Thirsty Skin - Chapter 31

Chapter 31 -【Beautiful Beauty】

It turned out he came to see the doctor for his thirsty skin disease.

Routine checkup? Or was there a change in his condition?

But at least this is not a fatal disease, and Zhu Chizhou suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Indeed, this disease is a private matter, so it is normal not to want others to know about it.

He withdrew his inquiring gaze and asked as if accepting Lin Wan’s words, “Oh, have you finished your physical examination?”

“It’s done. How about you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“I feel comfortable everywhere. I’m here to visit a friend.” Zhu Chizhou and Lin Wan walked out together, shoulder to shoulder. “Where are you going? Did you drive yourself here?”

Just as Lin Wan was about to answer, his cell phone rang. He picked it up: “Xu Bai… I’ve finished the examination… The doctor said it’s about the same as last time… OK, I’ll be out in about five minutes.”

Zhu Chizhou paused, ‘so Zeng Xubai knew? He could tell Zeng Xubai but not me? Zeng Xubai is not “someone else”, who am I?’

After hanging up the phone, Lin Wan continued to answer Zhu Chizhou’s question: “Xu Bai is coming to pick me up. I’m going to meet an old professor with him later.”

“Okay, I’ll take Ji Xun’s car too,” Zhu Chizhou quickened his pace, “He’s waiting for me in the car, so I’ll leave first.”

When Lin Wan said goodbye, Zhu Chizhou had already walked a few steps away. The crowd was crowded and the tall figure quickly turned out of the outpatient hall and could no longer be seen.

Parking is not allowed in front of the hospital entrance, so Lin Wan crossed the crosswalk and walked towards the small street opposite.

Zeng Xubai had already arrived, and the car was parked on the side of the street. Lin Wan opened the door and sat in the passenger seat, saying with lingering fear: “I just ran into Zhu Chizhou in the hospital.”

Zeng Xubai started the car and asked, “Which department did he see you coming out of?”

“No, we met him in the lobby on the first floor.” Lin Wan unfolded the crumpled report bag in his arms, on which was written the patient’s name and age, as well as the department he belonged to – Neurology.

“Thirsty skin syndrome”, whose full name is “Neurodermatitis thirsty skin syndrome”, is a disease caused by abnormal signal transmission between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

This disease makes the patient’s desire for touch unable to be normally regulated and satisfied, resulting in a pathologically strong demand. According to the severity, it is divided into mild, moderate, severe and extremely severe. Extremely severe is very rare and may be life-threatening.

The last time he went for a checkup, the doctor said he was in the stage of developing from moderate to severe. Because the medication had lost its effect on him, the doctor was very worried that he would quickly develop into a severe case, but this time he was still in the moderate stage, which was not much different from the last assessment result.

Lin Wan thought that the ice water bath had worked, but the doctor asked him directly if he had had any close contact with anyone.

The doctor stressed: “The effect of your contact with him is very good. I suggest you have more intimate contact with him.”

Of course Lin Wan knew how useful Zhu Chizhou was to him, but the doctor made it sound too easy, as if he could have close contact with Zhu Chizhou anytime if he wanted.

He asked, “What if it’s hard for me to get close to that person?”

The doctor said: “This desire for intimacy is psychological in most cases. If you can’t get in touch with that person, you can find a new person who can arouse your strong desire for intimacy as a substitute, and it will have the same effect.”

Lin Wan thought this was even more difficult, but the doctor continued, “It’s best if you can keep your condition at a moderate level. If it becomes severe or extremely severe, the situation will become very complicated.”

Lin Wan asked, “How complicated is it?”

There were too many patients coming to see the doctor, and the doctor didn’t have much time to explain to each patient for too long. He called the next number, and the next patient came in almost immediately. Lin Wan had no choice but to walk out of the diagnosis room and close the door.

Afterwards, he went to the first floor to pay the fee and make an appointment for the next follow-up visit, and then he met Zhu Chizhou.

Zeng Xubai turned around on the side street and drove into the main road in front of the hospital. This angle was right in front of the outpatient hall. Lin Wan turned around and saw Ji Xun coming out.

Lin Wan was confused for a moment. Didn’t Zhu Chizhou say that Ji Xun was waiting for him in the car?

•=|=•

It was a new week and Lin Wan was very busy.

Ri’an Xinke and the other two projects had to prepare for the investment decision meeting, and the private placement projects had to submit review materials to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Wanshen also planned to enter the market for due diligence, and as the investment director, Lin Wan had to deal with Xu Pingchuan to some extent.

It was just Monday and he was so busy that he didn’t have time to eat lunch. He also had to attend a conference call with a listed company at noon. The cup of breakfast coffee on the table had gone cold and he hadn’t even taken a sip of it.

In the restaurant, Zhou Yuang took a lunch box to pack salad. Zhu Chizhou asked him, “Don’t you ever eat salad?”

“It’s for the boss,” Zhou Yuang said. “He’s on a conference call right now. It’s time to go back to work after the call. I’ll get him something to eat to fill his stomach.”

Nie Xiaolan teased him, “Your project is about to go to the investment decision meeting, and you are so courteous to the boss.”

“Can you talk?” Zhou Yuang stuffed vegetables into the lunch box. “I am usually very attentive to the boss, okay! I am the boyfriend chosen by the boss!”

The gossip about Xu Pingchuan had already spread in their small circle, and the issue had been mentioned frequently recently.

Zhu Chizhou picked up a piece of pan-fried salmon and threw it into the lunch box: “What a shitty boyfriend, he just eats grass for the boss!”

