Chapter 31: Day 31 of Transmigrating into an Object

Seeing time running out, Jiang Shiyang had to think of something.

She analyzed the situation. Shen Wenyi didn’t actually use her Bluetooth earbuds that often, nor did she listen to music much. In all these days, Shen Wenyi had only listened to music twice and barely used the earbuds even for calls.

Most importantly, every single time after using them—no matter how briefly—Shen Wenyi would put her back into the charging case. Was Shen Wenyi seriously using the charging case as nothing more than a storage box?!

This is insane.

How was she supposed to complete her mission like this?

Speaking of listening to music, Shen Wenyi hadn’t touched that soul-stirring playlist since that night. Instead, she’d been listening to the one called “Valder Fields.”

Just like now. This was only the third time in days Shen Wenyi had listened to music, and it was still the “Valder Fields” playlist.

So why had Shen Wenyi listened to songs like “Majestic and Imposing” and “Green Seductive Fox” that night?

Could Shen Wenyi be suffering from intermittent… dissatisfaction, and so she listened to those songs intermittently to cope?

Honestly, she couldn’t think of any other reason.

This thought made her feel strangely comforted. So Shen Wenyi had it even worse than her. A dignified Best Actress who could summon millions of adoring fans with a crook of her finger, yet in the end, she was reduced to hiding in the dark, secretly listening to songs like that. It was even more pathetic than her own little movie-watching habit.

In the dead of night, Shen Wenyi lay in bed, both earbuds in, listening to music while scrolling through her phone. Stuffed inside Shen Wenyi’s ear, Jiang Shiyang’s view had widened considerably thanks to the two separate earpieces. However, being so close to the face, once inserted into the ear, she could only see the area immediately surrounding it. She couldn’t make out what was on Shen Wenyi’s phone screen at all.

But maybe that was for the best. It saved her from giving in to her curiosity and spying on Shen Wenyi.

Prying into other people’s privacy is shameful!

Shen Wenyi rolled over, shifting from her back to her side. One earbud pressed against the pillow.

Bothered by it, Shen Wenyi removed that earbud and casually placed it beside her pillow.

She: ………………

Please don’t do this. If you’re going to put me down, put me farther away. Don’t test my curiosity!

Honestly, Jiang Shiyang wasn’t the least bit interested in what was on other people’s phone screens. But when it came to Shen Wenyi… why was she so damn curious?

The more she told herself not to look, the less she could control the corner of her eye. And she could see with startling clarity.

That seemed to be… a music app interface.

She couldn’t resist shifting her gaze. It really was a music app. Shen Wenyi was searching for songs, saving them to a playlist. She clicked on one to listen—”Peering Through the Window,” an ancient-style, classically flavored song. It was quite nice.

She glanced at the playlist name. Two simple, casual characters: Love Listening.

As she exited “Love Listening,” her eyes widened slightly. She saw another playlist: Inspiration.

Shen Wenyi only had two playlists. One was the “Valder Fields” set. The other had to be the one with “Majestic and Imposing.”

So why was that soul-stirring playlist named “Inspiration”? What kind of inspiration was Shen Wenyi looking for in it?

Or was it just a random name? Or maybe… “inspiration” for relieving that dissatisfaction?

As her thoughts spiraled wildly, Shen Wenyi exited the music app and tapped on her QQ account.

Shen Wenyi actually used QQ? This was mostly something kids used. If she hadn’t needed to infiltrate the enemy camp to find out why Abnormal Heartbeat wrote “Water Demon Scratching Back,” she wouldn’t have reactivated her own QQ alt account either.

So what did Shen Wenyi use QQ for? She hadn’t joined weird groups like Jiang Shiyang had, right?

She watched curiously, convincing herself in a mere 0.1 seconds that spying on her archrival’s privacy didn’t count as prying. It was knowing your enemy and yourself, guaranteeing victory.

Shen Wenyi’s hand was blocking the screen. She waited patiently for Shen Wenyi to move it. Before that could happen, an incoming call alert suddenly popped up.

It was Shen Wenyi’s mother, Kang Meijiao, Auntie Kang.

Was she going to answer? Why wasn’t she picking up?

Hopefully, a long conversation would drain the earbuds’ battery completely!

