Chapter 20: Day 20 of Transmigrating into an Object

Thump! Thump!

Jiang Shiyang’s heart hammered uncontrollably in her chest. Her own lips were right there before her eyes. She could almost feel the faint warmth of her own breath. Just one more centimeter, and she could…

“Teacher Shen? What are you doing?!”

Little Xie’s voice suddenly rang out. For the first time ever, the perpetually unreliable Little Xie proved herself dependable, lunging forward with lightning speed to block Shen Wenyi’s path.

She: !!!!!!!!

No! Go away! Don’t stop me from having intimate contact with myself!

Shen Wenyi’s arm, holding the lipstick, was jostled by Little Xie’s sudden appearance. She saw the obvious strangeness in Shen Wenyi’s eyes, a strangeness that slowly faded upon seeing Little Xie, replaced by her usual composure.

Shen Wenyi said, “I just finished filming and came to check on her.”

Little Xie still stood guard, arms spread protectively like a mother hen shielding her chicks.

Little Xie said, “Thank you, Teacher Shen, though I’ve never seen anyone check on a patient with lipstick.”

She was terrified Little Xie would blurt out, “Is that lipstick poisoned?” Thankfully, Little Xie managed to hold it in.

Only then did Shen Wenyi look down at the lipstick in her hand. Under the dim hospital bed light, her face, pale to the point of translucence, seemed even more ethereally surreal. She didn’t look like a princess from an epic saga burdened by kingdom and kin but rather a cold, aloof female cultivator from a fantasy, fasting and cultivating immortality in seclusion.

Shen Wenyi’s long lashes fluttered as she slowly withdrew her hand.

“I… must have been confused.”

Confused? No! You weren’t confused! Taking it back is what’s truly confused!

Little Xie asked, “What kind of confused?”

Yes! Little Xie! Good question! Keep pressing her! Make her see reason! Make her repent! Make her hurry up and put that lipstick on my mouth! I don’t care if it’s a bloody mess, smear it on however you want! Just don’t leave me hanging like this! It’s torture!

Shen Wenyi smiled faintly, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“I thought I could make her wake up. I was overthinking it.”

Little Xie’s eyes lit up. “If you have an idea, just try it! The doctors can’t find the reason for the coma anyway, so we might as well treat a dead horse as if it’s alive?!”

Shen Wenyi slowly shook her head, twisted the lipstick back down, capped it, and securely slipped it back into her pocket.

No…

No!!!!!

How could you give up so easily? Would trying kill you? Like Little Xie said, treat a dead horse as if it’s alive! I guarantee I’ll get better the moment you try! You’ll gain a halo of divine healing, my excited and grateful gaze, a reconciled friendship, and a brand-new sisterhood in the entertainment industry!

Just try it, just once! Trying won’t cost you a piece of flesh! At most, a layer of lipstick, a few bucks, even a few cents!

Try it, just try it. Boohoo, I’m crying here, isn’t that enough?

Jiang Shiyang’s soul-weeping went unnoticed by all. Only the System silently popped up with a “…”.

【Host: Scram!】

The System didn’t even bother with the “…” anymore.

This was too difficult.

In the end, Shen Wenyi didn’t use the lipstick. She simply took the chair Little Xie had dragged over and sat by the bedside. Watching Little Xie yawn one after another, she told her to rest, saying she would help keep watch.

But Little Xie stubbornly refused to yield. She’d never shown such vigilance before. Now, she guarded against Shen Wenyi with the same intensity as guarding against fire, theft, and lecherous seniors.

Little Xie yawned. “The agent came by this afternoon. She’s already looking into finding a suitable hospital. Teacher Shen doesn’t need to worry too much.”

Shen Wenyi glanced up at her. “You don’t seem very worried.”

Little Xie scratched her chin. “It’s not that I’m not worried. I just remembered a few times before when Teacher Jiang couldn’t be woken up either. Teacher Jiang said she was just too sleepy and told me not to panic if something like this happened again.”

