Chapter 10: Day 10 of Transmigrating into an Object

Jiang Shiyang froze in place, staring at the task for a full three seconds.

Squeeze between thighs for 60 seconds? What did that even mean? Who in their right mind would casually clamp a water cup between their legs? Did the System think she was a yoga ball or some kind of thigh-slimming gadget?

If it wanted Shen Wenyi to squeeze something, it should have just turned her into something squeezable. Why a water cup, of all things?

The absurdity was overwhelming.

Jiang Shiyang yawned in her soul, watching Shen Wenyi and the male lead flirt on set while simultaneously racking her brain for a way to complete the task.

As she mulled it over, she suddenly remembered the forgotten random task gift pack — a reward from the mysterious task. Who knew if there might be a surprise inside?

She opened the Shop — My Items — and clicked on the gift pack. Two things popped out: one was a Points Exchange Coupon ×100, and the other was a Coordinate Exchange Talisman.

【Coordinate Exchange Talisman: While in item form, instantly teleport to any desired coordinates.】

It seemed useful, but also felt completely pointless.

Either way, it was useless right now.

She exited the menu, uninterested. With sixteen hours of human form duration as a safety net, she wasn’t worried about filming tomorrow. The real problem was this task — how the hell was she supposed to complete it? Task after task kept coming. When would it ever end?

She summoned the System to ask. The System said everything would conclude once all tasks were completed. As for how many tasks “all tasks” entailed, the System itself didn’t even know.

She decided to let it go. Worst case scenario, when she was truly exhausted one day, she’d just transmigrate into an easily decomposable item. If she couldn’t move, so be it. The sooner she decomposed, the sooner she’d be free. As long as it wasn’t a fate worse than death.

Once she loosened up, the irritation faded. She focused intently on watching Shen Wenyi act. To be fair, Shen Wenyi’s acting was genuinely good, and her attention to detail was quite impressive. Though she was still a tiny bit behind Jiang Shiyang herself, she was more than enough to completely crush Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang’s acting was actually decent too — at least much better than many of those “Little Fresh Meat” actors nowadays. He was humble and good with people. Even when he sometimes couldn’t keep up with a scene, everyone was willing to guide him and give him more chances, so the final product always turned out quite impressive.

She watched with great interest. As long as she didn’t look at Shen Wenyi’s face, she could still settle down and analyze the plot and performances.

The final scene wrapped earlier than expected. It was barely midnight. Director Chen was extremely satisfied with the day’s shoot and declared with a grand wave of his hand, “Starting tomorrow, we push back to 8 AM. Now, let’s go — my treat, everyone!”

While putting away equipment, Little Qin from props teased, “Director Chen’s this happy because Teacher Jiang joined the crew, huh? Planning to celebrate?”

Outside of work hours, Director Chen was quite approachable and kind.

Director Chen smacked Little Qin on the back of the head with a laugh. “What? Is your Little Teacher Jiang not worth a welcome?”

Little Qin rubbed the back of his head with a dopey grin. “Worth it, totally worth it. I’m a fan of Teacher Jiang too. I didn’t even dare to speak to her all day. I still want her autograph.”

Zhang Jiandong, also from the props team, elbowed Little Qin, his eyes darting toward Shen Wenyi.

“Don’t just blurt everything out, you moron.”

Whether Shen Wenyi heard was unclear, but Jiang Shiyang definitely did.

Though Jiang Shiyang didn’t have time to worry about which props crew member was her fan. What worried her was that Director Chen had actually lost his mind and was throwing her a dinner party?!

Director Chen, please don’t be so good to me. I can’t bear it.

If Director Chen invited her, it would be inappropriate not to go. But going meant wasting eight hours of human form duration. Sleeping as an item was the most efficient. She didn’t want to waste a single minute.

What should she do?

She watched helplessly as Director Chen dialed her number. Of course no one answered — she was right there as a water cup!

Director Chen waited a while, frowned and hung up, then called Little Xie.

