Serena Feng had no time to play Simon Sun’s endless guessing games. She went straight to the point: “Simon, if you have something to say, just say it.” She was certain Simon was unhappy with how she treated Bella Qin.
Sure enough, Simon Sun hesitated for a moment before saying, “Master, even though there are some misunderstandings between me and Miss Qin, she really doesn’t mean any harm. She truly admires you and wants to be close to you. Could you treat her a bit better?”
Seeing Serena Feng frown, Simon immediately corrected himself: “Just—just don’t be so harsh, that’s all.”
Harsh to Bella Qin?
She’d expected this, but hearing Simon say it still left Serena feeling uncomfortable. Suppressing her disappointment, Serena forced a smile and said, “Simon, all of this is something Miss Qin brought on herself. I never asked her to be so attentive, to care for me at every turn, to keep her eyes on me all the time.
Simon, Miss Qin isn’t anyone special to me—I have no obligation to be good to her, much less to respond to her enthusiasm. To me, she’s just an ordinary patient, and I’ll meet countless patients like her in my life. If everyone acted like Miss Qin and I had to respond to each one, I’d spend my whole life just socializing with patients and never get anything else done.”
“Master, that’s not what I meant.” Simon grew anxious, wanting to explain, but realized that no matter how he tried, he couldn’t convince himself—let alone Serena Feng.
“Master…” Simon looked at Serena with pitiful eyes. Serena couldn’t bear to scold him, so she sighed softly: “Simon, not everyone who treats us well deserves our kindness in return, and not every kindness must be accepted.”
The kind of attention Bella Qin gave—Serena simply couldn’t accept it. Bella’s constant behavior had already become a burden for her.
“I know Miss Qin means no harm, but the way she’s so attentive to everyone easily leads to misunderstandings—and it’s a problem for me. After all, I really don’t have the time to constantly go along with her or respond to her kindness every day.”
Serena paused here, seeing Simon Sun still unconvinced, and continued: “Miss Qin is kind to everyone, regardless of gender. It’s fine since I’m a woman, but if I were a man? If she acted this way toward me, I’d definitely think she liked me, and that could easily lead to unnecessary trouble—even hurt herself.”
Serena was using herself as an example, but she was also talking about Simon—Bella Qin’s indiscriminate kindness had blurred the lines between them, making Simon fall for her, only for Bella to insist she saw him as an older brother.
Maybe Bella Qin really did think of Simon Sun as a brother, but this kind of ambiguity was cruel—especially for someone as naive as Simon.
“I…” Simon opened his mouth, but when he remembered how Bella Qin would always find a chance to show concern for him, no matter the time or place, regardless of whether he was available, all the words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.
Thinking it over, he realized that on their journey, he really had been delayed by Bella Qin—she’d held him up and distracted him from important matters.
“Master, I was wrong.” Simon bowed his head in apology, but Serena wasn’t pleased—she simply shook her head gently, then changed the subject: “Earlier you said you’d identified the foreign object in Logan Ling’s throat. What is it?”
“It’s—it’s…” As soon as this came up, Simon Sun pushed Bella Qin out of his mind, his anger rising. But after stammering for a while, he still couldn’t get to the point.
“What is it?” Serena pressed him.
“It’s…” Simon looked embarrassed, glanced at Serena, his anger flaring, fists clenched tight. With his eyes closed, he finally blurted out, “Master, the foreign object in Logan Ling’s throat is a man’s—a man’s testicle.”
Simon paused again at this point, nearly driving Serena crazy with suspense. Just as she was about to give up, Simon gritted his teeth and said, “Master, the foreign body in Logan Ling’s throat is—a man’s testicle.”
When Simon finally forced out those last two words, his ears turned crimson. His words seemed to cast a spell—suddenly the whole hall fell silent, and Serena Feng stood there, mouth slightly open, utterly stunned…
Simon Sun cautiously opened his eyes. “Master, what’s wrong?”
“Simon, you said—you said…” Serena was still dazed. “The thing stuck in Logan Ling’s throat is…” She didn’t finish, but her choked voice told Simon how much she hurt for Logan.
Now that it was out in the open, Simon wasn’t as embarrassed as before. He nodded gently: “I asked Greenshine about it. It’s Logan’s own. His older brother had someone cut it off and then forced it into Logan’s mouth—he swallowed one, and the other got stuck in his throat. For all these years, he’s never managed to cough it up or swallow it down. It’s like it’s grown into his throat.”
“No wonder—no wonder he won’t let anyone touch him.” Serena knew how cruel castration could be, but she never imagined Linden would do such a thing to Logan.
That first time she met Linden Ling, he’d seemed so refined and gentle—who could have guessed how dark he truly was, to treat his own brother so viciously? Even if it was for revenge, what had Logan done wrong back then?
Simon nodded in agreement, sighing. “Master, Logan really has suffered. I’ve seen all kinds of patients, but never anyone like him.”
“There are people in this world who’ve suffered as much as Logan, or even worse—you just haven’t met them yet.” Serena regained her composure faster than Simon. “Simon, don’t dwell on what we can’t change. What we need to do now is help Logan as much as we can, free him from pain, and help him step out of the shadows.”
“I’m confident I can heal Logan’s physical wounds, but how do I treat the wounds in his heart? Logan will never…” Simon trailed off, unable to finish.
Logan will never be a man in the traditional sense—his whole life has been ruined by Linden.
“To stand tall, to be responsible and reliable—that’s what makes a true man.” Serena patted Simon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Logan. He’s stronger than we think, and his life will only get better from here.”
Only Serena and Simon knew the truth about Logan’s condition, and neither of them was the gossiping type. Both had warned Greenshine—no one was allowed to speak of this.
This was Logan’s wound—talking about it would only rip open his scars all over again.
Greenshine would never betray them—she was deeply moved by everything Serena and Simon had done for Logan. She immediately knelt before them: “Meeting Miss Feng and Dr. Sun is my young master’s greatest blessing. On his behalf, I bow to you both.”
Ignoring Serena’s attempts to stop her, Greenshine insisted on bowing nine times before she finally rose. Unbeknownst to them, Logan and Left Shore watched the whole scene from the shadows—Logan’s eyes were red, tears streaming down his face…