RMM -Chapter 251 Love Alone Is Not Enough

Half a month drifted by unhurriedly. During this time, Zhou Yunzhen made no moves at all—she neither came looking for Su Ruo nor called her. It was as if she had vanished completely.

Su Ruo had no idea what scheme Zhou Yunzhen was playing, but she couldn’t be bothered to waste time or brainpower thinking about it. If Zhou Yunzhen showed up on her own, Su Ruo would deal with it head-on. If she didn’t come, then all the better—peace and quiet, out of sight and out of mind.

What Su Ruo didn’t know was that Zhou Yunzhen’s disappearance over these days boiled down to just two reasons.

First, Zhou Yunzhen felt she had been far too eager for quick results, which had backfired instead. Like last time—although Su Ruo hadn’t ended up suspecting anything, her own behavior had definitely made Su Ruo unhappy. If Su Ruo grew annoyed with her because of that, it would be disastrous.

Her plan hadn’t succeeded yet, so she absolutely couldn’t fall out with Su Ruo now. She had to be mindful of Su Ruo’s attitude. No matter how wronged she felt, she had to swallow all the unpleasantness and keep it to herself. Su Ruo was a crucial chess piece; she couldn’t afford to lose her halfway through.

Unable to figure out what Su Ruo was thinking, Zhou Yunzhen didn’t dare act rashly again. She chose to lie low for a while to let things cool down, using the opportunity to adjust her original plan. As for Su Ruo—after so much time had passed, she would probably have forgotten that incident. And even if she hadn’t forgotten, at least her resistance toward Zhou Yunzhen should have eased considerably.

Zhou Yunzhen wasn’t stupid. She knew it was better to leave Su Ruo alone for a bit and let her intense emotions cool off. Otherwise, if she kept showing up in front of her every day, wouldn’t that just be adding fuel to the fire?

When you don’t see someone, things are more likely to pass.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. There was another, far more important one—the main factor that allowed Zhou Yunzhen to remain so calm.

Last time, she had obtained Xi Yuechen’s phone number.

Zhou Yunzhen flipped back and forth through the new contact in her address book. A faint blush spread across her elegant face. Like a young girl meeting the man of her dreams for the first time, she looked shy and sweet, her eyes shimmering with longing, the curve of her lips bold and sugary.

“Yuechen… Yuechen…”

Her rose-pink lips murmured the name over and over. No matter how many times she rolled it around in her mouth, she never tired of it. The name seemed to carry an inexhaustible magic.

Should she give him a call? But what would she say? Should she start by asking how he was? Would that seem too ordinary? And then…

Zhou Yunzhen found herself agonizing over how to present herself perfectly if she called Xi Yuechen—how to leave a deep impression on him.

Yet in her mixture of joy and nervousness, she forgot the most important question of all: would Xi Yuechen even answer the phone?

If he didn’t, what would be the point of all this effort? A waste of emotions, and a waste of time.

“How should I introduce myself? Just say I’m Zhou Yunzhen? Or should I say I’m General Zhou’s daughter? Which would sound more natural?”

She stared blankly at her phone screen, muttering to herself. The more she thought, the more problems surfaced, until her brows knit together in worry.

“No, no… If I call him so directly, will he think I’m too forward? What if he doesn’t like it?”

Before she could resolve one question, another popped up. If she acted this rashly, would she seem cheap? She had to maintain some aloofness. Otherwise, he might look down on her—she couldn’t let him think she was throwing herself at him.

In a man’s eyes, a sense of mystery—coming and going, never fully graspable—was what kept boredom at bay.

After much deliberation, Zhou Yunzhen abandoned the impulse to call Xi Yuechen. In her view, a man like him wouldn’t like a woman who was too bold.

But giving up just like that left her unwilling. It had taken effort to get his number—doing nothing with it felt like such a waste.

Since she couldn’t call, there were other ways, weren’t there? A sweet smile bloomed on Zhou Yunzhen’s face again, while her fingers moved swiftly.

Yuechen, long time no see. This is Yunzhen.

That should work, right? Not too forward, yet not distant either. It should be fine.

…Better change it.

With a sigh, Zhou Yunzhen swore she had never been this conflicted in her life. For Xi Yuechen, she had done things she would never even have dared imagine before, swallowing grievance after grievance. She had truly given far too much.

In the end, she changed This is Yunzhen to This is Zhou Yunzhen and sent the message.

After sending it, she stared at her phone nervously, her eyes filled with both anticipation and unease, a slow-burning excitement spreading through her chest.

Not long after, Xi Yuechen’s reply still hadn’t arrived—but a knock sounded on her office door.

“Come in.”

She quickly adjusted her expression and called out, a familiar gentle smile appearing on her face.

“Xiao Zhou, the meeting is about to start. Why aren’t you there yet?”