Shen Wenyi stared at the screen for a full ten seconds before she propped herself up and tapped to answer. She even picked up Jiang Shiyang, who had slipped off the pillow, and placed her on the bedside table.

Great. Now only one earbud was in Shen Wenyi’s ear. No more phone screen to look at.

The electric current vibrated the coil, producing Auntie Kang’s gentle voice. In her memories, Auntie Kang had always been exceptionally refined and tender. Back in elementary school, Jiang Shiyang had deeply envied Shen Wenyi for having such a soft-spoken mother, unlike her own shrew of a mom who only made her want to rebel.

Auntie Kang asked softly, “Are you asleep?”

Shen Wenyi said, “Already in bed. A little tired.”

Auntie Kang said, “Every time I call you, you sound so exhausted. What are you doing this for? You don’t even make that much money. Why work so hard? When you’re like this, it really pains me.”

Hmm? Not making that much money?

Shen Wenyi was a Best Actress, after all. Even if she couldn’t compare to industry giants raking in tens of billions a year, considering her experience and credentials, she was doing quite well.

Of course, compared to the Shen family’s billions in assets, it was all just pocket change.

Shen Wenyi said flatly, “I’m just a little tired. Not exhausted.”

Auntie Kang said, “Filming late every day, how could you not be exhausted? I tried calling you during the day and couldn’t get through either. Very busy?”

Shen Wenyi said, “A bit busy.”

Auntie Kang said, “Coming home for New Year’s this year?”

Shen Wenyi said, “Probably not. The crew is quite busy. At most, I’d get one day off.”

Auntie Kang said, “I knew you’d say that. Your Aunt Zhang’s son is back in the country. You still remember him, right? I was hoping to arrange a meeting over New Year’s. It can wait until after the New Year, then.”

Shen Wenyi placed her phone face down and leaned back against the headboard, eyes half-lidded as she stared into the empty space ahead. Her expression held an indescribable haze of emotion.

Jiang Shiyang felt something was off about Shen Wenyi’s mood, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.

Shen Wenyi said, “I have to cooperate with promotions after the New Year. I might not have much free time.”

Auntie Kang said, “No matter how busy you are, it’ll be over by March at the latest. Don’t forget what you promised me. Mother kept her word and gave you five years. You must keep your promise too. When the time is up in March, what to do… I don’t need to tell you, right?”

Shen Wenyi closed her eyes, her lips curving in a self-mocking smile. Her voice remained calm. “I know.”

Auntie Kang asked a few more questions about Shen Wenyi’s recent condition—whether she was eating regularly, if her period was on time, telling her to take care of her health.

After hanging up, Shen Wenyi sat with her eyes closed, leaning against the headboard for a long time. So long that Jiang Shiyang almost thought she had fallen asleep.

If you’re not going to sleep, just listen to some music. This pointless waiting is making the earbuds go into automatic sleep mode!

She’d finally managed to drain 29% of the battery. If Shen Wenyi put her back in the charging case now, wouldn’t all that effort be wasted?

She had to find a way to make Shen Wenyi keep using the earbuds, fast.

But wait, what did Auntie Kang mean by “five years”? And “time is up in March”?

Could it be about marriage? A five-year reprieve from getting married, and once the time was up, she’d have to go on blind dates? Like with that Aunt Zhang’s son?

Her heart felt inexplicably unsettled.

Whatever. This wasn’t the time to worry about that. After tonight, there was only one day left. Draining the battery was the priority.

The underwear mission reward had given her 1000 points. She now had a total of 1150 points, more than enough for a Time-Limited Soul Splitting Talisman.

She exchanged her points for one. Taking a deep breath, she decided that while Shen Wenyi still had an earbud in, she would split her soul and call Shen Wenyi. She’d say anything, just keep talking until the battery died!

Just as she was about to activate the talisman, a message notification suddenly sounded through the earbud. Shen Wenyi opened her eyes, picked up her phone, and looked. A few faint blood vessels were visible in the whites of her eyes.

Shen Wenyi lay back down on the bed, tapped on her phone, and moments later, the clear gasping breaths of a female CV came through the earbud, mixed with the sounds of chaotic running.

