slowly raised her head, her eyes wandering for a moment, as if she had just come back to her senses from her confusion. She whispered, "You're back, have you eaten?" Her voice was gentle, but with a sense of emptiness, as if it came from far away.

Li Xiangqian's heart sank. His mother's voice was still gentle, but he couldn't ignore the look of lifelessness she had. He knew that his mother was no longer the passionate, caring person she once was. Her recent changes were a mystery that he could never solve.