Chapter 69: It’s Not an Itch on the Skin—It’s an Itch in the Heart

As the saying goes: Do not gaze at what is improper.

But Chu Yue’s gaze was anything but polite—her eyes continued downward, reaching a place that words couldn’t quite describe. It was like a forbidden zone. Her eyes felt scorched by something.

She flinched and quickly looked away.

But even in those brief seconds, Chu Yue couldn’t help but blush, her ears burning hot.

After all, men and women were structurally different, and Lu Zhanlin was… very prominently different. It was hard not to notice.

Chu Yue tried her best to suppress the pounding of her heart and force the images forming in her mind—firm eight-pack abs, perfectly carved obliques—out of her consciousness.

This is not the time to be thinking about these things!

Still holding onto Lu Zhanlin’s clothes, after examining the front, she continued to inspect the back.

And it was the same—male beauty was dangerously seductive.

Lu Zhanlin not only had a perfectly toned front; from his shoulders to his lower back, he had that ideal V-shape—broad, muscular, and powerful. Just one look made her heart race all over again.

However, compared to his evenly tanned chest, his back was visibly marked.

There were clear scratch marks, one after another—obviously from fingernails.

In addition to the scratches, there were clusters of red blotches, just like the ones on his fingers—reddened and swollen.

Chu Yue reached out and touched one of the patches. Her fingertips felt warmth beyond normal—a low-grade heat radiating from the inflamed skin.

“Just as I thought,” Chu Yue concluded inwardly. She looked up into Lu Zhanlin’s eyes and asked,
“Are you allergic to yam?”

Lu Zhanlin’s breathing sped up a little as he replied in a deep voice,

“I don’t know. I’ve never handled yam before.”

“When did it start itching?” Chu Yue asked again, her eyes clear and piercing.

Lu Zhanlin, under her gaze, couldn’t lie.

His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he spoke in an even lower voice:

“Before dinner.”

Chu Yue nodded inwardly. Yam allergy—confirmed.

Yam secretes a sticky substance that can cause skin irritation or allergic reactions in certain people.

Lu Zhanlin had helped her move yams twice that day—once when they returned to the compound in the evening, and again when organizing them before bed.

He must have started reacting early on, with burning and itching sensations. That’s why there were so many scratch marks on his back.

Even after lying down, he was still so uncomfortable from the itching that, despite his usual stoic self-discipline, he couldn’t stop tossing and turning.

In the end, worried about waking Chu Yue, he got up.

He probably planned to take a cold shower, the only quick relief for that kind of itching and swelling caused by an allergy.

But in this kind of winter weather? Even someone as tough as Lu Zhanlin might not withstand that.

“Lu Zhanlin, come back. Lie down—face down,” Chu Yue said, pulling on his clothes gently while speaking in a soft, coaxing tone.
“Why didn’t you say anything before dinner? Yam allergies are seriously itchy. Most people can’t take it and scratch until the skin breaks.”

Lately, spending so much time with Lu Yuanbao, Chu Yue—once known for being crisp and direct—had started to talk more without realizing it.

These two, although not related by blood, were really similar in temperament—both the type to suffer in silence, stubborn to a fault.

Chu Yue turned, reached under her pillow, and pulled out a small round red tin with the characters “Cooling Balm”  printed on it.