Wen Ning did not answer the question right away.
Instead, he glanced at Zhou Ming, who stood behind his mother. Ever since Ma Lanlan appeared, the light in Zhou Ming's eyes had been slowly fading.
"Ms. Ma."
Wen Ning drew his gaze away from Zhou Ming.
"Have you noticed that your love for Zhou Ming has become a burden to him?"
Ma Lanlan's expression froze.
"What did you say?"
Ma Lanlan immediately lost her composure.
"My love for Zhou Ming has become a burden? Mr. Wen, how can you say that? Do you know how much I've sacrificed for this family?"
Wen Ning said nothing, motioning for her to continue.
"What's wrong with being good to him?"
Ma Lanlan's voice began to tremble.
"I scrimp and save. I get up before dawn to make soup for him. However late he stays up working on problems, I stay up with him.
"All I want is for him to get into a good university and find a good job, so he won't have to suffer the way I have. What's wrong with that?"
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. She grabbed the hem of her dark gray jacket and pulled it up. The edges were worn pale and fuzzy, and two obvious mended seams marked the cuffs. She had clearly repaired them herself.
"Look at my clothes! They're worn out and patched, and I still can't bear to replace them!"
Her eyes began to redden, but her voice only grew louder.
"I've worn this jacket for six or seven years. Even when the zipper broke, I couldn't bear to throw it away. Do you know how much one of Zhou Ming's tutoring classes costs?
"Have you ever seen how much a set of his study guides costs? Every penny