The Abstinence Ring

[Signed for print publication. For publication updates, see Weibo @Bu Zhi Jiang Yue Ya]

Xu Ningxia first met Jiang Si when he officially moved into the Xu family home.

The teenager was tall and slender, standing straight off to one side in a white T-shirt and track pants. A few strands of his fringe fell across his brow, faintly concealing the dark, unreadable depths of his eyes.

Xu's father told Xu Ningxia to call him "Big Brother." She scoffed and swept the antique vase beside her to the floor, showing not the slightest consideration.

Relying on her status as the Xu family's eldest daughter, Xu Ningxia spoke coldly to Jiang Si and ordered him around in every way. Jiang Si never argued. He remained silent and barely even glanced at her, which only made the young heiress go further and further…

Things continued this way until Xu Ningxia fell out with her family and stopped coming home. The last news she heard about Jiang Si was that he had placed first in the province and gone to medical school.

Years later, caught up in a plagiarism scandal, Xu Ningxia fled to a small town to lie low.

By chance, she ran into Jiang Si, who had come to the area to provide medical assistance.

The boy she had known had grown into a mature man, broad-shouldered and with a face as impassive as still water. His gaze on her was deep and impossible to read.

Xu Ningxia thought they would treat each other like strangers, but what happened afterward repeatedly took her by surprise.

That day, rain poured down in sheets.

Jiang Si appeared at the door of Xu Ningxia's home, drenched and disheveled. His voice was hoarse. "You're leaving again?"

"What's it to you?" Xu Ningxia turned around. "You wouldn't dare…"

He seized her wrist, gripping it hard. Xu Ningxia winced and was about to curse him, but when she turned and met Jiang Si's eyes, she froze.

A mist spread through the man's eyes. The faint red seemed to wash away years of restraint and suppressed feelings, revealing undisguised desire.

For the first time, he spoke to her in a commanding tone. "I won't let you leave."

Jiang Si had a secret.

At the girl's sixteenth birthday party, during a game played in the dark, he took advantage of the blackout to hold her hand.

The moment he touched her, the wildness inside him roared, urging him to hold her tight, no matter the cost.

But when the lights came back on, he returned to his corner and watched the girl's bright, beautiful smile with cool eyes, forcing himself to give up every reckless impulse.

Only then could he stay by her side a little longer, and then a little longer still.

A few notes:

1. A spoiled heiress and a devoted, restrained doctor; reunited after years apart, his secret crush finally comes true.

2. The story begins with their reunion, with flashbacks to their youth woven throughout.

3. Both leads are pure and each other's first love. Happy ending.

4. The leads have no intimate interactions while underage.

5. The leads are not related as brother and sister.

(Second version of the blurb, May 23, 2023)

Theme: Dreams will eventually come true