How long can a couple stay together without sex?

How long it lasts depends on the relationship. For example, I have a great-grandfather and great-grandmother. They have no children and no sex life.

My third grandfather was a veteran who had never made any great contributions or achieved any significant feats. The only thing he had left behind was being wounded in battle and receiving a stipend.

My third grandfather never talked about his military service, not even when bragging to the younger generation. As I grew up, I gradually understood that it was because the injury was something he was ashamed to talk about. But the villagers respected my third grandfather because he was a real man.

During the flood relief efforts in Wuhan in 1998, my grandfather was in his late fifties, almost sixty. He couldn’t go to the flood relief efforts, so every day he would carry watermelons and mung bean soup to the riverbank and hand out a portion to everyone he knew and didn’t know. My grandfather had no children, so he was very kind to us younger generation, but also very strict. Whenever we were playing around, causing trouble, or being naughty, my great-uncle would always protect us. From childhood to adulthood, whether it was young people, young couples, or us little kids, there was only one thing he always said: “Just be a good person.”

After Grandpa finished speaking, let’s talk about Grandma, who accompanied him throughout his life.

My third grandmother was a well-bred lady from a prominent family. Back in the village, she was a teacher who taught children to read and write.
Later, she accompanied my third grandfather to the city. As more and more people from the village moved to the city, every household remembered to visit this relative, this elder, who wasn’t related by blood. She

married young. Later, my third grandfather went to war and returned with health problems. My third grandmother gently stayed by his side. When he returned, he didn’t fight, didn’t complain, didn’t go to the government; he just wanted my third grandmother to divorce him. He tried to find another wife, but my third grandmother refused. The old man was furious and ran back to the countryside. My third grandmother followed him there,
gently and quietly staying by his side. There were no grand vows or romantic entreaties (I don’t know if there were), she just stayed with him.

And so, the two of them spent their whole lives together, now resting together on the same mountain. What is there to fear in being together? A lifetime passes in the blink of an eye. Deep affection is short-lived, extreme strength leads to humiliation; a humble gentleman, gentle and refined like jade.

Sex and love have always been inseparable, and should be. I’m just giving an example to illustrate that love can exist independently of sex. But this is not to deny the role of sex in a relationship.