Whatever Little Xie said, Director Chen replied with “Alright, I’ll wait for you all then,” and hung up with a chuckle.

Director Chen announced to everyone, “Little Jiang will meet us directly at the restaurant. Let’s head out first!”

Everyone was hungry and noisily cheered “Director Chen’s so generous!” before hurrying back to the makeup room to change out of costumes and remove makeup, quickly regrouping afterward.

Shen Wenyi emerged from the makeup room wearing the smog blue coat that Little He had been holding. The water cup was stuffed into a backpack and thrown into the car, landing upside down in a dazed heap.

Life was hard, but still better than being an object. As an object, she didn’t even have the right to decide which way her head faced.

The bumpy ride left her disoriented. She had no idea how long they’d been driving, nor did she have time to care. What worried her most was that when Little Xie couldn’t reach her phone, she’d definitely go to the front desk and ask staff to open the door. If they found her completely unresponsive to any calls, it would alarm everyone within minutes, and they’d rush her to the hospital overnight.

So did this mean she absolutely had to waste those eight hours?

She sighed and reluctantly opened the Shop. Just as she was about to click My Items, she suddenly noticed the Points in the upper right corner of the Shop interface.

120 Points?

Right — the Mystery Gift Pack had given her 100 Points.

Reaching 100 Points unlocked the first item slot. Though she wasn’t getting her hopes up, she went ahead and unlocked it.

Clink.

The first item slot opened. The gray lock vanished, replaced by a bright yellow talisman with “Duration Separation Talisman” written on it in cinnabar.

【Duration Separation Talisman: Splits remaining time into minimum units of 1 minute. One talisman per split.】

Her eyes lit up.

What was that saying? Search high and low only to find it without any effort at all.

So this was what they meant by “a forced melon isn’t sweet.” Don’t force it. Wait for the melon to ripen and fall — then you get to enjoy the ready-made fruit.

Ever since getting saddled with this dogshit System, Jiang Shiyang had never been this happy. She was genuinely overjoyed.

But how did she exchange for this talisman? Surely there wasn’t no limit — she couldn’t just exchange as many as she wanted.

She checked. The first unlock was free. After that, 100 Points per talisman.

Not bad. At least there was a free one. She wouldn’t have to waste eight whole hours at once.

She quickly estimated the time. Filming resumed at 8 AM every day, and the dinner party wouldn’t go past 3 AM at the latest. Factoring in travel time back, splitting off three and a half hours should be enough.

Truthfully, four hours would be safer, but she truly didn’t want to waste even a single minute. She’d just keep an eye on the time and make sure not to exceed it.

She used the Duration Separation Talisman, split off three and a half hours, and activated it.

The next second, she opened her eyes back in her own body. Little Xie had indeed brought a hotel staff member into the room. Little Xie’s face had gone white with fear. The staff member was communicating with the front desk via walkie-talkie, and she caught the words “call an ambulance.”

“Why are you calling an ambulance?”

She propped herself up. There was a moment of dizziness right after returning to her body, but once she sat steady, she adjusted.

Little Xie burst into tears the moment she saw her awake, patting her chest and choking out, “You scared me to death, Teacher Jiang! You were sleeping so deeply — I’ve never seen you sleep that deeply before. No matter how I called, you wouldn’t wake up.”

The staff member sighed in relief upon seeing her awake, radioed the front desk that everything was fine, and left.

Little Xie wiped her tears and told her about Director Chen’s invitation. Jiang Shiyang listened while climbing out of bed to get dressed, then went to the bathroom to rinse with mouthwash, combed her hair twice, and finally put on a rabbit fur hat.

She glanced at the water cup on the table, walked over and grabbed it, then urged Little Xie to hurry. Time was limited — not a second could be wasted.

Little Xie stared at the water cup in disbelief. “Teacher Jiang, that… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

What kind of dinner party didn’t involve drinking? Everyone had to drink at least a little. Director Chen was throwing this party to welcome her, and she was bringing a water cup? Wasn’t that a slap in Director Chen’s face?