“Too sleepy…”

Inside the pocket, Jiang Shiyang couldn’t see outside. She only heard Shen Wenyi repeat those three words faintly. After a long pause, Shen Wenyi continued, “No matter how sleepy, after sleeping this long, she should have woken up by now.”

So just because I’m not waking up, you won’t try the lipstick again?!

Just try it!!!

Sigh, forget it. I’m numb. Whatever.

Anyone tossed and flung between heaven and hell like this would have their heart frozen solid by now.

She curled up in Shen Wenyi’s pocket and fell asleep without realizing it. Every time she was human, it was so exhausting, rushing from one job to the next. Being an object had instead become her time to relax and rest.

When she woke again, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Shen Wenyi had only just gotten up to leave the hospital, driving back to the hotel. She hadn’t even finished washing her face in her room when Little He knocked on the door.

She was shocked. Shen Wenyi had actually sat dryly by the hospital bed for an entire night? Why? Was she so afraid that her death would implicate her?

That explanation might work once or twice, but what about three or four times? Five or six?

Well, it wasn’t really a question of frequency. Shen Wenyi never even got the chance to escalate it to a frequency issue. As soon as Little He knocked and entered, Shen Wenyi actually called Director Chen directly to request leave—an indefinite leave—and offered to personally bear all losses incurred during the absence!

Wait, had Shen Wenyi gone mad? Was this a small sum? How much money would be thrown away each day?!

And why request leave for no good reason? The one in a coma was her, Jiang Shiyang. What did any of this have to do with Shen Wenyi?

In reality, Shen Wenyi really had gone mad.

There’s a saying: you don’t know a true bestie until the bill comes. Well, it seemed you didn’t know true feelings until someone fell into a coma.

Were archenemies this competitive these days? First, she sat vigil the whole night by her bedside, then she took indefinite leave from work for her, and now she was fighting battles both online and offline for her?!

Online, Shen Wenyi suppressed the news about her, hiring internet ghostwriters to prevent the news of her coma from spreading.

Shen Wenyi’s own PR team couldn’t possibly suppress such huge news. After all, a bunch of reporters and media had appeared yesterday morning, plus plenty of street shots. It was uncontainable.

The fact that it was suppressed meant the Shen family’s power had to have been used.

Shen Wenyi had never mobilized the Shen family even for her own troubles. So why, just because she had fainted, did Shen Wenyi react so dramatically?

Offline, Shen Wenyi directly contacted a top brain specialist in the USA, squeezing a mosquito’s leg of an appointment into a schedule so packed it couldn’t even fit a fly.

Little Xie and the agent were moved to tears, and her parents personally came to send the two of them off on a plane together for treatment.

Wait.

The world was moving too fast. She was having a little trouble adapting.

How was she suddenly going abroad? How was she suddenly critically ill? How had Shen Wenyi suddenly become her only hope of survival?!

Wait, Shen Wenyi! Calm down!

Just take me out of your pocket and swipe me across my lips, and I can save you a string of zeros!

Unfortunately, her soul’s cry didn’t reach Shen Wenyi’s ears. Shen Wenyi still took her onto the Shen family’s private jet and flew across the ocean.

Thankfully, Shen Wenyi hadn’t forgotten her, the lipstick. She was lucky enough to tag along for a free trip abroad.

Curled up inside Shen Wenyi’s backpack, she listened to Little He summarizing the joint diagnosis results from six domestic experts for Shen Wenyi.

“None of them could find the cause of the coma. One expert was even more ridiculous, saying Teacher Jiang was just asleep. But who sleeps for three days straight and doesn’t wake up? Isn’t that a joke?”

Wait, could I get that expert’s contact info privately? An expert who dares to speak the truth is the one with real hard skills! I don’t recognize anyone else, just him!

Little He continued, “But why is Teacher Shen being so good to her? This matter fundamentally can’t be linked back to us. You’re spending so much money out of pocket. I really can’t understand.”

