Sonny's face showed an expression sadder than losing his mother. "Do you even know that this hurts worse than stabbing me in the heart?"
Matthew frowned even deeper and decided to cut straight to the point. "Spit it out. How much do you want?"
In his understanding, a scientist's time was indeed precious. It was so precious that it couldn't even be measured by money. Even if the price was outrageous, he decided he would just accept it.
Money? Sonny felt insulted and said angrily, "There are some things money can't buy. Look. Just look! Do you see what this is?"
Sonny pinched his thumb and forefinger together and held them up in front of Matthew's face to let him have a look.
Huh? Matthew couldn't see what was in Sonny's hand at first. But after looking carefully, he understood. "It's just a strand of hair. Why are you showing me this?"
Sonny shook the hair in his hand, frustrated. "Just a strand of hair? You're calling this just a strand?"
Matthew sensed something wasn't right. "You're not telling me you want compensation for this hair, are you?"
If it was just a stand of hair, even if he paid for it, it wouldn't cost much. He actually felt a little relieved.
Sonny became angrier. "This is hair! It's priceless, you know? Do you have any idea that I only have 13 strands of hair on my head?"
13 strands? This was the first time Matthew had heard of anyone counting how many hairs they had.
His gaze fell on Sonny's head. The top was shiny and bald, and a tuft of hair wrapped around the sides of his head.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like only 13 strands.
He laughed and said, "Can you not exaggerate? Your hair may be thin, but that tuft there has at least 100 strands, minimum."
Sonny pointed to his head and said, "You think it looks like a lot, don't you? But it's actually 13 strands. Every single one of them is really long.
"The longest one is 47.24 inches. The second-longest is 46.46 inches. The third is…
"Let me put it this way. The shortest one is 40 inches long. All of them are over 40 inches. That's why I can wrap it around my head ten times. It just looks like there's a lot."
Matthew was stunned as he listened. Hair over 40 inches long—how incredible was that?
This guy… After making it sound so serious, he thought it was about extorting money. It turned out he just wanted to take Emily to play.
Matthew looked closely at Sonny and noticed Sonny seemed a little shy. His face was even a little red, as though he were embarrassed.
Matthew couldn't help but ask, "Are you in love with Emily?"
Sonny's flushed face deepened. "Well, uh, people are like molecules. The same charges repel, and the opposite attracts.
"I'm a man, Emily's a woman. We're naturally attracted to each other. It's perfectly reasonable."
Matthew nodded. "That's reasonable."
Sonny stared intently at Mathew. "I hope you can arrange for me to have dinner with Emily."
Matthew frowned, a little helpless. "I'm afraid I can't order Professor Bolton around."
Sonny shook his head. "That's impossible. Emily's personality is such that she never asks anyone for help. Yet, she asked me for help because of the mechanical exoskeleton. You're her boss. If you say it, she'll listen."

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Great Medical Saint (Matthew)