Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

Li Xiangqian felt relieved, and almost immediately felt like a heavy stone had fallen from his chest. He thanked her repeatedly, and took the bag handed over by Aunt Liu, with a hint of guilt in his heart, but more of it was an indescribable sense of relief.

He lowered his head and quietly left Aunt Liu's yard. The rice bag was heavy in his hands, as if reminding him that he was about to embark on a road full of anxiety and secret transactions.

"I'm only here temporarily." Li Xiangqian whispered to himself, but there was not much confidence in his voice. He knew that borrowing rice was only a temporary solution to the problem at hand, but he still couldn't get rid of the difficulties that life had brought him. There was still no fundamental solution to the food problem.

Li Xiang was carrying the rice bag forward, feeling a little relaxed, but still carrying a heavy feeling that was hard to shake off. Every step he took on that familiar street, his heart seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, feeling both relaxed and uneasy. He knew that although all this today could temporarily solve the current predicament, the fundamental problem had not changed.

The night was getting darker, the air was a little chilly, and the number of people on the road was gradually decreasing. Almost every household in the courtyard was busy preparing for tomorrow's life. From time to time, people could be seen walking by with their heads down, their steps hurried, and their faces tired, as if everyone was overwhelmed by reality.

Just as he walked to the entrance of an alley, he suddenly saw several people talking in low voices in the alley, holding some incomplete corns in their hands. Li Xiangqian stopped and stared at those people involuntarily. The corns were not as plump and round as he had seen before, but mostly dry and with some cracks, which seemed to no longer be a symbol of a good harvest, but a symbol of poverty and hardship.

Several men and women in their 30s and 40s were together, their heads down, cracking the husks of corn while chatting. They moved quickly but seemed extremely careful, as if they were afraid of doing something that would attract attention. Li walked forward a little closer, and some questions came to his mind.

"What are you doing?" he couldn't help but ask.

The group of people seemed to be interrupted and stopped what they were doing. One of the middle-aged men wearing glasses looked back at Li Xiangqian with an awkward smile on his face. "Ah, Li Xiangqian, we are picking corn to make something to eat." His words were very calm, but there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes, as if he was hiding something.

Li Xiangqian was silent for a moment. The corn did not look fresh, and was even a little yellow and dry. It was obviously not in the best condition for consumption. He had never seen anyone break corn like this. Did they really intend to use this dry corn to cook? But thinking about the current situation, he also understood that this might be the only food they could get.

"You guys are..." Li Xiangqian paused, suppressing the doubts in his heart, "Where did you get this?"

The middle-aged man glanced at him, seemed a little hesitant, but still told the truth. "I bought it cheap from the market. I have no choice. The corn is cheap. Although it is not very fresh, it can still last for a few days." He lowered his head and continued to break the corn in his hand, his movements were mechanical and fast. The other few people didn't seem to want to say more. They kept their heads down and worked silently, looking a little worried.

Li Xiangqian felt a sense of emptiness in his heart, and he suddenly realized that he was not alone. The people in front of him, like him, were trying their best to find any way to fill their stomachs in order to survive. The roughness and dryness of corn represented some kind of self-evident dilemma, which had long surpassed personal efforts and became an inescapable normality of life.

He was silent for a while, lowered his head and looked at the rice bag in his hand, and suddenly he was a little stunned. Ten kilograms of rice may last for a day or two, but it is limited after all, and the bag of corn in front of him seems to provide more hope. But how long can these dried corns last? Li Xiangqian felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart, as if he was trapped in an endless vicious cycle.

"You don't have much food left, right?" he couldn't help but ask, with a hint of worry in his voice.

The middle-aged man raised his head and looked into Li Xiangqian's eyes, his expression suddenly becoming heavy. "Yes, our family can't hold on any longer. In a few days, we may not even have this little corn to eat." He paused, lowered his head and broke the corn for a while, his tone even lowered, "We are all in the same situation. Food is not as easy to find as before."

Li Xiangqian's heart sank, as if a huge rock had pressed down on him. He understood that the predicament before him was far from being a problem for him alone. The entire community, and even the entire environment, seemed to be experiencing an unprecedented lack and poverty. Everyone was struggling to survive. Although on the surface everyone supported each other and tried to maintain the surface calm, in fact, their hearts had long been filled with anxiety and powerlessness.

"What are you going to do?" Li Xiangqian asked in a low voice. He knew that this was not only a question of corn and rice, but also a question of whether there would still be hope in the future.

The middle-aged man sighed, and broke the corn in his hand into two halves, revealing the cracked corn kernels inside. "What should I do? There is no other way. I can only make do with it and see if there is any other way. I heard that there may be some places where I can exchange for something, but I don't know if I can find it." After he finished speaking, he raised his head, and there seemed to be a trace of reluctance and helplessness in his eyes, "But if we really wait until we have no food to eat, I am afraid it will be too late to find anything."

Li Xiangqian listened to his voice and fell silent again. He felt that he was suddenly surrounded by a deep loneliness, as if this small courtyard was not only a residence, but also a miniature society, a society trapped in a difficult situation, where everyone had their own struggles and helplessness, and these struggles and helplessness seemed to never stop.

He watched those people continue to work, and a complex emotion surged in his heart. Was he also struggling in this endless predicament, trying to find a ray of hope from some corner? He didn't know the answer, and he didn't dare to think about it. He knew that the road ahead had no clear direction, and all the choices were groping in the dark, with uncertainty and pain.

"Be careful not to damage the corn." Li Xiangqian suddenly spoke, with a hint of uncertain concern in his tone.