Zhu Hao's life motto:
What's mine is mine. Wu Yang is mine. And Wu Yang is mine, too.
He gave her her name. He bought her first schoolbag. He signed the parent forms when she failed her exams. He even bought the sanitary pads she used when she got her first period.
The summer Zhu Hao turned eighteen, she braved the pouring rain and mustered up the courage to hand Wu Yang a box of chocolates. He accepted it.
The girl's eyes crinkled with a smile. She was about to change her shoes and go inside, just like always, when a cool voice sounded above her.
"Don't waste your efforts on me. It won't work."
The man looked down at her, his eyes dark and unreadable.
*
Later, she went to university in the city where he lived, with both sets of parents strongly encouraging the arrangement.
Zhu Hao stayed in the dorms from Monday to Thursday, then spent the weekends at Wu Yang's place.
University life soon went to Zhu Hao's head.
She stayed up late and couldn't get up in the morning. Sometimes she wouldn't come back until the middle of the night on Friday. Wu Yang turned a blind eye, until two months of skipping breakfast landed her in the hospital.
When Zhu Hao saw Wu Yang come to make his rounds, her nose stung. She raised her still-bleeding hand for him to see and said in a sweet, plaintive voice, "Doctor Wu, I don't feel well..."
The man focused on his notes, his tone flat. "Remember to take your medication on time, and get some rest."
He ignored the hand she held out, as well as her coquettish plea, with the same detached professionalism.
*
Wu Yang had always considered his feelings for Zhu Hao completely innocent.
So when she blushed and handed him the chocolates, his first thought was to wonder if something had gone wrong with his parenting, making her unable to tell dependence from love.
After Zhu Hao started university, she began ignoring his messages. When he asked too many questions, she even got annoyed. Wu Yang felt as though something was quietly slipping through his fingers.
When she was sick in the hospital, he saw her smiling brightly at another man. On weekends, he watched from upstairs as she shopped and played around with her classmates. Sometimes she came home in the middle of the night, carrying a scent that wasn't his.
One night, as jealousy surged through him, Zhu Hao frowned and pushed him away. "What's gotten into you?"
He looked at the impatient girl, his eyes dark and his voice low. "Whoever you like now, whoever you're thinking about, it can only be me."
Reader's guide:
The male lead is a virgin. Ten-year age gap.
The male lead completed his bachelor's and doctorate consecutively, followed by three years of standardized residency training. He didn't get where he is through connections.
All professional knowledge in the story comes from online sources and the author's medical student friends.
There may be one worthwhile (?) male supporting character.
(Blurb dated 2026.3.20)
Theme: I love you, but you are free.
