The surgery began!
Holden Cui and Owen Yuan were not people who could be easily fooled, and Serena Feng had no intention of deceiving them. She had to trust that these two gentlemen would not gossip about what they saw, nor foolishly brand her a demon.
Serena made no effort to hide anything. Right in front of them, she opened her Med-Pack and revealed the surgical devices embedded in the walls and cabinets.
It was like magic—Serena simply pushed a few boxes, and the entire operating room transformed before their eyes.
At that moment, Owen Yuan and Holden Cui finally forgot their nerves. Eyes fixed on the strange lights and equipment before them, their mouths formed perfect O's in awe.
"Don’t admire me—these were all designed by Vincent Su. He’s a genius in this field," Serena said. She might be emotionless on the operating table, but that didn’t mean she was cold as a machine.
She always considered her patients’ feelings. If circumstances allowed, she would even try to help them escape hardship. Originally, she’d planned to comfort Holden Cui, but now it was unnecessary—Vincent Su’s ingenious designs had already distracted him from his surgical anxiety.
"Vincent Su—the richest man in Eastlyn. I never imagined he had such talent," Holden Cui murmured, quietly impressed. From Serena’s setup, it was clear Vincent Su was a master of mechanisms.
"He’s an outstanding man, but his birth limits his prospects." Even as a merchant, Vincent Su was a scholar at heart, brimming with knowledge and talent, but lacking a proper stage to show it.
If this world didn’t look down on merchants, Vincent Su would be a true heavyweight in Eastlyn. But unfortunately…
The powerful and noble families rely on merchants, yet they look down on them all the same.
“Everyone has their fate. Maybe how he ended up here is tied to his birth. Aristocratic houses are full of useless heirs, noble clans full of spoiled brats.” When it comes to birth, Holden Cui is the least qualified to complain—his background is the envy of countless people.
“True. Being born into a noble house doesn’t guarantee happiness. Behind all that glory, there’s heartache nobody else sees.” But it’s also true that success comes a hundred times easier to the well-born than to ordinary people. Plenty would trade their hidden struggles for riches and a stage to show their talents.
The bitterness of poverty is something young lords of great houses will never understand. The privileged will never know what it means to fight over a hard, cold bun until you’re battered and bleeding—or how it feels to be full of talent but go unrecognized, wasting a lifetime in obscurity.
Taking advantage of Holden Cui’s moment of relaxation, Serena Feng signaled Simon Sun to move quickly and anesthetize Holden first.
As for Owen? She just gave him a sleeping pill—let him nap here and it’d be fine.
Simon Sun was no longer the rookie he once was. With Serena’s subtle cue, he walked over with the syringe. The cold alcohol on Holden’s skin made him jump. Glancing back, he saw Simon Sun holding a sharp object. Holden forced down his nerves and tried to sound calm: “What’s this?”
“Anesthesia. It’ll block your pain for a while—makes the surgery easier.” Serena never lied, just didn’t want to scare Holden. This way, he’d accept it more easily.
“Simon, explain the surgical process to Mr. Cui. I’ll go draw blood from Mr. Yuan.” As soon as Simon finished the anesthesia, Serena got to work.
Serena didn’t need to draw bone marrow from Owen Yuan to get hematopoietic stem cells—just a vein blood draw, then use the cell separator to isolate the stem cells.
Serena’s hands moved fast. She handled the medical instruments so fluently she didn’t even need to look.
Before anyone else could react, she’d already picked out what she needed and set it on a silver tray, heading toward Mr. Yuan.
She pulled a stool from under the operating bed, set the tray on it, spun around, and sat on the other side.
You had to admit, the stuff in Serena’s little cabin was weird—but seriously practical.
“Mr. Yuan, relax. It won’t hurt.” Serena dipped a cotton swab in disinfectant and wiped his arm back and forth to make the vein show.
“I’m not nervous.” Owen Yuan replied breezily.
Yeah, right. Even if he was nervous, he’d never admit it—too embarrassing.
“Good, not nervous.” So that’s what passes for gentlemanly composure—dying of embarrassment but refusing to show it. Serena smiled, noticing how Owen Yuan stared unblinking at her hands. He was nowhere near as calm as he pretended.
So, when Serena prepared to insert the needle, she used a simple hospital trick—low-level, but surprisingly effective.
“Mr. Yuan, look over there…” Serena pointed across the room. Owen was so tense, he didn’t even think—just followed her finger with his eyes. And then…
“Ow…” Owen hissed at the sting and whipped his head back—only to see the slim needle already in his arm, Serena quickly taping it down.
He hadn’t seen a thing.
“Serena Feng, you tricked me.” Owen was not amused.
Serena put on an innocent face. “Did I? I don’t think so. You just didn’t let me finish.” She flicked the clear tube, watching the blood flow into the bag, her tone softening a little.
“Didn’t let you finish? What were you going to say?” Owen was frustrated. He knew Serena meant well, but he still felt embarrassed.
A grown man, afraid of a needle—how ridiculous.
“I was going to say, ‘Look over there—there’s nothing there.’” Serena said it so seriously, Owen had nowhere to vent his annoyance.
After saying that, Serena ignored Owen and went to the worktable to set up the cell separator.
She could have extracted the stem cells ahead of time, but Serena thought it unnecessary. There was a gap before Holden’s anesthesia kicked in, so she used that time to collect stem cells—and to help calm the uncle and nephew.
She almost called Simon over to teach him how to use the separator, but thought better of it. There’d be plenty of chances later—no need to explain in front of Owen and Holden.
Once the machine was set up, Serena had nothing else to do. She didn’t want to sit, so she leaned lightly against the worktable, her body tilting back, expression blank, eyes fixed on the blood bag beside Owen, completely still.
She stared so intently, it was as if there were flowers blooming on the blood bag. The others in the operating room were affected by her mood and stared too—but after a while, none of them saw anything special.
Just as everyone was getting confused, Serena moved.
She strode over to Owen on long legs. All three watched her, expecting something dramatic. But to their disappointment, Serena didn’t do anything earth-shattering—she just took down the blood bag.
Tch… Serena’s serious, stiff demeanor made them expect something special, but in the end… they’d gotten their hopes up for nothing.