Zhou Yuang was reminded, looked down, saw his hands full of green, and quickly stuffed a few slices of beef into them.

Several people sat down to eat. Zhou Yuang put the packaged salad next to him. Zhu Chizhou reminded him expressionlessly: “Why don’t you go and serve the food first?”

Zhou Yuang said: “He was in a meeting, so he didn’t have time to eat. By the time we finished eating, he hadn’t finished yet.”

After dinner, Zhou Yuang remembered that he had something to do on the 28th floor, so he handed the salad box to Nie Xiaolan: “Sister Lan, please take it to the boss for me. I’ll go find Dong Chao.”

Nie Xiaolan took it and said jokingly: “Then this courtesy belongs to me!”

“It’s yours, it’s yours,” Zhou Yuang said generously, “The boss has already loved me enough, so I’ll give half to you!”

The two people were talking animatedly, but Zhu Chizhou said nothing the whole time.

Anyway, it made no difference to Lin Wan who brought his food.

It’s always someone else anyway.

Back at the Investment Department, Lin Wan’s conference call had not yet ended. Nie Xiaolan tiptoed into the director’s office, placed the salad on the desk, and tiptoed out, looking like a eunuch beside an ancient emperor.

Zhu Chizhou wanted to joke with her, but before the smile reached the corners of his mouth, he felt that he couldn’t laugh. Instead, he felt annoyed and forced the corners of his mouth to bend downward.

Nie Xiaolan came over and said, “Remember to remind the boss to eat later!”

“Does he need someone to remind him?” Zhu Chizhou said with an unhappy expression, “He’s almost turning 30. He’s not a child anymore.”

Nie Xiaolan burst out laughing, “Were you scolded by the boss again?”

Zhu Chizhou didn’t say anything. Nie Xiaolan took it as his agreement and comforted him with a few loving words.

It was almost time for work, but Lin Wan hadn’t finished reviewing the materials for the private placement project. Once he got busy, he wished he had three heads and six arms to work, but the salad on the table remained untouched.

Zhu Chizhou pushed the door open and walked to Lin Wan’s desk. Lin Wan didn’t even bother to look at him. He lowered his head and flipped through the pages and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Ri’an Xinke Investment Decision Meeting,” Zhu Chizhou said, “Project evaluation report and risk analysis, do we need to organize a project team to discuss it again?”

Lin Wan paused. He had been personally in charge of these matters in the past, but he didn’t expect that Zhu Chizhou would be the one to worry about them now. He looked up and smiled at Zhu Chizhou: “Yes, but I’m too busy today. Can you please help me, Mr. Assistant, to organize a meeting for them?”

His smile was particularly gentle, as if he was acting coquettishly while drunk, and the assistant’s heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.

Zhu Chizhou’s cheeks flushed, and he said “OK” in a calm manner before revealing the real purpose of his visit: “But you have to eat lunch first.”

“Um?”

“Your salad,” Zhu Chizhou pointed at the lunch box on the table, “If you don’t eat it, the vegetables wilt.”

“Oh,” Lin Wan glanced at it, “Okay, I’ll eat right after I finish reading these few pages.”

【In fact, I completely forgot about it.】

Zhu Chizhou yelled at him fiercely: “Don’t forget!”

Lin Wan said in a good-tempered manner: “Yes, I understand.”

Zhu Chizhou went out to have a meeting with Zhou Yuang and the others. After the discussion was made and they sorted out the meeting minutes, they found that Lin Wan was still sitting in front of the desk in the same posture, and the salad was still there unopened.

Zhu Chizhou sent the meeting minutes to Lin Wan’s email and opened the door of the director’s office again.

“We have finished the meeting, and the minutes have just been sent to your email.”

“Okay,” Lin Wan said without looking up, “thank you for your hard work.”

There was a transparent lunch box on the table, and a layer of tiny water droplets had condensed inside the lid. It was obvious that the beef and salmon were completely cold.

Zhu Chizhou couldn’t hold his temper and, as “someone else”, also planned to meddle in Lin Wan’s affairs.

“Don’t look at it anymore,” he stretched out his hand and pressed on the materials in front of Lin Wan, “Eat first.”

A pair of large hands suddenly filled his sight, interrupting Lin Wan’s train of thought. He sighed helplessly, complaining reluctantly, “I’m almost done.”

“You just said you’d eat right away,” Zhu Chizhou accused him, “We’ve finished the meeting and you haven’t even taken a bite. How can you be so trustworthy?”

“I’m really going to eat it right away. Only the last few pages are remaining.”

Zhu Chizhou directly moved the file away from him, pushed the lunch box in front of him, and then pulled out a chair and sat down. He did it all in one go and said coldly, “Eat now. I’ll sit here and supervise you!”

Lin Wan was overwhelmed by his domineering aura, but miraculously, he did not get angry. However, he looked at the person opposite him with a stern face, as if he was slightly angry.

【How come he’s still so handsome?】

Zhu Chizhou almost lost his composure, and struggled to maintain his cold expression, but couldn’t help but speak softly: “Do you want to eat it like this, or should I heat it up for you?”

“That’s it,” Lin Wan didn’t hold back his annoyance and obediently opened the lid of the lunch box. “If you heat it up, the vegetables will become hard to swallow.”

“Okay, I’ll watch you finish eating.”

Lin Wan picked up the salmon and took a bite. It was cold and a little fishy, but not bad. His mood suddenly brightened: “It’s nice for you to sit here.”

Zhu Chizhou raised his eyebrows: “What’s good?”

Lin Wan lowered his head and ate without saying a word, with the corners of his mouth secretly rising 0.1 degrees.

【It’s a feast for the eyes.】