Chapter 12 Skin Hunger Syndrome 1

The next day.

Before the alarm clock could ring, He Qiuting was awakened by the natural light streaming through his bedroom window, only then remembering he hadn’t drawn the curtains before sleeping last night.

His eyes had become somewhat sensitive to bright light, his eyelids trembling slightly as it took him quite some time to adjust before he could barely open them. He saw it was a sunny day outside, a brilliantly sunny day.

The sky was clear and azure blue without a single cloud. Sunlight filtered through the glass, passing through the indoor potted plants to cast dappled shadows on the walls.

He Qiuting’s anxious state of mind found momentary relief – though truly just momentary, because he knew it wouldn’t be long before he’d suddenly be plunged into darkness again.

Good morning! Dear host!

The System’s voice suddenly appeared, sending a chill down his spine.

Good my foot. No one could be worse off than him.

With droopy eyes, He Qiuting checked his phone and discovered he had actually been on the phone with Lu Shun for nearly two hours last night.

He only remembered that Lu Shun’s voice was quite hypnotic, though sometimes quite noisy too – coming in waves, occasionally falling silent for a minute or two. Every time he was just about to fall asleep, Lu Shun would suddenly bring up some nonsensical topic.

Rambling on and on, from kindergarten to middle school, then to the grandmother of his neighbor in America…

Eventually, He Qiuting couldn’t take it anymore and fumbled around in the darkness until he managed to hang up.

The System cleared its throat and announced with great solemnity.

This System has been upgraded to version 3.0 with the new Achievement Function

Congratulations to the host for unlocking last night’s achievement: Sweet Nighttime Chat

The System is distributing rewards!!~

He Qiuting’s eyes immediately lit up, thinking it would be like last time with early termination of the illness, but instead he heard the System declare joyfully:

Congratulations to the host for early entry into the next illness – Skin Hunger Syndrome! When symptoms occur, you must seek physical contact with your lover to find relief~ Skin hunger unbearable? Of course, you need President Lu to pet you~ Huhuhu I’m shipping it so hard~

He Qiuting: ???

Skin Hunger Syndrome? What kind of strange thing was that?

He Qiuting asked directly, What happens if I don’t engage in intimate contact?

When symptoms occur, the host will experience extreme discomfort. The skin will develop a thirst that surpasses pain, making it impossible to sit still.

Attention! If prolonged physical contact is not maintained, it will trigger hypothermia. The host’s body temperature will continuously drop, not only lowering the temperature of core areas like the brain, heart and lungs, but also causing shivering, slowed breathing and heart rate, gradually leading to heart and lung failure!

I have a question.

He Qiuting sat on the bed, facing empty air like a madman, How long will this System stay with me? Or rather, what do I need to do to end it.

Oh no! The System let out a mournful cry.

We grew from the same root! Why the urgency to torment each other!

I will be with you for life, binding refused!

He Qiuting fell silent.

The System voice also disappeared.

He Qiuting sat on the bed for two minutes, completely unprepared, when he welcomed the first onset of Skin Hunger Syndrome.

How should he describe that discomfort…

Like needle pricks, yet also like electric shocks, countless tiny stinging sensations intermittently transmitted into his skin. Quickly piercing in, then quickly withdrawing, somewhere between pain and itch – utterly tormenting.

He Qiuting frowned and gasped for breath, slowly lying back on the bed in a defensive curled-up position. His long legs began uncontrollably rubbing against the sheets, using the friction to fill the emptiness and craving in his skin.

His hand moved to his neck, tracing awkwardly over his collarbone before landing on his chest, where he pinched hard.

Hmm… He let out a shameful muffled groan, then immediately raised his other hand to grip his wrist fiercely, digging his fingertips into the flesh, using the pain to suppress the indecent desire.

Right now, he desperately wanted to be touched.

The air grew stiflingly warm—just like Lu Shun’s body temperature.

He Qiuting turned on his side, clutching his vulnerable wrist, his mind filled with the memory of Lu Shun’s bare chest pressed against his back.

He seemed to feel that powerful heartbeat, thumping rhythmically against his spine.

Ugh…

He Qiuting stretched his body, then curled up again, every inch of his skin aching with emptiness.