From outside the bag came Shen Wenyi’s faint voice: “We were friends once.”

Little He was even more confused. “Friends? Are you two considered friends?”

Well asked! You asked what I wanted to ask, asked what I wanted to know, asked the question that’s been racking my brain these past three days!

Since you’re so good at asking, ask more!

For some reason, she suddenly felt nervous, a sense that something was about to surface. It was similar to the other night when she accidentally joined that QQ group and then opened the door to a new world via the shared files in that group.

Thump, thump.

Ah… damn heart, could you not randomly accelerate? Was she about to hear some earth-shattering question? Why was it so suddenly restless? Don’t be so rebellious, thanks.

How would Shen Wenyi answer?

Would she say… we were friends all along? Or… even if we weren’t friends before, we are now? Or maybe… I never considered her a friend?!

Goodness, why is that last sentence so shameless? What on earth am I thinking?!

If not a friend, then what? A water demon in the Jade Clear Pool complaining of an itchy back? The perverted teacher who forced Shen Wenyi into detention and forcibly put a Cartier ring on her student like an R-ring?!

Calling us archenemies at this point feels way too forced. She never realized that in Shen Wenyi’s heart, she had always been a friend, just the type who quarreled every day.

She must have been too willful and childish before. With all the years of history between her and Shen Wenyi, even if it was built through confrontations, it was still genuine emotion. Far more precious than any of the insincere, fake affections in the entertainment industry.

Alright, Shen Wenyi. From now on, we’re friends.

Shen Wenyi was silent for a moment, then said, “She and I… are certainly not friends.”

Jiang Shiyang: Wha… What?

Little He said, “Then why did Teacher Shen just say ‘friends once’?”

Shen Wenyi said, “I said Director Chen and I were friends once.”

Jiang Shiyang: Huh?????

Little He said, “I don’t understand.”

Jiang Shiyang: Neither do I.

The rustle of clothing came from outside the bag. Shen Wenyi seemed to sit up straighter and explained seriously, “You know this movie is Director Chen’s project for an Oscar push, and a very important step for me to enter the international stage. An actress’s screen life is very short. This kind of collaboration opportunity is rare. Whether I can become a true international superstar, how high I can stand, this time is critical.”

Little He suddenly had an epiphany. “I get it now! Temporary loss of profit can be ignored. Since Director Chen values Jiang Shiyang so much, it means she’s also an indispensable part of the success. So that’s why you immediately brought her abroad for treatment.”

Little He understood, but Shen Wenyi seemed to suddenly lose her energy. It was a long time before she gave a faint “Mm.”

So… what the heck was she just self-emotionally moved about?!

Shen Wenyi never even considered her important! She was simply racing against time for her own career prospects!

Precious friendship, my foot! How full of yourself can you be?

Feel yourself up. What about you is worthy of Shen Wenyi spending lavishly on you? The sanitary pad incident from fifth grade? Forcing a wall slam and not being allowed to block her?

Reality is often this cruel. The wise do not fall into the river of love. She had already severed emotions and desires, so why was even an impure friendship this difficult?

Thinking back on how she’d just mentally replayed the only two R-rated fanfics she’d read about her and Shen Wenyi… she suddenly had an epiphany.

Confucius once said: severing emotions and desires isn’t enough; the knife sits atop the character for lust. Only the colorblind are truly wise.

But red-green colorblindness is something you’re born with, right? How could she train to become one?

Just as Jiang Shiyang’s soul was looping “only the colorblind are truly wise” for the Nth time, the plane finally came to a steady stop at the airport.

They were finally here.

However, the mosquito-leg-sized appointment slot wasn’t enough for them to see the expert immediately upon landing. Shen Wenyi took her to the pre-arranged convalescent ward first and got settled in.

The System countdown said two days left until the final deadline. She felt a bit reluctant—reluctant that Shen Wenyi would run around so much, only to ultimately fail to wake her.

