Chapter 17: Day 17 of Transmigrating into an Object

Jiang Shiyang turned into a lipstick, piled together with a bunch of other cosmetics inside a makeup bag. The tightly sealed bag was even darker and more suffocating than a backpack. The sounds filtering in from outside were all muffled and chaotic.

She vaguely made out that they seemed to be in a car. The car stopped, and she was carried out, taken into a hotel, and tossed onto a table.

The table was hard, nothing like when she’d been thrown onto a sofa before. From that mid-air toss, she soared up along with the jumbled mess of cosmetics, blocked by the makeup bag’s wall, and tumbled back down to the bottom of the bag.

Although her pain receptors were blocked, the jostling still made her feel a bit nauseous.

Even breathing inside the bag was difficult; her nostrils were filled with the scents of pressed powder, eyebrow pencils, and mascara.

But that wasn’t the main issue. The main issue was that Shen Wenyi didn’t open the makeup bag the entire night!

How was she supposed to complete her mission now? Huh? How?!

In total, she had a seven-day mission deadline. The very first night, Shen Wenyi didn’t even give her a chance to meet.

To be fair, even if Shen Wenyi had opened the makeup bag and even taken her out to use her, she still wouldn’t be able to complete the mission. The mission wasn’t for Shen Wenyi to use her on her own lips, but for Shen Wenyi to use her to apply lipstick onto her—Jiang Shiyang’s—body.

This awkward and convoluted mission was just annoying to think about.

Forced to sleep in the makeup bag overnight, the next day she exchanged for the last 10.5 hours, saving half an hour just in case.

A rough calculation showed this amount of time was barely enough to last until filming wrapped, and that was according to the original shooting schedule. Her scenes weren’t many; most were for the male and female leads. After these few days passed, her scenes would increase exponentially, probably shooting until midnight. By then, time would be spent much faster, and her remaining hours would likely be even more insufficient.

But thinking about that now was a bit too far ahead. She didn’t even know if she’d see tomorrow’s sun, so why worry about the day after tomorrow, or the day after that?

She and Shen Wenyi weren’t in the same dressing room. Given their status in the industry, individual dressing rooms were a must.

Taking advantage of the time before her makeup artist arrived, she turned and went to Shen Wenyi’s dressing room.

Shen Wenyi was in the middle of getting her makeup done. The makeup bag that hadn’t been opened all night was now open, revealing the jumbled cosmetics inside. It looked messy, but everything was actually arranged in an orderly fashion. She spotted her own lipstick immediately.

It was a lipstick from a niche brand. The color looked quite nice, possessing a classical beauty.

Typically, makeup artists only use their own kits, but if someone of Shen Wenyi’s caliber made a request, the artist would accommodate and use Shen Wenyi’s products as much as possible. Only if Shen Wenyi’s makeup bag truly lacked a necessary item would they use their own.

The makeup artist was currently using Shen Wenyi’s cosmetics.

When Jiang Shiyang walked in, the makeup artist saw her first and greeted her with a smile.

Little He turned her head and saw her. Her eyes instantly sharpened, her entire being radiating wariness, as if Jiang Shiyang’s arrival was purely to cause trouble on purpose.

Little Xie followed behind her, trembling with fear, occasionally tugging at her sleeve. Little Xie probably genuinely couldn’t understand why Jiang Shiyang had to come to Shen Wenyi’s side. Jiang Shiyang clearly knew Little He hated her and had never been polite to her. Why seek out a cold glare willingly?

She swatted Little Xie’s hand away, ignoring Little He’s murderous gaze, and cheerfully dragged a chair over to sit next to Shen Wenyi.

“Hey, doing your makeup?”

Wasn’t that a stupid question?!

In front of the makeup artist, Shen Wenyi maintained her usual approachable demeanor.

“Mhm, you haven’t done yours yet?”

“I came a bit late. My makeup artist went to someone else first.”

The film crew had several makeup artists with clearly defined roles. She and Shen Wenyi had different ones.

As she spoke, her hand reached for that niche lipstick.

“This lipstick is quite unique. What brand…”

Before she finished speaking, and before her hand could even touch the lipstick, Little He swiftly, with lightning speed, snatched the makeup bag away and hugged it to her chest!

Jiang Shiyang: …………

If only Little Xie had half of Little He’s efficiency.

Jiang Shiyang shook off Little Xie’s hand, which was still clutching her sleeve, and looked at Little He with mock anger.

“What’s the meaning of this? I can’t even take a look?”

Little He clutched the makeup bag and unceremoniously wiped it down. “Taking a look is nothing, we ain’t that stingy. I’m just afraid some people don’t just want a look but also want to lay their two hands on it.”

