Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

Liu Cui'e sighed, put the bag aside, and said nothing more. Li Xiangqian looked at her silent back, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart. He touched his daughter's head and forced a smile: "Little girl, look at the good things your dad bought you."

The daughter looked up and took the straw chicken. She immediately smiled with her eyes curved: "So cute! Thank you, Dad!"

Li Xiangqian was in a bad mood today. When he woke up in the morning, he realized that he had an inexplicable depression in his heart, as if the suffocating burden had never disappeared from morning to night. After a busy day on the construction site, he kept moving and carrying heavy objects with his body, sweating profusely, but he always felt that his body and mind were collapsing bit by bit.

He instinctively felt that he couldn't stop, couldn't give himself a chance to breathe, because every time he paused, the suppressed emotions in his head would rush to him, reminding him of the things that bothered him, reminding him of his uneasiness and disappointment.

On the construction site, as the sun gradually set, the temperature dropped a little. Li Xiangqian wiped the sweat from his forehead. The dirt and sweat on his hands mixed together, giving off a greasy luster. He was holding the tools and was about to walk to a corner when he suddenly slipped and before he could react, he slammed into the wall.

At that moment, Li Xiangqian felt a pain in his chest, as if his whole body had been hit hard. He tried to stand firmly, but the ground under his feet was slippery and his right leg was pulled by a sharp pain. He looked down and saw that his right ankle was swollen and even his shoes were squeezed out of shape.

"It's over now." Li Xiangqian groaned, feeling a little regretful, but more helpless. He held onto the wall and slowly squatted down, his right foot weakly placed on the ground, the pain coming like a tide.

The workers around him gathered around him. Liu Ergou was the first to come over. He asked in a low voice, "Xiang Qian, what's wrong with you?"

Li Xiangqian endured the pain and shook his head gently: "I just sprained my ankle, it's nothing serious."

Liu Ergou looked at him, frowned and said, "It doesn't look like a minor injury. We need to go to the hospital right away." There was a hint of urgency in his tone, and he was obviously a little worried.

Li Xiangqian didn't want to trouble others, so he gritted his teeth and said, "It's okay, just take a short rest." He didn't want others to see how fragile he was, even though the pain had begun to make his forehead covered with cold sweat.

But the swelling of his ankle became more and more obvious, and Li Xiangqian gradually realized that the injury was much more serious than he had imagined. Even if he tried to endure it, the pain was still tormenting him mercilessly, and every movement was like burning pain. He forced himself to stand up and tried to support himself to move forward, but his left foot was stable and his right foot was almost unable to exert force.

"Xiang Qian, don't be so stubborn." Seeing this, Liu Ergou quickly reached out to support him, "I'll go to the hospital with you, don't delay any longer."

Li Xiangqian hesitated for a moment, and a subtle feeling rose in his heart. He didn't want to trouble others, especially Liu Ergou, but at this moment he understood that if the injury was not treated in time, it might be delayed for a longer time. In the end, he nodded and finally agreed: "Okay, thank you for your trouble."

The two men walked out of the construction site carefully. Although Li Xiangqian tried his best not to look so embarrassed, the pain still made him look extremely strenuous with every step. Liu Ergou looked back at him from time to time, and seeing his sweaty forehead, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Arriving at the hospital, Li Xiangqian was forced to undergo an examination. The doctor looked at his foot and frowned, "This is a serious sprain. You need to rest for at least a few days and avoid overloading."

Li Xiangqian felt heavy-hearted when he heard this. He knew that he might have to leave the construction site temporarily, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to him. The work on the construction site was his only source of livelihood. He was already a little stretched during this period, and now, this injury would only make him more anxious.

"Doctor, how long will it take to recover?" Li Xiangqian said in a nervous voice.

"It will take at least two weeks." The doctor looked at him and said patiently, "If you treat it conservatively and don't overuse your injured foot, it should be able to heal."

Li Xiangqian was silent for a moment, as if a huge rock had pressed down on his heart. Two weeks was such a long and difficult time for a person who had always lived a tight life. He thought about the people waiting for him at home, Liu Cui'e's worries, and his daughter's expectations, and his heart could not calm down.

He barely suppressed his annoyance and forced himself to calm down: "Okay, then I'll rest as you suggest."

After the doctor's instructions, Li Xiangqian had no choice but to take some medicine in the hospital and continued to be supported by Liu Ergou to go home. On the way, he didn't say much, just walked silently, thinking over and over again in his heart how to spend the next few days.

When Liu Cui'e got home, she was making dinner. When she heard him coming back, she turned around and saw Li Xiangqian walking in with a cane. Her expression suddenly changed: "What's wrong with you? Why do you look like this?"

Li Xiangqian smiled and said with a forced smile: "It's okay, I just sprained my ankle. The doctor said I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Liu Cui'e put down the spatula in her hand, walked over to support him, her eyes full of worry: "Why are you so careless? Sit down quickly and don't move around."

Li Xiangqian nodded and finally sat down beside the bed. He looked at Liu Cui'e's busy figure and felt guilty. The family was not rich to begin with, and Liu Cui'e had worked very hard. Now that he had broken his foot, the days ahead might be even harder.

"Cui'e, I may need to take a break for a while, so you have to work harder first." Li Xiangqian said in a low voice, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

Liu Cui'e turned around and looked at him, her eyes somewhat helpless, but more concerned: "Why don't you always take care of yourself? However, since the doctor said you should rest, then rest. I can handle the things at home."

Li Xiangqian knew that her words were meant to comfort him, but he was not relieved. He really felt powerless now. The burden of life made him almost breathless, and this injury seemed to make everything even heavier.

He looked at Liu Cui'e's back, and a deep sense of guilt surged in his heart. He knew that he couldn't go on like this, he had to find a way to change and bring a better life to his family.

Li Xiangqian sat on the bed, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands, watching the night slowly sinking outside the window. The room was silent, and only the warmth of the tea relieved the coldness of his fingertips. Although the ankle injury had been bandaged, the pain was still there. He tried to use this insignificant way to divert his attention, but found that no matter how much tea he drank, his anxiety did not ease at all.