Early the next morning, Juhua was feeding the chickens in a corner of the courtyard when she saw Qingmu walk through the Zhang family gate, a small bamboo basket in one hand and two peaches clutched in the other.
Juhua quickly called out, "Brother! What brings you here so early? Is something the matter?"
Qingmu grinned good-naturedly at his younger sister and said, "I picked some toona shoots and thought I'd bring some over while they're fresh. These peaches are almost ripe, so I picked a couple for you to try."
Juhua waited for him to approach before taking the basket. She looked at the two peaches, which had a faint blush of red, and asked, puzzled, "They didn't look ripe a couple of days ago. I thought it'd be a while longer. These two look quite good, though."
