Forbidden Hours

When they were little, the biggest bedroom in the house belonged to her brother. The bright desk by the window belonged to him. Their father even gave him both strawberries from a slice of cake. He said, "Xie Yong is a boy. One day he'll carry on the family line, so we don't need to raise a girl quite so well." Yuan Qinghe never once made a fuss. There was no point. When they were little, Xie Yong would secretly save the strawberries for her. In the middle of the night, she would wake in his big bed, then nudge him with her toes where he slept on the floor, telling him to bring her slippers over. On her nineteenth birthday, Yuan Qinghe sat on his desk and kissed him, scattering the books across it. She heard his hurried, ragged breathing. After he pushed her away, his hand stayed wrapped around her arm for a long time. She tilted her head and studied him, still stern, rigid, and unfeeling. Then she held up the surgical consent form she'd found in his bedside table and smiled sweetly. "Tell me, if Dad found out that the son he'd pinned his hopes on had gotten a vasectomy because of me, would he kill me?" Reader's guide: (tentative) 1. Not actually siblings, and they are not on the same household register. 2. The male lead is a virgin. Cover design by the artist: Mingye Theme: None