[Republican Era + Sly Heroine + Abstinent Hero + One-on-One, Both Chaste + Age Gap]
Su Nian has secretly loved Shen Junyan for years, concealing her feelings so carefully that even getting close to him takes all her courage. After her stepfather and mother die suddenly, Shen Junyan returns from studying abroad. Su Nian fears he’ll despise her and deliberately keeps her distance. Thinking she doesn’t want him near, Shen Junyan can only remain aloof.
On their journey home with the coffins, they are ambushed. Shen Junyan risks his life to protect her amid a hail of bullets, and Su Nian stays by his side, breaking the ice between them. No one knows that he went abroad years ago because his father caught him stealing a kiss from her. He left to keep his feelings in check.
After they reunite, Shen Junyan resolves to draw Su Nian in, step by step. How could she withstand his seduction? She nearly confesses, but then catches him acting intimately with another woman and remembers him saying, “There’s someone I like.” In truth, he meant her. Su Nian cries with relief that she never confessed, but Shen Junyan sees the scene and mistakenly thinks she has someone else in her heart.
Shen Junyan has to meet with his father’s former subordinates to get medicine to the front. Knowing how dangerous it is, he retreats to his former position and quietly watches over her. By chance, Su Nian opens his safe and finds it full of her belongings, along with a ticket for the ship he secretly took back to China. She decides to take the initiative and flirt with him, but he repeatedly dodges her advances.
When she sees a wealthy young official’s son pursuing Su Nian, Shen Junyan finally snaps. He pins her against the wall and confesses possessively: “Su Nian, you can only be mine!” They finally admit how they feel, but then war breaks out...
One-on-one, both chaste, and no contrived melodrama. A doting hero, a sly heroine, and a mix of sweetness and heartache. Not a dull moment from start to finish, and the more you read, the more hooked you’ll get!