After lying in the sanatorium for a day and a half, they finally met the legendary industry expert. But to her, it seemed no different from the domestic expert consultation—the same old routine, and the final conclusion was exactly the same.

“She is not in a coma. She is in a deep sleep, and she will sleep until she herself is willing to wake.”

Great. Flying this far just to get half a sentence more than the domestic experts—“until she herself is willing to wake.”

Shen Wenyi was extremely disappointed. If Jiang Shiyang hadn’t watched Shen Wenyi, in front of the bathroom mirror, lift her hand to apply the lipstick, then her arm fall, then press against the sink for a long time before lifting again, then her arm fall again… she wouldn’t have known Shen Wenyi was so disappointed she couldn’t even bear the weight of a lipstick.

Am I that heavy? Weighing your arm down? You might at least finish applying before zoning out at the mirror. This half-applied look is a bit weird.

Shen Wenyi finally finished applying the lipstick. And Jiang Shiyang started debating whether or not to use the Random Item Dice.

There were only two hours left. Honestly, she was no longer holding any hope of completing the task. But having a tool and not using it didn’t align with her nature of not giving up until she saw the coffin.

So now she was deeply conflicted.

Use the dice, change into a random item, and grasp that last sliver of hope to complete the task? But if she failed, she might become a non-biodegradable item, bearing perhaps centuries more of torment?

Or not use the dice, and be dead-dead in three to five years, tops?

To change or not to change, this is a question.

She had to change, of course. As long as there was even a shred of possibility, she couldn’t give up. Otherwise, what difference was there between living and dying? Finding survival in change was life itself. Only skeletons remained unchanged.

Alright, do it!

Jiang Shiyang’s soul took a deep breath. Her consciousness focused on the tool bar. Just as she was about to activate it, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her—Shen Wenyi was taking her out.

Hm? What was Shen Wenyi doing?

She paused, sensing Shen Wenyi uncap the lipstick, twist out the bullet, and gently extend it towards her lips.

The night-wardroom held only Shen Wenyi and her own corpse-like body on the hospital bed. The cool white fluorescent light cast a faint, ghostly glow.

“You want me… to apply your lipstick for you?”

The clear, musical voice echoed in the ward, like a soul’s question across time and space, reverberating countless times in her heart before finally triggering her infinitely extended nerves.

Shen Wenyi… what… did she say?

I… I want…

I want want want want want want want want!!!

Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry! Put it on me! Don’t make me beg you in tears!

Come on, sis! I really can’t take it anymore! There’s no time! I’m gonna cry!

“Wanting my help isn’t impossible. Wake up. Wake up and I’ll help you apply it.”

You apply it, and I’ll wake up that instant!

“If you don’t wake up, I won’t help you.”

Jiang Shiyang: ……………………

Ah… somebody come kill me already! What kind of chicken-or-the-egg debate is this?!

Shen Wenyi was really just stubbornly holding the lipstick, waiting for her to wake. She was speechless. An archenemy was an archenemy. Even on the brink of death, she still had to infuriate her royally, seizing every crack of opportunity.

Forget it. She gave up. Begging Shen Wenyi was worse than begging the Random Item Dice.

Oh dice, dear dice, I’m willing to trade a lifetime of singledom for you to become a reliable item.

Gods above, spirits below.

Activate!

Clink.

【Use Random Item Dice?】

【Yes】【No】

She was just about to select “Yes” when a barely audible sigh reached her ears. The light and shadows before her eyes flickered, and she rolled onto the bedsheet. Shen Wenyi’s figure leaned in, and lips coated in deep red lipstick pressed against the sleeping lips on the hospital bed.

Ding!

【Congratulations! Task (3) Complete! Reward: 100 Points, Human Form Duration: 72 hours.】

Mm? Mmm? Mmmmmmmmmmm????????

Hey, good friend? Ar-archenemy???