She laughed, caught between tears and amusement. “Lay my two hands? How so?”

Little He snorted coldly. “I’m just a little assistant, I wouldn’t dare speak recklessly. I just know what’s often shown on TV: poison hidden under fingernails, unknown liquids smeared on fingertips. A light touch, a little rub, a quick brush, and it’s transferred onto the cosmetics. Whoever uses those cosmetics next will get a ruined face, ruined eyes, disfigured straight away.”

Looking at Little He’s fiercely protective, loyal demeanor, like a head maid guarding her mistress, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She turned back and nudged Little Xie. “Watch fewer harem dramas with me, okay? Play less on your phone, refuse to be a phubber, the outside world is more beautiful.”

Little Xie, utterly confused, nodded repeatedly. “If she won’t let us look, then let’s not look. Let’s go back to our room.”

“No rush.”

The makeup artist was still applying makeup. Little He had only held it for a moment, and soon placed the makeup bag back down.

She looked at the lipstick and asked, “Can’t I really have just a peek?”

Little He glared at her. Clearly, that was a no.

Shen Wenyi glanced at her, as if puzzled by her fixation on an ordinary, completely unremarkable lipstick.

She grinned and asked Shen Wenyi again, “Really can’t?”

Before she could ask a third time, Shen Wenyi picked up the lipstick and pressed it into her hand.

“It’s yours.”

Give it to her? How could that work?

She held the lipstick between her fingers and said, “I won’t accept rewards for no merit. Besides, a gentleman doesn’t covet what others cherish. I just thought this shade suits you very well, and wondered if it suits me?”

Little Xie whispered from behind her, “I’ll order one for you right now. You can try it and see?”

She patted Little Xie, feigning playful anger. “Is my money blown in by the wind? Buying something blindly without knowing if it suits me, isn’t that wasting money?”

Just how much money could a single lipstick waste?

Even Little He knew that excuse was fake.

Little He glared at her furiously, probably now more convinced than ever that she was deliberately picking a fight, using the lipstick as a pretext.

“The lipstick’s already given to you. What more do you want? Why don’t you hurry up and leave? What are you doing lingering in someone else’s dressing room?!”

The makeup artist silently did her work at the side, watching the drama unfold.

Shen Wenyi remained silent.

Little Xie clutched her sleeve like an unweaned child.

Both were assistants, but look at Little He, then look at Little Xie.

Sigh.

Choosing Little Xie as her assistant back then was truly charity work.

When an assistant should be confronting others, the assistant doesn’t step up. Then she had to take the stage herself.

She sighed and waggled the lipstick between her fingers.

“I was merely showing some concern for Teacher Shen. I didn’t expect it would cause such a big misunderstanding. I am truly pained in my heart, you know.”

After laying on the “official speak,” she uncapped the lipstick, twisted it up, and made a motion as if to apply it to her own lips, but only feigned the action.

“Applying it myself is too boring.”

She leaned forward onto the makeup vanity, tilted her head to look at Shen Wenyi, and seeing that the makeup artist’s steps were almost at the lipstick stage, suddenly bared her teeth in a grin.

“To express my apologies, let me help you apply your lipstick?”

Before Little He could react, she reached out, lifted Shen Wenyi’s chin, and smudged the lipstick onto those soft lips.

Shen Wenyi subconsciously tried to pull back, but stopped at her hushed warning of “Careful, don’t mess up your makeup.”

The classically red hue spread across her lips. The deep red wasn’t vibrantly bright, yet possessed an indescribable charm, as if every lip line now held its own profound meaning, lingering and long-lasting.

Shen Wenyi’s amber eyes stared at her. She couldn’t fathom what Shen Wenyi was thinking, and Shen Wenyi likely couldn’t fathom what she was thinking either.

“It really does look beautiful. A truly suitable shade for you. Lipstick always looks best when someone else applies it. Too bad, apart from makeup artists, no one is willing to apply lipstick for me.”

She thought Shen Wenyi would ignore her again. She had only wanted to implant the concept of “applying lipstick for someone else” into Shen Wenyi’s mind first. She hadn’t really expected any reaction from her.

But unexpectedly, Shen Wenyi snatched the lipstick from her hand and said flatly, “Among your fans, there are plenty of people willing to apply lipstick for you.”

Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Why did that sound so sour?

Shen Wenyi’s fans were no fewer than hers. She couldn’t possibly be jealous of her fan count.

Or maybe Shen Wenyi was deliberately mocking her: apart from fans, no one was willing to help her apply lipstick. She was a loner without any true friends.

