Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

At that moment, he seemed to be pulled back to the past, back to the arguments and resentment. He could even clearly remember the day they broke up, when Wang Xue stood in front of him, her eyes full of disappointment and tears.

"Xiang Qian, you are always like this, always caring about your own affairs. When will you think about us?" That was the last sentence Wang Xue said before she left, like a thorn in his heart.

"Is she doing well now?" Li Xiangqian asked himself silently, but he quickly shook his head and said, "Forget it, who cares about her. We are already on two different paths, there is no need to dwell on this."

But can he really stop thinking about it? Wang Xue's eyes just now clearly contained many unspoken words. He was not sure whether it was regret or resentment, but he could feel that it was not just a blessing.

"Sir, would you like to try this newly arrived tea? The price is very affordable." The owner's voice interrupted his thoughts again.

Li Xiangqian raised his head, glanced at the tea package handed over by the shopkeeper, and said casually: "No need, I'm just taking a look."

The shopkeeper shrugged and said nothing more, turning back to sort out the shelves. Li Xiangqian breathed a sigh of relief and continued to lower his head and pretend to pick things. In his heart, he began to think: Why am I so flustered? It has been so many years, why does Wang Xue's appearance still make him so uneasy?

"Is it because... I haven't let it go completely?" This thought shocked him. He tried to convince himself that it was just because the unexpected reunion disrupted his mood, not anything else.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door. Li Xiangqian's heart suddenly rose to his throat. He held his breath and stared at the door. A familiar figure walked past the glass door. Although it was only a short moment, he was sure that it was Wang Xue.

She did not come in, but hurried to the other end of the street, her back looking a little lonely. Li Xiangqian stood there until her figure completely disappeared from his sight, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"She probably won't come back to see me again." He thought silently in his heart, but this sense of relief did not last long, and was replaced by an indescribable feeling of emptiness.

He knew he shouldn't dwell on it, but bits and pieces of the past kept coming back to him, the arguments, the sweetness, the unfulfilled promises... Everything was like a movie, playing non-stop in his mind.

"Sir, do you need anything else?" The owner's voice sounded for the third time, with a hint of impatience in his tone.

Li Xiangqian suddenly came to his senses and quickly waved his hand: "No, thank you." After that, he walked out of the store quickly, as if he wanted to escape from here.

Walking on the street, he still couldn't calm down. He didn't know where to go next, nor how to face Li Fang. He felt that there seemed to be something else mixed in his feelings for Li Fang, and this thing made him feel guilty.

Li Xiangqian walked into the alley, slowing down his pace, but his heart was tangled. He looked down at his hands and found that his palms were wet and slightly cold. He raised his sleeve to wipe his forehead and found that he was sweating.

"Why am I so nervous?" He asked himself in a low voice, his voice sounding particularly hollow in the narrow alley. He stopped, leaned against the wall, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down. However, the oppressive feeling in his chest did not ease at all, but instead became heavier like a big stone.

He closed his eyes, and Wang Xue's face appeared in his mind again. At that moment, he seemed to have returned to many years ago, when Wang Xue always liked to stand by the window and read books, with the sunlight shining on her side face, making her look particularly gentle.

"Xiang Qian, what kind of life do you want to live in the future?" she once asked him.

"Just keep it simple, plain and simple." His answer at that time was so simple that it made her frown.

"But I don't want a dull life, I want something exciting." Her voice was a little stubborn.

Li Xiangqian opened his eyes suddenly and shook his head fiercely, trying to drive out these memories. But the more he did this, the clearer the images in his mind became, as if they were deliberately going against him.

"What's there to think about the past?" He said to himself, with a hint of self-mockery in his tone, "People are gone, how can they come back?"

But even though he thought so, he still couldn't let it go. He remembered the complicated look in Wang Xue's eyes when she looked at him, as if she had a thousand words to say, but she said nothing. This made him both annoyed and uneasy. He began to doubt whether he had really let go of this relationship as he seemed to be doing.

He was interrupted by some noises at the end of the alley. He looked up and saw several young men shouting loudly around a small stall, arguing about something. He wanted to avoid them, but his steps stopped unconsciously.

"Boss, how much is this?" a young man asked, pointing at a small gadget on the stall.

"Fifteen dollars, no less." The stall owner was an elderly man, and his tone was firm.

"Fifteen dollars? That's too expensive!" the young man shouted in dissatisfaction.

Li Xiangqian stood aside, watching this scene, and suddenly a strange envy surged in his heart. He envied these young people, envied that they could argue about prices so carefreely, without being suffocated by past relationships and current life like him.

"If only I could be as simple as them." He sighed in his heart, but soon laughed at himself, "Unfortunately, how can it be so easy?"

He didn't look any more and turned to leave the alley. He knew that he couldn't stay in such a place to escape reality. He had to go back and face the unresolved issues, whether it was about Wang Xue or Li Fang.

When he walked onto the street, it was already dark and the street lights began to light up one by one. Li Xiangqian looked down at his empty hands and suddenly felt a little helpless. He hesitated for a moment, but finally took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this Li Fang?" His voice was a little low.

"Xiang Qian, where have you been? I've been looking for you." There was a hint of anxiety in Li Fang's voice.

"I... went out for a walk. I wanted to be alone for a while." Li Xiangqian paused, trying to organize his words. "Where are you now? How about we find a place to eat something?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and then Li Fang's gentle voice came: "Okay, I'll wait for you at the small restaurant near my home, come over quickly."