Shen Wenyi turned off her phone screen, reached over, grabbed Jiang Shiyang from the bedside table, and stuffed her into her ear. She lay flat and switched off the bedside lamp.

The room went dark. The warmth of her body seeped into the cool earbud. The vibrations from the coil became clearer, so real it felt as though everything was happening right then and there.

“Run. Why aren’t you running anymore?”

The moment this female CV’s voice rang out, Jiang Shiyang was slightly taken aback. Why did it sound so much like her own voice?

Hearing yourself speak in real-time and hearing your own recorded voice are not the same. Most people might not recognize their own voice immediately, but she was different. She was an actress, and her line delivery was solid. She rarely used voice actors. She had watched many of her own dramas and movies, plus interviews. She was very familiar with her own voice.

She felt a strange sense of novelty. That peculiar feeling of knowing the other person wasn’t her, yet sounding so much like her.

The electric current still vibrated within her body. The panting from the running grew heavier, mingled with terrified sounds of retreat. Something was knocked over. The fleeing woman fell.

The woman didn’t speak, only gasping in terror.

The footsteps of the CV who sounded like her were unhurried and confident, drawing closer to the woman on the ground. The rustle of clothing. The CV crouched down. The sound of the fleeing woman’s resisting whimpers vibrated through her body.

It was clear the CV had grabbed the woman’s chin, the action conveyed purely through sound. Could this be an audio drama?

The voice resembling her own spoke again: “Had enough fun? Then come home with me.”

Hiss—

That line… why did it sound so familiar?

The woman panted, her voice thick with sobs: “Let me go. I’m just an ordinary woman, nothing special, really. Please, let me go.”

Huh? Huh?! Huh?!!

Why did this woman’s voice sound so much like Shen Wenyi?

It started right away with running and chasing. The voices resembled hers and Shen Wenyi’s. The lines were also startlingly familiar. Could it be…

Could this be the audio drama of “Impossible to Escape Even with Wings”?!

No way. Shen Wenyi actually knew about Abnormal Heartbeat? And she was listening to fan-made audio dramas of the two of them?!

What was this bizarre, subtle feeling?

Don’t let your imagination run wild, Jiang Shiyang. Maybe Shen Wenyi stumbled upon Abnormal Heartbeat just like you did. Then she got suspicious about it and casually read a few short smut fics, and then casually ended up listening to the audio drama.

It’s not like you were the only one who could notice Abnormal Heartbeat for that reason. Shen Wenyi could too!

Stop overthinking. Suspecting Shen Wenyi is the same as suspecting yourself. After all, you didn’t just join that group and read those short fics—you even kissed Shen Wenyi’s hand of your own accord.

You’re completely innocent, so Shen Wenyi is even more innocent.

In three short seconds, she convinced herself.

Shen Wenyi listened silently, wrapped in her blanket with her eyes closed, lying flat on her back, utterly motionless, as if asleep.

Maybe she really had fallen asleep and was using this as a lullaby.

Still, Jiang Shiyang hadn’t expected the audio drama to be produced so quickly. She hadn’t even transmigrated until almost 1 AM, and it hadn’t been uploaded to the group yet then. She hadn’t thought it would be uploaded already.

Right, tomorrow she could comb through the group to see which account might be Shen Wenyi’s.

A sudden scream erupted through the earbud. The electric current vibrated, sending a numbing jolt through her body. All her thoughts were wrenched back. Her very soul couldn’t help but curl its toes.

The CV voicing Shen Wenyi’s role had such a devastatingly arousing scream that Jiang Shiyang almost mistook it for Shen Wenyi herself.

Shen-CV: “Ah… stop… please… I can’t take it anymore, don’t do this… I beg you…”

Jiang-CV: “Now you know how to beg me? When you were running away, did you ever think about the consequences of being caught? You know what? I’m unhappy.”

Shen-CV sobbed, pleading: “I’m sorry, I’ll never do it again. Please, forgive me. I really can’t take it anymore.”

Jiang-CV laughed softly, a lazy voice both husky and airy, yet utterly chilling: “I love you so much. How could I bear to see you suffer? There’s nothing to forgive. Be good. I have something to take care of. I need to go out for a while. Wait for me.”

