Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

At that moment, Li Xiangqian could feel her pain. Her silence was not a rejection, but because she herself could not let go of those things and could not find a way out. The unspeakable burden made her almost breathless, and Li Xiangqian stood by, no longer knowing how to comfort her.

"Mom..." He called softly, feeling an unspeakable fear and uneasiness in his heart, "If you don't tell me, I will be trapped here forever and will never be able to let go."

"You will know, Li Xiangqian." The mother finally spoke, her voice even lower than before, almost whispering to herself, "You have entered a place where there is no turning back."

Her eyes looked very confused, and the sense of emptiness was even stronger, as if she was not looking at Li Xiangqian, but at something more distant and untouchable. Li Xiangqian nervously held his mother's hand, wanting her to feel his presence and care, but her body was still cold, like a hard stone, not allowing any warmth.

"Mom, stop saying that." Li Xiangqian forced himself to stop listening, but the fear in his heart became stronger. He began to feel a headache, and his scalp felt as heavy as if it was pressed by a heavy object, as if every cell was protesting.

His mother seemed to notice his change, and she tilted her head slightly, looking at him anxiously. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, with a hint of concern in her tone, although her expression was still heavy.

Li Xiangqian rubbed his temple and forced a smile: "It's okay, just a little tired."

However, he knew clearly that he was not just tired. Over the past few days, the headache symptoms have become more and more obvious. He felt that his scalp was getting worse in his daily work and life. Until today, the headache has become more severe. Even his hair has begun to fall out more and more.

He stood up, walked to the mirror, and gently parted his hair. The person in the mirror still looked very young, but there seemed to be something wrong with his forehead and hairline. He had not noticed it before, until today, he realized how much hair he was losing. Every time he combed his hair out of the hairbrush, he would see strands of black hair falling to the ground. Even when he washed his hair, there were many more hairs in the water than before.

Li Xiangqian stared at himself in the mirror and suddenly felt a little strange. The feeling of his hair gradually decreasing made him feel an inexplicable fear. Every hair that fell seemed to remind him that something had happened and some uncontrollable changes were approaching. He realized that he was no longer the energetic young man he used to be, and he was no longer the person who could easily cope with all challenges.

"Could this also be related to my mother's change?" Li Xiangqian's heartbeat quickened, and his mind kept flashing back to his mother's eyes, her painful and helpless expression. Could it be that his hair loss was really related to something that happened in the courtyard? That inexplicable sense of oppression seemed to be devouring his sanity, making it increasingly difficult for him to remain calm.

He suddenly thought that his sleep quality had started to deteriorate in recent days, and he often tossed and turned and had trouble falling asleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, some vague images would appear in his mind - figures wandering in the shadows, as if waiting for him to uncover a long-silent secret. And whenever he tried to open his eyes, a strong sense of fear always emerged in his heart, as if something was rushing towards him from the darkness, making him unable to escape.

Li Xiangqian took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew that he was not in a good state at the moment and he should not put all the fear and anxiety on himself. But for some reason, everything in front of him gradually became more and more unreal. His mother's changes, his hair falling, and the tranquility of the courtyard seemed to be quietly undergoing some unknown changes.

He walked back to the bed and sat next to his mother, trying to regain some calm. "Mom, should we go see a doctor and get a physical checkup?" Li Xiangqian finally asked, with a little hesitation in his tone.

The mother slowly raised her head, a trace of worry flashed in her eyes, but she did not answer immediately. She was silent for a moment, and then whispered: "No need, Li Xiangqian, the doctor can see the changes in the body clearly, but can't see the things in the heart." Her voice was low, as if she was lost in some deep memories, "Some diseases cannot be cured, so you have to let them go."

Li Xiangqian's heart sank. His mother's words seemed like some kind of unspeakable hint. What she said was not just about her physical illness, but also about some kind of hidden pain in her heart, a mystery that even she herself had not yet solved.

"Let it go..." Li Xiangqian repeated his mother's words in a low voice, but he couldn't let it go. The empty feeling came over him again. His mother's eyes seemed to hide some unspeakable secrets, and he began to wonder if he was also bound by these invisible things. The hair loss, the constant headaches, the shadows in his dreams - all these changes seemed to quietly tell him that he was no longer the fearless young man, but was gradually falling into an inescapable dilemma.

"Mom, what does letting go mean?" Li Xiangqian forced himself to ask the question again, but his voice became a little hoarse, as if even he himself began to be afraid of hearing the answer.

The mother did not answer again, but just lowered her head, her eyes floating somewhere, as if staring at something unfathomable. Her silence made Li Xiangqian feel even heavier, as if a huge rock was pressing on him and making him unable to breathe. He looked at his mother's silent back and suddenly felt that the distance between her and him was getting farther and farther. It was as if the time they once shared was now separated by this invisible barrier.

Just as he was about to ask again, there was a slight sound of footsteps outside the door, followed by the sound of the door being pushed open. Li Xiangqian's heart was shocked, and he turned around and saw his father's figure.

Li Xiangqian's father, Li Qimin, has always been an old man in the courtyard. Li Xiangqian rarely sees his father and mother together. Even when he was a child, his father was like a shadow, always walking around outside the house, and rarely had the opportunity to appear quietly in front of his mother like this. Even now, although he is getting older, he can still be seen often wandering around the yard, busy with repairs. The appearance of Li Qimin did not bring a trace of warmth, but made Li Xiangqian's heart heavier. His father's slightly old face and the fatigue carved by the years seemed to have foreshadowed that everything in the family was about to change.