Skin Hunger Syndrome – Impossible to Cure

---

“Do you like it here?” Shen Zhong asked immediately.

Chi Yao glanced at Shen Zhong and then at the people behind him. Although he had little contact with them, their identities were not ordinary in Nancheng City; they were all from government departments.

“Is this your territory?” Chi Yao instinctively raised an eyebrow and asked.

“It’s not mine, but if you want to go in, you can join me,” Shen Zhong invited.

If it were Shen Zhong’s territory, Chi Yao would have to think twice; otherwise, he would feel indebted, which wasn’t easy to say.

“Sure.” Chi Yao nodded and followed Shen Zhong into this private garden.

As soon as he stepped inside, it felt like the noise from outside had nothing to do with this place. Beside the backyard was a moat; over the past few years, Nancheng had been undergoing urban development, and the once dirty river had now become clear and clean.

There weren’t many unnecessary buildings around, and it was clear that this backyard covered a large area.

“You have things to do, so I’ll just walk around by myself,” Chi Yao noticed that there were obviously many people with Shen Zhong, likely there to discuss business, so he didn’t want to disturb them.

“Alright, see you later,” Shen Zhong replied.

Chi Yao nodded and turned to leave; it might not be easy to see them again later.

Chi Yao wasn’t sure what Shen Zhong wanted. During the wedding last time, Shen Zhong had loosened up a bit and seemed to have some thoughts about him, but Chi Yao assumed these thoughts weren’t possessive and were probably related to his brother, Shen Ling.

Thinking of Shen Ling, he remembered that he had gone abroad and wondered if his situation had improved.

It would be best if it hadn’t improved too much; otherwise, he might return to the country and come around Chi Yao again.

Chi Yao no longer had any unnecessary thoughts about Shen Ling.

In his life now, he had a baby, health, and Fu Rong. He liked this stable life he had now.

Chi Yao strolled around the garden for quite a while, with fallen leaves scattered on the ground. Someone was cleaning up, but it seemed that not all the leaves had been cleared away. This actually brought the place closer to nature, making it less artificial.

The trees were dense, and as Chi Yao walked, he suddenly came upon a vineyard where the grapes were almost ripe. As he got closer, he felt as if he could smell the aroma of wine.

Looking at the bountiful grape vines, Chi Yao took out his phone, snapped a photo, and immediately sent it to Fu Rong.

Fu Rong had taken Chi Yan to the company and was reviewing some documents when a text message came in. He set Chi Yao’s contact tone differently from others, so when the message arrived, he knew it was from Chi Yao.

Looking at it, he saw a photo of the vineyard filled with plump, deep purple grapes that looked quite tempting.

“Next time, if you have the chance, come try some,” Chi Yao added in another message.

Fu Rong replied with one word: “Okay.”

Chi Yao could almost imagine Fu Rong’s expression at that moment; that person really loved him so much, and it seemed like he only had to do a little to make Fu Rong happy right away.

There was more Chi Yao could do, depending on his mood.

Although there was no one around, Chi Yao still didn’t pick any grapes. He wanted to find out whose territory this was before taking anything; taking without permission was stealing, and Chi Yao had no interest in being a thief.

After spending some time in the vineyard, Chi Yao turned to head toward the exit. However, some paths seemed too similar, and he almost got lost inside.

After walking for a while, he came across someone—only one person was there, while the others had disappeared.

It seemed the business discussions were over, but theoretically, Shen Zhong should still be with them, planning to go out for dinner later, yet he had left the others to come to Chi Yao.

Was he that important?

Chi Yao didn’t want to be someone important in Shen Zhong’s eyes.

“It seems you really like it here,” Shen Zhong concluded.

Chi Yao didn’t respond.

“Shall we sit over there for a bit?” Shen Zhong pointed to a small pavilion on the left.

Chi Yao checked the time; it wasn’t too late yet.

So he went with Shen Zhong to the small pavilion.

“Don’t you like me very much?” Shen Zhong unexpectedly brought up this topic straightforwardly.

This amused Chi Yao. “So does that mean you’ll keep your distance?”

Since Shen Zhong was the one to bring it up, Chi Yao didn’t hold back.

“Well, it depends; you see, isn’t today a matter of fate?”

Shen Zhong smiled, and there was a peculiar depth in his smile.

Chi Yao couldn’t discern what this person truly wanted, but it didn’t seem like he would act immediately. If he weren’t in this position, Shen Zhong probably would have already done something, but unfortunately, his status was not something just anyone could touch.

“If we’re talking about fate, I have a lot of it with many people.”

“Aren’t you afraid your partner will hear this?”

If Fu Rong found out, he probably wouldn’t be too happy.

Chi Yao leaned back against the chair, his long legs crossed, his slender body with fair skin. Chi Yao usually dressed in a low-key manner; his face alone was eye-catching enough.

“He won’t mind hearing that.” At most, he might feel a bit jealous.

“You two have a great relationship,” Shen Zhong revealed an expression that seemed a bit envious.

Chi Yao smiled, “It’s pretty good.”

The bond from two lifetimes together was something no one else could compare to.

Speaking of which, it seemed Shen Ling might know a bit about the situation. He had mentioned once that he dreamed of it. Did he dream of the previous life?