Shen-CV begged in terror: “Don’t go, please don’t leave. Let me go before you leave. I’ll die, I’m begging you!”

Jiang-CV was still laughing. The sound of fingers stroking a cheek drifted over. Jiang-CV sighed: “Be good. Why won’t you listen? I told you I love you. I can’t bear to see you in pain. How could I let you die? I won’t be gone long, seven or eight hours at most. I’ll definitely come back. Wait for me.”

Shen-CV wept: “Don’t go! I’m begging you!”

Yet the footsteps still receded into the distance. Click. The door closed. Only Shen-CV’s gasps and sobs, indistinguishable from pain or something else, remained in the earbud.

“I hate you, Jiang Shiyang. I hate you…”

Shen-CV’s voice vibrated deep inside her body through the electric current, as if speaking directly into her very soul. The realism made her heart clench involuntarily.

Thankfully, she already knew what came next in the story. Even though Shen Wenyi hated her at this point, Stockholm Syndrome would set in soon. She hadn’t read the sequel, but she could guess the two would end up loving each other in a happy ending.

Knowing the ending made listening much more bearable.

She closed her eyes, trying hard to ignore that line “I hate you.” Just as she steadied her emotions, Jiang-CV returned.

The sounds of bed sheets rustling, clothes rustling, fingers caressing a cheek. Jiang-CV stroked Shen-CV’s face, her lazy voice a perfect match for Jiang Shiyang.

“Such a good girl, waiting all this time. There’s a reward for you.”

Shen-CV was too weak to speak, only letting out faint, shaky breaths.

“What? Are you tired? Then sleep.”

Jiang-CV undressed and got into bed. More rustling of sheets. Jiang-CV’s voice came again, laced with a soft laugh.

“Why are you clinging so tightly to me? I thought you were tired?”

Finally, Shen-CV spoke. Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn’t spoken in centuries, thick with a tearful nasal tone.

“Please…”

“What? Can’t sleep like this?”

“P… lease…”

Fuck, she couldn’t take this anymore!!

Was this something humans were meant to listen to?!

The electric current vibrating the coil had already made her entire body numb. Listening to this kind of content on top of that was absolutely maddening.

She didn’t need to touch her face to know her cheeks were burning hot, her heart about to pound out of her chest. She didn’t want to listen anymore. She really didn’t.

She couldn’t understand it. How could Shen Wenyi be so calm? Didn’t she feel any shame? How could she lie there so still?

So, as she’d said, Shen Wenyi was using this as a lullaby. Shen Wenyi was perfectly normal. She was the one who seemed a little abnormal.

Deep breaths, Jiang Shiyang!

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale again.

For the mission, she had to endure just a little longer.

Still 59% battery left. Perseverance meant victory!

She focused her mind, clearing her thoughts. The audio drama was emanating from her own body. She couldn’t block it out, so she could only try her best to empty her mind of stray thoughts.

It’s just an audio drama, it’s just an audio drama, it’s just an audio drama.

Surprisingly, the mantra actually worked.

She finally calmed down. At least her toes weren’t curling anymore, and her heart rate wasn’t so irregular.

Just as she let out a sigh of relief, she suddenly felt dizzy. Shen Wenyi, who had been completely motionless, moved slightly. In the dim light, she vaguely saw the blanket tenting up, as if Shen Wenyi had propped up her knees.

Shen Wenyi’s sleeping posture really was terrible. Who slept with their knees raised like that?

The audio drama had reached the part where, to escape, Shen Wenyi pretended to come around. She obediently made a huge meal to curry favor with her. Jiang Shiyang’s character, however, swept all the food crashing to the floor and carried Shen Wenyi to the dining table.

“You are my most delicious delicacy.”

Shen Wenyi let out a shy breath and hugged her, murmuring softly, “Can I… call you Yangyang?”

She laughed. “I’d prefer you call me Sister.”

“Sis… Sister…”

That single “Sister” instantly shattered the defensive wall she had so painstakingly built.

That… that sounded way too much like Shen Wenyi actually calling her that!

If Shen Wenyi could really be this obedient, she… she…

In the darkness, a soft hum suddenly escaped Shen Wenyi’s lips right beside her ear. So faint, yet it drowned out every last trace of the audio drama’s seductive whispers.