Mo Fang stopped teasing Li Ming after that to make sure that he didn’t go overboard. While Li Ming didn’t seem to mind as much anymore, he couldn’t give him the wrong impression. Thus, he just clung to his arm and the two of them continued to walk through the exhibition.

Since this was something that Mo Fang liked, he didn’t hold back and actually spoke up about what he liked and what he didn’t. Most of his comments were actually based on how the clothes would look when worn. He couldn’t help but also mention some movies and how the actors had looked in them when wearing something similar.

Li Ming watched him with a smile whenever he spoke about these things. As it turned out, appearances were even more important to Mo Fang than he had thought. This really was something he was very passionate about.

When they reached the last room of the exhibition, both of them were in an excellent mood.

"It was really fun. I’m glad that you chose this for our second date."

Mo Fang requited his smile and patted his chest. "And there you were saying before that you didn’t think I would want to go to some exhibition. I’m not that shallow."

Li Ming chuckled but he also couldn’t help but feel a little helpless. "You know, I don’t think it’s shallow to pay attention to appearances."

Mo Fang gave him a questioning look while the two of them walked out of the building. "How so?" This was something that he really hadn’t expected. He knew that Li Ming would always be nice but this was a bit more than this. Who wouldn’t say that paying so much attention to how you looked wasn’t shallow?

Li Ming looked around, glancing at the people that were passing by them. He didn’t quite know how to say it. "Well, I can see why somebody might think so. Upon first glance, it probably seems like it’s superficial. That it is just about the way you look and doesn’t say anything about you as a person. But honestly, I think there’s more to it. I mean at the end of the day, whether somebody values their appearance or not, that also tells us something about them, don’t you think so?"

Mo Fang gave a hum but he didn’t quite understand. "It sure does but the thing that it does tell us … isn’t it just that they pay attention to appearances? Isn’t that still shallow?"

Li Ming shook his head though, not changing his opinion. "I think that it shows that they care about themselves. You don’t necessarily need to wear branded clothes but paying attention to having a tidy appearance should be a matter of course, shouldn’t it? I mean that is also taking care of themselves, isn’t it?"

Mo Fang reached up and touched his cheek. Don’t talk about fashion, the amount of time that he put into keeping up his looks really wasn’t little. While he might have good genes, he also couldn’t deny that everybody was getting older. If he didn’t start to pay attention to it in his twenties, it might be too late in another ten or twenty years. By then, there would be no use anymore to cry over spilled milk.

He had never had any second thoughts about doing this. To him, his appearance was important. This was what he was making money with and also something that he deemed to be important. But still, he had never thought that it wasn’t shallow. It was just that he had embraced being that type of person.

Why shouldn’t he? If you were good-looking, then you could allow yourself to be shallow and superficial. It was only those people who were ugly who would say that it was only the inner values that counted. Naturally, he couldn’t admit to that in front of Li Ming. "Still, caring about your appearance, isn’t that still shallow in the end? You don’t think that’s a bad thing?"

Li Ming shook his head. "No, I really don’t. Of course, there’s a point where it’ll be too much. If you care about nothing but your appearance, then maybe you should take a moment to stop and think. But other than that? No, I don’t think it’s wrong.

"I mean we take care of our health and nobody would say it’s wrong. Why shouldn’t we take care of our appearance? It can make the person happy to invest in themselves. And this is what gives others their first impression of us. Is it wrong to want to make a good one? If that was true, wouldn’t it also be wrong to want to be a good person then so that others have a good impression of you? Honestly, I can’t see it like this.

"Also, everybody has their own talents and their own gifts. Some people might have a good understanding of certain fields, or they are good at doing crafts, and others are blessed with being beautiful from the moment they are born. Is that such a bad thing? I mean we have quite a few professions where looking good is very important. But I don’t think that makes them vain. In my eyes, it just means that they have something special that is different from other people."

Mo Fang pursed his lips. Even compared with his previous boyfriends who hadn’t had a problem with his modeling, Li Ming was probably the first one who thought like this. He still couldn’t quite believe it though. "But isn’t beauty different? With time, it’ll wane. Can you really put it on the same level as those other things?"

Li Ming just shook his head at that. "But is it not the same for everything? When you get older and your body isn’t the same anymore, maybe the people who were able to do beautiful crafts before will not be able to move their hands as nimbly and thus have to deal with the fact that it won’t be the same anymore as it was a decade or two ago. On the other hand, even somebody who is intelligent might get slower with things once they reach old age.

"In the same vein, people might not be as beautiful when they get old. But I think that no matter what it is, the foundation is still there. A beautiful person will always be beautiful even if they are old. It’s often not even in how they look but in how they carry themselves. If you’ve lived your whole life being beautiful, I don’t think you’ll suddenly turn out differently. There’s more to it than just having a nice face. Just like for a person that crafts things, there is more to it than being nimble. Maybe at that point, they could make use of their experience in other ways."

Mo Fang couldn’t help but smile at that. "More than just a nice face …" He really liked hearing that.