He thought of Lu Shun—how when Lu Shun held him while sleeping, he liked to wrap his arms around him from behind, unceremoniously draping one leg over him, pressing his chin against the hollow of He Qiuting’s shoulder, breathing greedily and deeply…

In the past, He Qiuting had found him utterly annoying, but now, he found himself reminiscing about the minute details of those touches and embraces.

Perhaps because it was the first episode, the System wasn’t being too harsh on him, and the discomfort gradually subsided.

He Qiuting drank a large glass of water, took a shower to wash away the sweat and heat, then put on his suit, tied his tie, and selected matching watch and shoes. Everything briefly returned to calm.

Compared to the fear of blindness, He Qiuting felt much more relaxed and less apprehensive about going to work.

When he arrived at the company, his assistant Lin Xu approached him immediately. President He, the meeting room is ready. All departments are in position. We’ll begin in five minutes.

Lin Xu stared at He Qiuting’s face, noticing that he seemed to have better color today—a faint blush instead of yesterday’s pallor—and shyly offered a slight smile.

He Qiuting didn’t notice his expression, merely nodding before striding quickly into the elevator.

Lin Xu followed him in. By the way, President He, CL President Lu’s assistant just sent the finalized contract and asked when would be convenient to sign.

Hmm. He Qiuting’s eyes flickered briefly. I had Legal draft the contract yesterday. It’s already signed and sealed. Just deliver it to CL for him to sign.

Understood. Lin Xu responded, lowering his head to send a message in the executive office group chat.

As He Qiuting took the elevator to the Cloud Horizon penthouse meeting room, he felt that unpleasant sensation surging up from his skin again.

He took a deep breath, brushed it aside, and pushed open the meeting room door.

Recently, there had been rumors within Cloud Horizon that He Qiuting seemed to be in a poor mood—rarely smiling and rejecting proposals one after another.

The vast meeting room felt suffocatingly tense.

The design director held his breath, watching He Qiuting take his seat, then cautiously projected the design proposal PPT onto the screen.

The network lagged slightly. The design director chuckled nervously, rubbing his hands. This PPT is a bit nervous, just like me. Haha…

She tried to lighten the atmosphere with this remark. Some colleagues below had just begun to smile, but when they saw He Qiuting sitting there expressionlessly without any reaction, they quickly suppressed their grins.

He Qiuting glanced at the screen and said calmly, Let’s begin.

Okay. The design director cleared his throat and stepped onto the stage to present his proposal.

First, he covered the core advantages of the six major land plots in Ripple Capital along with corresponding data—all densely packed and abundant in detail.

He Qiuting’s throat moved slightly as he softly interrupted, I’m already aware of these. Move on.

Though brief, his words carried immense pressure. Even the experienced design director visibly tensed up. Y-yes, of course.

She flipped to the next slide. He Qiuting narrowed his eyes and saw a prominent line of text boldly displayed:

[Building a City of the Future.]

The background image was idealistic yet impractical, paired with several overly sentimental lines of text. At first glance, it seemed more like empty sloganeering—vague and insubstantial.

After reluctantly listening for a few more slides, He Qiuting grew disappointed, feeling that the team at Cloud Horizon had grown too accustomed to comfort.

Two months earlier, during a meeting, he had proposed the concept of a futuristic tech city. He aimed to utilize the six major land plots in Sky Citadel’s Ripple Capital, incorporating new energy sources and artificial intelligence to create an unprecedented city of the future. This vision included a core tech district, a financial hub, high-end commercial and residential complexes, and landmark buildings with distinctive concepts.

He had shared numerous preliminary framework ideas during that meeting, yet it seemed his team had only grasped the surface.

In almost every report and proposal, the most prominent section featured the phrase City of the Future, merely reiterating what he had already stated.

But what He Qiuting needed were novel concepts, bolder designs, or innovative technological integrations based on this direction.

His skin began to exhibit symptoms of craving again. His breathing grew slightly rapid, and his cold expression made everyone in the room hold their breath unconsciously.

After nearly two hours of presentations by various directors, He Qiuting could no longer remain seated.

He felt chilled all over, his body temperature dropping rapidly. When he spoke, his voice was even colder than his temperature. Did Cloud Horizon spend tens of billions to acquire land just to replicate our previous developments?

