RMM -Chapter 301 Reaping One’s Own Bitter Fruit

When Zhou Tingzhang returned home, it was already past eight in the evening.

As he passed by Zhou Yunzhen’s room, he suddenly noticed—quite unusually—that her door was open. Feeling puzzled, he subconsciously glanced inside, only to see his daughter collapsed on the floor, completely motionless.

Zhou Tingzhang’s heart leapt into his throat. His expression changed drastically as he rushed straight into the room.

“Yunzhen!”

When he crouched down and clearly saw his daughter’s utterly transformed appearance, his pupils shrank violently, disbelief written all over his face.

How could his daughter have become like this?

But Zhou Tingzhang had no time to dwell on the shock of her drastic change. At this moment, the unconscious Zhou Yunzhen was thin and wretched beyond recognition, as if life had already drained away from her. If not for her faint breathing, Zhou Tingzhang would almost have believed that his daughter was truly…

“Yunzhen, Yunzhen, hang on—Dad’s taking you to the hospital.”

Panicking, Zhou Tingzhang shouted as he scooped Zhou Yunzhen up from the floor and hurried downstairs. The instant he lifted her, her frighteningly negligible weight made his heart ache sharply again, his eyes turning red.

Yunzhen, don’t let anything happen to you. This is Dad’s fault. As long as you wake up, we’ll live well together. Dad won’t be angry with you anymore—it’s all my fault…

It wasn’t that Zhou Tingzhang was overreacting. Zhou Yunzhen truly looked as though she were on her last breath—fragile to the extreme, as if this sleep would last until the end of time.

When Zhou Yunzhen finally woke up, she had already been lying in the hospital for two days.

This ordeal had frightened her badly. Her body, already worn down from neglecting food and rest, was barely holding on. That video had been nothing more than the fuse—once ignited, it exploded instantly.

Freshly awake, Zhou Yunzhen was still dazed. She stared blankly for a long while before realizing she was in a hospital.

A hospital? Who brought her here? Her father?
But… hadn’t he already abandoned her?

Bitterness flooded Zhou Yunzhen’s heart. She was so overwhelmed with sorrow that she couldn’t control herself—resenting only the fact that she had woken up again.

Then she remembered why she was in the hospital.

That video!

In an instant, Zhou Yunzhen’s face turned deathly pale. It was as though she had fallen into an icy abyss—her entire body freezing stiff—yet her mind was terrifyingly clear.

At this point, how could she not understand? How could that video have appeared before her? Someone had deliberately sent it to her. And that person was definitely not a deliveryman—how could a courier possibly be allowed into the military compound? Everything had been carefully planned.

Clearly, someone had recorded that day. Her most filthy, unbearable side had been captured. And now, they had come to settle the score.

Overwhelmed by terror, Zhou Yunzhen began to tremble uncontrollably. Even her breathing grew chaotic. She opened her mouth wide, gasping desperately, yet unable to draw in a single breath—as if her throat were being strangled. Her hands shook so violently she couldn’t even lift them.

It was Su Ruo… it was her! She harmed me, recorded the video, and now she’s taking revenge!

It was her! She wants me dead… Su Ruo… Su Ruo…

At that moment, Zhou Tingzhang pushed the door open.

What he saw nearly tore his soul from his body—his daughter lying on the hospital bed, her body shaking uncontrollably. Her face was flushed bright red, mouth wide open, as if an invisible hand were gripping her throat, suffocating her to death.

“Yunzhen!”

Zhou Tingzhang roared in terror, rushing to the bedside in two strides. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand reaching behind her back, continuously soothing her breathing.

“Yunzhen, wake up! Dad’s here—don’t be afraid, wake up!” he pleaded urgently, his eyes burning red. He then slammed the call button at the head of the bed. “Help! Save my daughter!”

Zhou Yunzhen didn’t know what happened afterward. She only remembered feeling like she was about to suffocate, all sensations gradually drifting away. Then her father’s sudden voice pulled her back to a shred of awareness—though she remained muddled and unable to feel anything else.

In her heart, she thought:
If I just die like this, that’s fine too. At least I won’t have to face those things anymore.

But she woke up again.

This time, shaken to the core, Zhou Tingzhang stayed by her bedside without moving an inch, afraid that the moment she woke, something like that would happen again.

“Yunzhen!”

The instant he noticed his daughter waking up, Zhou Tingzhang called out, his voice filled with both joy and worry.

“Yunzhen, are you okay? Do you feel unwell anywhere? Should I call the doctor?”

Looking at his daughter, now little more than skin and bones, Zhou Tingzhang’s heart ached unbearably. Suppressing the sour pain in his chest, he leaned closer and asked softly.

Zhou Yunzhen was still somewhat vacant, her eyes empty, as though she weren’t looking at anything at all. Zhou Tingzhang’s eyes burned, tears nearly falling.

“Yunzhen? Can you hear Dad?”

Only then did Zhou Yunzhen show a reaction. Her dry eyes shifted slightly and landed on Zhou Tingzhang. After staring for a while, she seemed to finally realize he was there.

