Morning Tea

The pomegranates bloomed overnight. 

Yan Zheyun woke up one morning and realised that summer had arrived, the traditional harvest festival of 'Li Xia' marked out on the lunar calendars by the busy eunuchs. He was now used to thinking of the passage of time in the traditional sense, idly noting that back in his world, it would now be the start of May, and wondering whether his siblings would be going anywhere for the upcoming term holidays. Perhaps not, if Lixin hadn't managed to reel her playful ways in; university was a whole different ballgame to high school and he didn't trust her to be an independent learner the way tertiary education required.