He looked at the outdated case studies on the screen, his tone sharpening. With such a prime plot, are we only planning to build basic housing? What were you thinking?

He turned to the marketing director. The target profile is off. Our premium pricing isn’t meant for that demographic.

He Qiuting’s fingers trembled from the cold, his entire body feeling as if pierced by fine needles. Every word he spoke and every breath he took intensified the sharp, prickling sensation—both painful and itchy.

Yet he forced himself to steady the pen and crossed out two building clusters on the design blueprint.

Too ordinary.

With a few simple strokes, he dismissed weeks of effort from the design team.

I want a landmark for Sky Citadel, something unprecedented in Asian architectural philosophy.

I understand, but President He, this is highly idealistic. The design director’s eyes reddened as he attempted to explain. This version of the design is based on our company’s current financial situation and risk assessment. The finance department…

Insufficient funds are no excuse for lowering standards. We can prioritize valuable and differentiated components first, then supplement through later financing rounds. But don’t give me a draft that practically has ‘money-losing’ written all over it.

He Qiuting was genuinely uncomfortable. He couldn’t manage a pleasant expression, his face dark and intimidating – though half of that was due to physical discomfort.

After a pause, He Qiuting’s tone softened slightly as he said quietly to everyone, The funding issue will be handled by me and finance. I want you to focus entirely on perfecting the design, treating this project as an important masterpiece.

He slowly revealed a smile, helping ease the team’s tense atmosphere.

Someday, I hope this project can become this city’s pride and the most brilliant entry in your professional portfolios. Let’s ensure we leave no regrets.

As he spoke, he stood up, bracing himself against the chair back, and declared, Within three days, revise the proposal to my satisfaction, and the project bonus will be doubled.

With that, he left the conference room.

His body felt profoundly strange – aching, itching, and chilled simultaneously.

He Qiuting felt his skin tightening, that desperate craving for physical contact surging to its peak. He hurried to the restroom, turned the water to scalding hot, and let the steaming water cascade over his pale hands.

His skin was naturally thin, and under the hot water, his fair complexion gradually turned red.

He felt slightly warmer, but internally, the cold persisted. His thoughts grew sluggish, his chest began feeling constricted, and his limbs started showing signs of refusing to obey.

He Qiuting hastily left the restroom, intending to rest in his office, but encountered Lu Shun in the lounge area outside.

Lounging on the sofa with crossed legs, Lu Shun raised an eyebrow at He Qiuting with mischievous intent when he saw him return, appearing exceptionally pleased with himself.

Lu Shun was unusually dressed in plain black suit today – no styled hair, no flamboyant tie like before. Yet his aristocratic aura remained potent; even the simplest attire looked luxurious on him.

He Qiuting only glanced at him before feeling unable to endure further. Sensing he might collapse if he remained standing another second, he strode quickly into his office.

Inside the office, Lin Xu had just poured a cup of warm water for He Qiuting. Looking up to see him enter pale-faced and unsteady, Lin Xu assumed it was another stomach ache and hurriedly helped him sit down.

Outside the office, watching He Qiuting’s retreating figure, Lu Shun realized he’d been ignored.

He blinked in confusion, sharing an awkward glance with the legal counsel nearby, and asked, What does this mean? Should I go in now?

The legal counsel wasn’t sure either, but she knew Lu Shun’s status. Everyone knew CL’s CEO Lu valued time above all – his earnings were calculated by the second. That he’d condescended to wait an hour already seemed unbelievable.

Though uncertain of He Qiuting’s intentions, she still gestured for him to enter. President Lu, you may go in now.

Lu Shun stood and covered the distance to the door in quick strides. The door was slightly ajar, so he pushed it open directly.

What met his eyes was He Qiuting seated at his desk, with Lin Xu supporting his arm while bringing a cup of hot water to his lips.

From Lu Shun’s perspective, the two appeared about to kiss.

His face instantly darkened, the spring-like smile from moments ago vanishing completely. Using almost all his strength, he nearly shattered the glass door at the entrance as he rudely interrupted the intimate moment between the two.

Raising his voice like exploding firecrackers, he shouted:

He… President He!

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