"Are you scared?"
Su Qiao hugged a throw pillow and looked at him with great curiosity.
"Aren't you a writer of supernatural and mystery stories? You're actually scared of this stuff?"
Li Jingtai smiled gently and reached out to scratch her nose. "It's not that I'm scared. I'm worried about you."
"You've already been in poor spirits lately, and you haven't been sleeping well either. You've even got dark circles under your eyes. If this keeps up, you won't be pretty anymore."
Poor sleep and low spirits—aren't those all because of you?
You're really good at pretending.
If she hadn't known the truth, she really would have been fooled by his concerned and considerate appearance.
"Oh, so it's my looks you like!"
"But everyone grows old eventually, right? If I grow old and get wrinkles, will you stop liking me?"
Su Qiao hugged the gray little pillow embroidered with tiny white flowers and gave him the petulant expression of a willful little girl as she glanced sideways at him.
Li Jingtai smiled and reached out to poke her full forehead. "Silly girl, I'll like you no matter what you look like."
"Besides, when you grow old, won't I have become a greasy middle-aged man or a stooped little old man too? I'm the one who should be worried that you'll dislike me."
"You're right. If you grow old and turn into a greasy old man with a shiny, oily face and a round belly, I really will dislike you."
"..."
Li Jingtai was left speechless.
He almost couldn't continue with what he had planned to say.
This was seriously different from what he had planned!
Had his charm declined?
Was it because he hadn't been taking good care of himself lately?
Should he get a new hairstyle, or change his