Honestly, she had quite a few friends in the industry, but they were all surface-level relationships. There wasn’t a single one she truly trusted.

Shen Wenyi, on the other hand, had a few people she was genuinely close with. It was said they’d even visited Shen Wenyi’s parents as guests. To be able to show their faces before the Shen Family, it seemed Shen Wenyi truly considered them friends.

After hanging around in Shen Wenyi’s dressing room for a bit, she returned to her own. Makeup, filming, starting the day’s work.

She had reverted to human form at 7:30 in the morning. 10 and a half hours meant 6:00 PM.

She rushed and hurried, finishing her scenes at 5:20. Before Director Chen could yell for another take, she grabbed Little Xie and bolted from the set.

Little Xie said, “Aren’t you going to remove your makeup?”

Remove what? If she tried to remove it, she wouldn’t make it in time!

Back at the hotel, the timing was just right. She didn’t even bother with dinner and dismissed Little Xie. With three minutes left, adhering to the principle of not wasting a single second, she raced against the clock to remove her makeup, then climbed into bed.

Ever since turning into an item, Jiang Shiyang hadn’t figured out much else, but she’d thoroughly grasped the concept that every second counts.

Just as she settled into bed, the next second she transformed back into a lipstick.

A makeup artist was using her to touch up Shen Wenyi’s makeup. The opened cap was her lips, and the twisted-out paste was her bright red tongue.

Ever since the incident where a water cup lid was half her head, she’d suspected this kind of arrangement was the System’s twisted sense of humor. Although she had no proof, sometimes a person’s intuition was just that sharp.

Meaning whether it was the System’s fault or not, the System was definitely taking the blame!

So really, couldn’t this damn System do something above-board for once?!

Forced to stick out her tongue, being used by the makeup artist to lick—no, smear back and forth on Shen Wenyi’s lips, she absolutely didn’t want to know how soft Shen Wenyi’s lips were, let alone how bouncy they were. She wasn’t interested in Shen Wenyi’s lips at all!

Stop making me lick, I beg you!

The makeup artist glanced at the lipstick in her hand and said, puzzled, “Why does the lipstick feel so hot? Is it just me?”

Shen Wenyi took the lipstick and pinched it slightly, her brow furrowing faintly.

Shen Wenyi said, “It’s not just you.”

The makeup artist laughed. “Well, that’s strange.”

Sticking out her tongue, she watched the two of them holding her and making critical remarks. Suddenly, she felt like a dog, a Pekingese with its tongue hanging way out!

Please stop discussing whether my body is hot or not. If you were forced to lick back and forth, you might be even hotter than me?!

Please retract my tongue, thank you.

The makeup artist finally finished the touch-up, twisted the paste back down, and capped it. Having her tongue stuck out for so long, her jaw ached.

She felt a profound sense of dread. Only the last half hour remained to reverse her fate. She didn’t know if she could succeed.

If she failed, she would permanently become this lipstick. Fortunately, lipsticks have a short lifespan. She wouldn’t endure years of torment before dying, which could be considered a silver lining in this misfortune.

After the touch-up, she was tossed back into the makeup bag again. She might as well have been a water cup. At least as a cup, she could still watch the show from the sidelines. As a lipstick, she could only stay confined in the makeup bag in utter darkness.

She listened to the clashing sounds of combat filtering in from outside and unknowingly fell asleep. When she woke up again, there was no sound outside at all. She had no idea what the situation was. Had Shen Wenyi already returned to the hotel?

Just as she was hesitating about whether to revert to human form and start her plan, she heard the creak of the door opening and Little He’s voice drifted in.

“Should we remove your makeup here and then go back, or go back and remove it there?”

Shen Wenyi said, “Let’s go back and do it.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and silently retracted her intention to revert. Only the last half hour remained; she had to use it carefully and cautiously.

Back at the hotel, she strained her ears, listening to the sounds outside. Only after Shen Wenyi finished showering, removed her makeup, and was ready to get into bed did she quickly tap the option to revert to human form.

She allowed herself thirty seconds. Facing the mirror, she waged an internal struggle. She cast aside all shame and morality, transforming herself into a shameless mission machine, ready to face the most difficult challenge!

Confucius once said, the best way to deal with a perverted mission is… to be even more perverted than the mission itself!

The thirty seconds were up. Not a single second more could be wasted.

She turned and left her guest room, walking down the corridor at 1:30 in the morning, and knocked on Shen Wenyi’s guest room door.

“Hey, emergency! I spilled my water bottle all over my bed. Got nowhere to sleep. Can I crash here for the night?”