She tilted her snow-white rabbit fur hat, turned back, and smiled faintly at Little Xie.

“It would be more inappropriate if I didn’t bring a water cup.”

“Then why are you bringing one?”

She reached behind Little Xie, grabbed the door handle, and locked it with a click. Dark pupils glimmered with shifting light.

“You want to know? Children shouldn’t go prying into things they shouldn’t.”

Little Xie protested, “You’re only three years older than me!”

“Three years is a generation gap. I’m your elder.”

“Teacher Jiang!”

The restaurant wasn’t far from the hotel — even closer than the drive from the film base. They arrived just as the main group did, timing it perfectly.

She glanced at Shen Wenyi’s car, knowing the water cup was inside, and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy. If she hadn’t been forced to show up in person, while everyone else was out eating and having fun, she’d be miserably stuck upside down in that car.

The group entered the restaurant. Director Chen’s people had reserved tables in advance. The private room wasn’t big enough for everyone, so they had to split up — assistants and crew in one room, actors and the director in another.

The private room had two tables, and everyone crowded in, filling the seats completely.

The waitstaff brought out cold dishes first. Director Chen noticed the water cup on the table in front of her and couldn’t resist teasing her in front of everyone.

“Look at this. I drag her out of bed and she’s unhappy about it — even brought her own water cup. What’s this, trying to tell me you don’t drink, only water?”

Tch.

She knew Director Chen would ask.

Good that he asked. If no one brought it up, how was she supposed to put on the next act?

Jiang Shiyang picked up the water cup and said to Director Chen, “Director Chen, don’t you go wronging me. I brought this water cup to help with the crew’s official promotional campaign.”

Director Chen’s interest was piqued. He grabbed the freshly opened bottle of Moutai beside him and plunked it onto the lazy Susan, threatening her playfully. “Alright, let’s hear you spin your tale. Go on, spin it. If you can’t sell it, you’re chugging straight from the bottle.”

She’d worked with Director Chen on a movie before, so they had a familiar rapport. Plus, both she and Director Chen were socially fearless — at least on the surface, they never showed nerves no matter the situation — which made their interactions even more enjoyable. Director Chen always loved joking around with her and spoke quite casually.

She laughed. “Then I’d be getting the better end of the deal. Such good liquor, and I’d down it all by myself. Wouldn’t that break your heart, Director Chen?”

Director Chen grinned. “Don’t worry. There’s plenty more. Now hurry up and spin your story — don’t think I don’t know you’re stalling for time, making it up on the spot.”

She replied, “How could I? Director Chen, you’re really wronging me here. I brought this water cup because I want to take a few photos — all for official promo purposes. Of course, I’ll need Teacher Zhang and Teacher Shen to cooperate.”

Zhang Yang chuckled at that. “I’ll definitely cooperate with Teacher Jiang. I’ll do whatever you need.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Shen Wenyi.

Jiang Shiyang had joined the crew partway through. Filming had already been underway for nearly a week before she arrived, and most of that week had been spent on scenes between Shen Wenyi and Zhang Yang. Their seats had been arranged together as well.

Shen Wenyi sat to Zhang Yang’s left. Hearing his words, she glanced at Zhang Yang, then turned her gaze to Jiang Shiyang. Her amber eyes were crystal clear under the lights, an open window you could see straight through — yet unreadable all the same.

No matter what she was thinking, in front of this many people, Shen Wenyi’s smile was as approachable and pleasant as ever.

“What do you need us to do? Of course we’ll cooperate.”

Hehehe~

She knew Shen Wenyi would cooperate. As if she had any choice?

Jiang Shiyang smiled. “Your water cups are still in your cars, right? How about you go grab them first?”

Zhang Yang readily got up to retrieve his water cup. Shen Wenyi hesitated briefly, then also stood and went to get hers.