Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

Chapter 1289: Finally Stop Avoiding

Jia Zhang looked at him with a gentle look in her eyes, no longer a tough question, but with a hint of understanding. She sighed slightly, then took a few steps closer to him.

"You don't have to run away anymore." Her voice was still gentle, but it carried a power that could not be ignored. "Running away will only make you more miserable. Li Xiangqian, you have never really faced the truth in your heart until today."

Li Xiangqian's chest felt heavy again. He raised his head and looked into Jia Zhang's eyes. There seemed to be no accusation in her eyes, only a silent expectation. This expectation made him feel an indescribable emotion in his heart - it was like a push that forced him to move forward, and also like an invisible wall that prevented him from retreating.

He took a deep breath and finally stopped avoiding it.

Li Xiangqian stood there, feeling an indescribable confusion and exhaustion. At that moment, he seemed to be cut off from the whole world. All sounds and sights became blurred. Only Jia Zhang's eyes were fixed on him, making him unable to escape. He lowered his head and realized that he was still holding the shopping bag tightly in his hand. The things in the bag might be heavier than he thought. All the conversations just now seemed to be the prelude to these items in front of him. He seemed to be forced to reveal something behind these items.

However, Li Xiangqian's heart was still in denial. He didn't want to face it all, and he didn't even dare to think about what it all meant. Just as he took a deep breath and prepared to continue walking away, suddenly, he heard a faint sound, like a groan coming from a corner.

He suddenly stopped. Jia Zhang's eyes turned and followed Li Xiangqian's gaze.

At the other end of the street, an elderly man was staggering along, seemingly with an unsteady pace. Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell to the ground, uttering a faint groan. The pedestrians around him did not react immediately, and seemed to have not noticed the old man's plight.

Li Xiangqian's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. His eyes were fixed on the place where the old man fell. Suddenly, a strong impulse rose in his heart, and he stepped forward involuntarily.

"Wait a minute!" Jia Zhang suddenly called him, her voice more urgent than usual. Li Xiangqian subconsciously stopped and turned around, seeing a hint of imperceptible anxiety in Jia Zhang's eyes. She frowned slightly, seeming a little overwhelmed.

"Aren't you going to save him?" Li Xiangqian's voice was a little cold. He did not respond to Jia Zhang's emotions, but stared at the old man.

"You...are you really going?" Jia Zhang's voice was full of confusion, and her eyes showed a hint of nervousness. She took a few steps closer to Li Xiangqian, as if she was worried that he would make an impulsive decision.

Li Xiangqian did not answer, but walked quickly towards the old man who had fallen to the ground. He acted almost instinctively, without thinking too much, just feeling that he had to do something. The old man looked very weak, and struggled a few times after falling to the ground, but seemed to have no strength to stand up.

He walked to the old man, gently held his shoulders, and tried to help him up from the ground. The old man was pale and his forehead was covered with sweat, obviously because of physical exhaustion.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Li Xiangqian asked softly, his heart full of tension. He had never felt so helpless as he did now, and even his hands were shaking slightly.

The old man took a few breaths and opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't have the strength to make a sound. Li Xiangqian saw that his wrinkled face was full of pain, and his heart was aching.

"Call someone!" Jia Zhang came closer, looking a little flustered, with a flash of anxiety in her eyes. She reached out to support the other side of the old man, and together with Li Xiangqian, she helped the old man up from the ground.

"Slow down, don't rush, hold steady." Li Xiangqian whispered, his eyes fixed on the old man, and his hands moved more and more carefully. The old man's body was as thin as a candle in the wind, and every time Li Xiangqian supported him, he felt extremely heavy.

They carefully moved the old man to a bench nearby, and Li Xiangqian's mood became extremely complicated. While paying attention to the old man's breathing, he unconsciously glanced at Jia Zhang next to him. Her face seemed calm, but Li Xiangqian could feel the worry and tension in her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Li Xiangqian asked softly, still not leaving the old man's side. There was a subtle hint of fatigue and confusion in his tone.

Jia Zhang's eyes were a little stunned, as if she didn't fully understand what Li Xiangqian said. She lowered her eyelids and sighed softly. "I was just wondering...how did you decide? Why..." Her voice gradually lowered, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't say it.

Li Xiangqian did not respond to her words, but continued to check the old man's condition, with a complex emotion in his heart.

"I just think that doing something is better than doing nothing." Li Xiangqian whispered to himself, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was telling Jia Zhang some facts that she was unwilling to admit. He suddenly felt as if he was in another world, as if he had walked out of the haze of the past and saw this scene in front of him - an old man who fell down, and he reached out to help him. It was like the sudden sense of strangeness disturbed the order in his heart.

Jia Zhang stood silently by the side, watching Li Xiangqian's eyes at that moment, her eyes slowly turned to the distance, and she seemed a little absent-minded. Her mood was subtle and complicated, and all this brought her more helplessness and confusion that could not be relieved.

"Don't you want to go on?" Her voice sounded softly in the air, with an imperceptible tremor.

Li Xiangqian did not answer him directly, but just gently touched the old man's pulse, trying to calm his inner anxiety. Looking at the old man's eyes, he suddenly realized that although he had been avoiding, he could not escape after all. Life always puts such a situation in front of him. No matter what he does, he can't escape the people and things in front of him.

"I... haven't thought about it yet." Li Xiangqian finally said in a low voice, his eyes still fixed on the old man's face, and the confusion deep in his heart gradually surged up into his heart.

Li Xiangqian was still squatting in front of the old man, his mind in turmoil. Looking at the wrinkled pale face and feeling the old man's weak breathing, his inner anxiety and uneasiness intertwined. Every breath he took seemed so heavy, as if this moment magnified everything he had done.