“Dad…”

She couldn’t make a sound, but Zhou Tingzhang understood from her lips.

“Yes, Dad’s here. Dad’s right here with you,” he replied hoarsely.

After that, Zhou Yunzhen’s emotions remained relatively stable—likely because of Zhou Tingzhang’s attitude. Seeing that her father hadn’t abandoned her gave her a sense of reassurance.

The next day, unable to suppress her thoughts about the video any longer, Zhou Yunzhen finally brought it up herself.

Her father’s behavior was far too strange. He was the one who sent her to the hospital—how could he not have seen the tablet? And yet he was so calm now, even choosing to forgive her. With his temperament, he should have been far angrier.

“What tablet? There wasn’t one.”

Zhou Tingzhang frowned, genuinely confused. He hadn’t seen any tablet in his daughter’s room. Even in his panic, there was no way he could have overlooked something like that.

Seeing how firm her father was, Zhou Yunzhen became bewildered. He hadn’t seen it? How was that possible? She had thrown it right by the door.

But since Zhou Tingzhang insisted there was nothing, she didn’t press the matter, burying the doubt deep in her heart and actively cooperating with the doctors.

Her father had finally forgiven her. She had to recover properly and rely on him for the rest of her life. In this world, she had only her father left. She absolutely couldn’t lose him again.

As for Xi Yuechen and Su Ruo—she no longer wanted to think about them. Love had ruined her completely. She would never dare touch it again. Let it all end here. She admitted defeat. She would stop fighting. All she wanted in this life was her father.

But Su Ruo had ruined her to this extent and still wanted to live happily ever after with Xi Yuechen?

Dream on.

Life was long and full of variables. Su Ruo, don’t celebrate too soon. Without me, there will be others. I’ll just stand aside and watch your retribution—watch you grow old alone!

As Zhou Yunzhen cursed Su Ruo, she also lived in constant anxiety. That video was still in Su Ruo’s hands, and she had no idea what she planned to do with it. The more she worried, the more she hated her.

Under Zhou Tingzhang’s supervision, Zhou Yunzhen’s physical condition recovered fairly well, and her mood gradually brightened. She stopped thinking about that day, resolving to start over and forget all the messy things.

But how could it be that easy?

Zhou Tingzhang couldn’t stay by her side all the time. Seeing that she seemed to be recovering well, he finally felt somewhat reassured and returned to the army to work.

That day, when Zhou Yunzhen came out of the bathroom, she noticed a document envelope on her bed. She was puzzled—it hadn’t been there earlier. Had a doctor come in just now?

Thinking this, she reached out and opened the envelope, dumping its contents onto the bed.

They were photographs.

The moment she saw them, her entire body jolted as if struck by electricity. She began trembling violently again, eyes widening in terror, her expression twisted and grotesque.

It wasn’t hard to guess—those photos were all from that day, likely screenshots taken from the video. Every single one was obscene and unmistakably clear.

Zhou Yunzhen had only just managed to relax, and now, with these photos appearing at precisely the wrong moment, she completely collapsed once more.

“Take them away! That’s not me! That’s not me… please, take them away…”

She couldn’t even scream this time. Staggering backward, she retreated to the window, muttering to herself, her expression one of sheer terror, as if she had seen a demon.

In her current condition, she couldn’t withstand even the slightest刺激. Her body hadn’t fully recovered, and the psychological trauma was still there—so it was hardly surprising when she fainted again.

At that moment, the door was pushed open.

A doctor wearing a mask walked in. Seeing Zhou Yunzhen collapsed on the floor, he didn’t seem surprised at all—he even clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, that’s really explosive.”

He picked up one of the photos from the bed, glanced at it, and clicked his tongue again.

“Can’t even handle this much shock? What kind of guilty conscience do you have?”

He wasn’t expecting an answer. Quickly gathering the photos, he stuffed them back into the envelope and turned to leave. But just before exiting, he turned around and made a gun gesture toward Zhou Yunzhen.

“Bang!”

He mimicked the sound of a gunshot with his mouth, then pushed the door open and left.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yunzhen didn’t see this. If she had, she would have recognized him instantly. Though he wore a mask, those smiling eyes were exactly the same as the man who had delivered the package to her that day.

Zhou Yunzhen was discovered later during a real doctor’s ward round, and the hospital immediately called Zhou Tingzhang.

When Zhou Yunzhen woke up this time, she kept shouting incoherently—“photos,” “not me,” “go away”—ignoring both Zhou Tingzhang and the doctors. She looked utterly delirious.

The doctor gently shook his head at Zhou Tingzhang, his expression apologetic and helpless.

After regaining some clarity, Zhou Yunzhen looked at her father and anxiously asked, “Dad, where are the photos? Did you see them?”

“There are no photos, Yunzhen. Just rest properly. Don’t think about anything,” Zhou Tingzhang said softly.

His heart felt like it was being cut by knives. He never imagined his daughter would end up like this—her mind even starting to slip. But who could he blame?

He could only blame himself for being too careless. And blame his daughter—for bringing this upon herself.

She had reaped what she sowed.