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Lin Tingfeng said softly to Ye Wenyu, "If we have the ability to help others, why not? I remember telling you before that it is better to give than to receive."

Ye Wenyu shook her head and said to Lin Tingfeng, "But she is insatiable. You know, we have been good enough to them. I have also said that they do not need to pay back the money for my stepfather's surgery. What more do they want from me? But they are making outrageous demands. They want to see you and borrow 200,000 yuan from you so that they will not have to work so hard to pay their 6,000 yuan mortgage every month."

Lin Tingfeng nodded and asked her, "They're paying off a mortgage of six thousand every month. How much is your mother's retirement pension?"

"A little over a thousand. She was a retired ordinary employee. Because she was taking care of me alone, she lost many opportunities for promotion in the workplace, so her retirement pension was very low."

Lin Tingfeng nodded, as if talking to himself, "Two people, one of them only earns a little over a thousand a month, and the other person isn't much better off."

Ye Wenyu nodded and said, "Yes, my stepfather's monthly salary, including his main job and part-time jobs, is barely enough to pay the mortgage. The family of four lives on my mother's meager retirement pension."

Lin Tingfeng seemed very interested and analyzed to her, "They really have it tough. They're so old, burdened with such a heavy mortgage, and have two children to raise, both boys, right?"

"yes."

Lin Tingfeng continued his slow and patient analysis: "Look at Xiaoyu, boys are the most expensive. When they grow up, they need to go to university, which requires a lot of education expenses. Then they need to find a job, which requires a lot of career planning expenses. Then there's marriage and starting a family. If they get married, the man needs to prepare a car, a house, and a dowry, which requires a lot of family expenses. Even if everything goes smoothly and they get married, the next step is having and raising children, which requires a lot of childcare expenses. Your mother and stepfather will never have a moment's rest in their lives. They will suffer a lot and be very tired."

Hearing Lin Tingfeng's analysis, Ye Wenyu smiled bitterly. She shook her head gently and said in a hoarse voice, "Lin Tingfeng, you're right. Sometimes, I think my mother is foolish. My biological father didn't treat us well, and we got divorced. My mother raised me alone and did quite well. She essentially escaped a terrible situation. If she hadn't remarried, supported me through four years of university, and I had started working and earning money, my mother and I could have lived a good life. But she's foolish. She actually remarried, and married a man who has no financial means but two children to support, just because that man treats her very well. According to her, he treats her very well."

At some point, she and he became close friends. She was willing to tell him anything, even her darkest secrets, and even exposed the naked ugliness of her family of origin to him.

When did she start trusting him so much?

Ye Wenyu was surprised by her own feelings for Lin Tingfeng.

As she pondered, she felt that her mother's remaining life was shrouded in darkness, an endless torment. Rather than saying that her remarriage was to the man she loved, it was more accurate to say that her stepfather had used the guise of "marriage" to deceive her, turning her into his slave, forcing her to toil for him and his children for the rest of her life.

You think the hardship is over after raising his two children and waiting for them to get married? Not at all. He then has to take care of his two children's children's children.

Her mother is so stupid!

Lin Tingfeng smiled slightly and said softly, "We outsiders think she's having a hard time, but I think your mother is in good spirits. She's probably right. That man loves her very much. The most important thing for a woman is to be loved throughout her life. Men treat love as a very small part of life, but many women treat love as their whole life. I think your mother is that kind of person."

Ye Wenyu immediately said, "No, I'm not. I'm not that stupid!"

Lin Tingfeng was stunned, and suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Ye Wenyu blushed and immediately retorted, "Is that right? You consider love a very small part of life?"

Lin Tingfeng was stunned again. Seeing her questioning eyes, he couldn't tell the truth in this situation, so he changed the subject and asked, "How much money does your mother want?" After saying that, he got up, took out his checkbook from the study, and walked back to the living room.

Ye Wenyu was stunned. He actually intended to lend money to her mother. She immediately reminded him, "They say they're lending, but in reality, the money is a gift."

Lin Tingfeng smiled slightly and said to her, "Just give it to me. It's just a small amount of money. Whether it's a lot or a little, it's just a number in the bank to me. If it can really help your mother, make her life easier, and make you happy, then I think it's worth the money. Is 500,000 enough?" He picked up a pen to sign the check.

"No, I don't agree, because their affection for me is fake!" Ye Wenyu jumped up, walked up to Lin Tingfeng, and said with grievance and disappointment, "They were nice to me the other day, just so they could borrow money from me today, so I won't lend it to them."

She said sadly, "It's all fake. I'm still all alone."

Lin Tingfeng laughed and said to her, "You silly child, everything in this world needs money to maintain it, family ties, love, it's all the same—you should be glad that you have the ability, that they are willing to ask you for it." After saying that, he was about to sign the checkbook.

Ye Wenyu immediately grabbed his hand and said to him, "Two hundred thousand. They borrowed two hundred thousand. I promise this is the last time. If you want to borrow again in the future, I will not agree."

Lin Tingfeng quickly wrote a check for 200,000 yuan and gave it to Ye Wenyu, saying to her, "Don't say that. The debt of gratitude for raising children must be repaid. When you become a mother in the future, you will know how difficult it is to raise children." He then stuffed the check into her hand.

Ye Wenyu was stunned. Could she be a mother? With him?

She shook her head, finding it all unbelievable.

Marrying a poor man offers no future, like her mother's life would be endless toil. As for a rich man, marrying him is impossible, becoming his mistress would be just as bleak and hopeless. Would she be foolish enough to have a child with him and then let herself and her child live in darkness for the rest of their lives?

The next day, with the check from Lin Tingfeng, she arranged to meet her mother and gave her the check. Zhang Susu was overjoyed when she saw the check. She looked at it repeatedly and kept asking Ye Wenyu in a low voice, "Can I really withdraw 200,000 yuan from a bank with just this piece of paper?"

She had never had the chance to handle checks in her entire life, so she was skeptical.

Looking at her mother like this, Ye Wenyu felt a pang of sorrow. She nodded, and Zhang Susu smiled again. She carefully put the check into the inner pocket of her handbag, then looked down and repeatedly checked whether the zipper was tight. She even reached out and touched the hard paper of the check before she felt at ease.