Chi Yao wasn’t sure, but looking at Shen Ling’s expression, it seemed like his situation was different.

In his last life, he had one corpse and two lives, while Shen Ling was living well.

Chi Yao fell into a brief memory, neglecting Shen Zhong beside him. Shen Zhong stared at Chi Yao, his gaze fixed on his profile, growing more and more captivated by his exquisite perfection. He wondered what his brother was thinking; even if he didn’t like Chi Yao, he should still hold onto him. Someone like this, with such a personality and face, was impossible to find even with a lantern.

Chi Yao’s gaze flickered; he pulled himself out of his memories and noticed Shen Zhong staring at him with a strange look.

“I see it’s getting late; I need to go pick up my son.” Chi Yao stood up.

Shen Zhong smiled and walked out of the garden with Chi Yao.

Once outside, Chi Yao waved slightly and didn’t go over to Feng Ming and the others. Instead, he made a call, informing them that he was leaving first.

Everyone knew he had a family and didn’t keep him for too long.

Chi Yao drove to Fu Rong’s company.

Fu Rong was almost done with his work. Seeing it was still early, he played with the baby in the office. After a while, the baby wanted to go outside, so Fu Rong took the little one’s hand, and they both got into the elevator.

The baby jumped up to press the top floor button. Fu Rong occasionally took the baby up there, and the little one already knew about the top floor.

That day, they also went up. Since the baby loved coming here, they had made some adjustments, building small houses around and fixing up the floor so they could sit and rest.

The baby could now walk quite steadily on his own, and as soon as he let go of Fu Rong’s hand, he dashed off to run around.

He accidentally fell, and although it hurt, he didn’t cry; his eyes turned slightly red, but he got up and continued to play wildly.

When Chi Yao arrived at the office, he found it empty and almost thought that the father and son had left. An assistant came in and told Chi Yao that the boss and the baby had gone upstairs.

Chi Yao headed to the rooftop, pushed open the door, and saw Fu Rong but didn’t immediately see the little guy.

Not long after, a tiny figure rushed over and crashed straight into Chi Yao’s arms.

Chi Yao squatted down to pick up the baby and walked over to Fu Rong.

Chi Yao said, “Are you still busy? If you’re not, I can take you both home.”

Fu Rong reached out to stroke Chi Yao’s face and nodded, “I’m done now.”

Chi Yao smiled, intending to turn around with the baby, but suddenly the little one was taken away from him.

Fu Rong picked him up, leaning down to whisper to the baby, “Yan Yan, let’s play hide and seek, okay? You go hide, and I’ll come find you in a bit.”

The baby understood, turned around, and ran off.

Seeing the baby run away by himself, Chi Yao laughed and looked at Fu Rong.

Fu Rong came over, picked up Chi Yao, and placed him on a table. He pinched Chi Yao’s chin and kissed him.

Chi Yao didn’t know when it had started, but Fu Rong felt he might have developed a kind of “skin hunger syndrome,” needing to be close to and touch Chi Yao to partially relieve this craving.

It couldn’t be rooted out; this condition could only be alleviated, not completely cured.

Chi Yao glanced aside and noticed that the baby was clearly hiding. With a little thought, he realized what Fu Rong had said to the baby; the little one had indeed learned some cleverness.

Chi Yao’s eyes sparkled with amusement as he wrapped his arms around Fu Rong’s broad back, and they shared a kiss on the rooftop of the building.

The gentle breeze felt exceptionally pleasant on Chi Yao, making him want to sigh.

Fu Rong’s lips moved down along Chi Yao’s jawline and continued downward; one of the buttons on Chi Yao’s shirt had already been undone.

Chi Yao pushed Fu Rong away lightly, without much force, reminding him to be a bit more careful since they were still playing hide and seek with the baby.

Fu Rong ignored him and continued to unbutton Chi Yao’s shirt, his palm pressing against Chi Yao’s back, feeling the delicate warmth of his skin.

They were lost in their own world, almost forgetting about the baby behind them.

Chi Yao kicked Fu Rong away, climbed down from the table, and found his clothes in disarray, his hair slightly messy. He straightened himself while turning to look for the baby.

“Baby, Daddy’s coming!” Chi Yao called out deliberately.

There was no response; everything around was silent.

Chi Yao remembered that the little guy was likely hiding somewhere, so he moved quietly. Originally thinking the baby would be hiding in some corner, when he finally found him, Chi Yao was amused by the little one’s sleeping position.

It was hard to imagine how the little guy could sleep like that—crawled over and with his little bottom sticking up, his head down as if trying to cover his ears.

Chi Yao walked over, gave the baby’s little bottom a pat, and the little guy made a tiny sound but didn’t wake up.

Clearly, he had fallen deeply asleep. Chi Yao carefully picked him up, and the baby blinked his eyes but was too sleepy, so he nestled back into Chi Yao’s arms and continued to sleep.

Fu Rong came over and saw that the baby had actually fallen asleep while playing hide and seek. He pinched the baby’s little hand and kissed him on the cheek.

The family of three left the rooftop and went home.

At home, the housekeeper had prepared dinner. The baby was gradually moving away from formula and eating regular meals. They had made a special baby meal, and the little one enjoyed sitting at the table with his dads, seeming to think the food tasted better that way.