The visitor didn’t step inside, only spoke from the doorway. There was an important meeting at the hospital today, about to begin. Everyone else had already arrived, except for the usually outstanding Zhou Yunzhen, so someone had come to fetch her.

The meeting had been announced to Zhou Yunzhen the day before. But in her current absent-minded state, who knew whether she’d even taken it in? In any case, she was late today as expected—if no one had come to remind her, she probably would have missed it altogether.

“Oh dear, I got so absorbed in reviewing medical records that I forgot the time. How careless of me,” Zhou Yunzhen said. After a brief moment of surprise, she quickly recovered and produced an excuse smoothly.

There was a meeting today? As surprised as she was, she vaguely remembered being notified yesterday. But these past few days, all she’d been thinking about was Xi Yuechen—she had completely forgotten. How awful.

Still, annoyed as she felt inside, there was nothing amiss on her face. Her perfect smile carried a hint of embarrassment; the excuse she’d given was flawless.

Why would the visitor make things difficult for her? Not only was she a favored protégé of the hospital leadership with a bright future ahead—offending her would bring no benefits—but her usual manner with people was also excellent. He held quite a favorable impression of this young, beautiful woman.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Doctors have the heart of parents—you’re devoted to your patients. The hospital would praise such dedication, not criticize it. So don’t blame yourself. Hurry and get ready, let’s go. I’ll help explain it later; I’m sure everyone will understand.”

The visitor was very warm and enthusiastic. Zhou Yunzhen smiled gratefully and nodded. Although her heart was entirely focused on waiting for Xi Yuechen’s reply, and she had no mindset for a meeting at all, she couldn’t refuse. Reluctantly, she put down her phone, tidied her appearance, and hurried off with him.

Maybe by the time the meeting ended, Xi Yuechen would have replied?

Perhaps because of her innate confidence and pride, Zhou Yunzhen never imagined things going badly. Even when she lacked certainty, she might feel uneasy—but she never prepared herself for failure.

One could imagine just how distracted she was during the meeting. From start to finish, she neither spoke nor voiced any opinions. No matter how animated the discussion around her became, she sat motionless and absent-minded, like a statue, drawing several glances from her department director.

At last, the meeting ended. Zhou Yunzhen lifted her foot to return to her office, only to be stopped by the director.

“Xiao Zhou, wait a moment. I have something to say to you.”

She frowned slightly, a flash of impatience crossing her eyes, but before the director noticed, she replaced it with her usual smile.

“Has something been going on with you lately? You don’t seem to be in great shape.”

His words made Zhou Yunzhen smile awkwardly. She was surprised that her emotions were showing so clearly—she had always thought her disguise was excellent.

“I’ve been studying several cases these past few days. I might be a bit tired, that’s all. I’ll adjust as soon as possible,” she said, smiling apologetically as she promised.

“You need to keep things in check and not overwork yourself. Those case studies can wait; there’s no rush. If you wear yourself down, not only will you fail to help patients—you’ll end up becoming one yourself.”

The director sighed. Whether Zhou Yunzhen was telling the truth or not, as a junior he valued, he didn’t want to see anything happen to her. He’d sensed something was off with her mood these days, but since it was her private matter, he hadn’t interfered—as long as it didn’t affect work. But now, it clearly had. Thankfully, this was just a meeting. If it were on the operating table, with such a distracted state of mind—what if something went wrong?

Human lives were at stake. Having a good family background didn’t excuse irresponsibility. He had to remind her.

Zhou Yunzhen truly felt ashamed now. Her face flushed as she nodded repeatedly. “This is my fault. I’ll remember what you said, Director. I’ll be more careful from now on and won’t make mistakes again.”

Seeing her sincere attitude, the director didn’t press further. If she could understand on her own, a single reminder was enough. If she couldn’t, no amount of earnest advice would help. So he simply nodded.

“As long as you understand. If there’s anything going on, deal with it as soon as possible. As doctors, we must never let personal emotions affect our work—or sooner or later, something will go wrong.”

Zhou Yunzhen was flushed with embarrassment. She’d thought her excuse was flawless, but she hadn’t expected the director to see through it all along. Anyone would feel awkward having their lie exposed.

After the director left, Zhou Yunzhen finally let out a long breath. The expression on her face turned troubled. It was true that she was constantly thinking about Xi Yuechen, but she’d believed she could control herself. She hadn’t expected that, without realizing it, every aspect of her life had been affected. She’d always thought that no matter how complicated things became, she could keep her personal and professional lives separate—but faced with reality, that confidence felt utterly powerless.

Sigh… this can’t go on.

She would never let go of Xi Yuechen—but she absolutely couldn’t change herself because of him, couldn’t lose who she was. Her world could never revolve around love alone.

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