Pei Ling gave a soft laugh. "Take it easy. Restoring Grandfather's health was astonishing enough. If you raise him to an even higher level, what if you scare everyone?"
"Huh?"
"You're too amazing. They'll think I'm not good enough for you."
"Huh??"
"Didn't you see the way they looked at us? They all seem to think I tricked you into coming back with me because you don't know my true colors."
"That..." was rather awkward.
If it came down to it, everyone's idea of Pei Ling's so-called "true colors" was probably still stuck on what he'd been like in his reckless youth. But now, she was likely the one who knew him best. After all, Pei Ling had never intended to hide anything from her. There were things he wouldn't say outright, but he was perfectly happy to let Qiao Ranran "guess"—even though she had no desire to.
"And I did trick you into coming back with me." Pei Ling laughed.
Qiao Ranran: "..." Good. At least he knew himself.
Things felt good like this. As Qiao Ranran sorted the elixirs and spirit plants, she studied Pei Ling. She could see that at Hidden Return Cliff, all his ice and thorns seemed to have vanished. He was so gentle he hardly seemed real. The cool, breathtakingly beautiful young man seemed to have had his sharp edges worn smooth, and as he sat there, a faint glow seemed to radiate from his whole body.
"What are you looking at?" Pei Ling reached out and pulled Qiao Ranran into his arms. Pressing his forehead to hers, he chuckled softly. "Craving me?"
Qiao Ranran: "!" What kind of shameless talk was that?
"Your eyes tell me you're craving me."
"I'm not... mm..."
Pei Ling didn't want to hear any of her protests or