Chapter 38: Day 38 of Transmigrating into an Object

She’d only nagged a couple of times. Why would Shen Wenyi suddenly call her overbearing?

Could it be…

A sudden sense of foreboding washed over her.

Did she… press the wrong place?!

Could she really be this unlucky?!

The disastrous precedent from this morning was still fresh in her mind, leaving her with lingering fear. The hand resting on what might—or might not—be Shen Wenyi’s shoulder gave a gentle squeeze. Her heart hammered nervously, whether she liked it or not.

She had no sense of touch, so squeezing revealed nothing, but she could feel the obstruction. She was definitely touching Shen Wenyi, that much was certain. But the exact location was another matter entirely.

At this height, theoretically, it should be the shoulder. But theory was just theory. Who the hell knew if it actually was?! Sob.

Whatever the case, the priority was to pull her hands back.

She quickly withdrew them. The left hand, the one pressing the “shoulder,” came back easily with one pull. The right hand, which had been reaching to push the wardrobe door, didn’t budge. It took a second try to free it.

Something was definitely very wrong.

“Uh… Shen Wenyi.”

In the darkness, Shen Wenyi remained silent, but her breathing was clearly much farther away now and noticeably short.

Could you stop breathing like that? Are you trying to kill me? With you doing that, I’m going to start wondering if something happened between us!

The wardrobe had limited space, so her “much farther away” wasn’t really that far. Which just begged the question: how close had they been a moment ago?!

This was going to be the death of her.

She wanted to ask Shen Wenyi what just happened. On second thought, better not. Shen Wenyi wouldn’t call her overbearing for no reason. Besides, Shen Wenyi’s voice had been distinctly muffled just now, and they’d been far too close. So close she was starting to suspect it was negative distance.

N-Negative distance? What even counts as negative distance?

Stop, Jiang Shiyang, stop! Don’t overthink this!

No way, no way. It couldn’t be that coincidental. She had clearly only leaned forward a tiny bit. Really, just a tiny bit.

And so what if she had blocked her sense of touch? Shen Wenyi wasn’t dead. Couldn’t she dodge?

She had Shen Wenyi figured out. No matter how passionately she might behave behind closed doors, on the surface, she was an unattainable flower on a high peak. No matter how much Shen Wenyi might break character, there was no way she’d let Jiang Shiyang take advantage of her without dodging.

With that analysis… she felt alive again!

Whether she had pressed the wrong place or not, Shen Wenyi definitely blocked her. She just hadn’t been able to feel it.

In conclusion, nothing happened.

If that was the case, why even ask?

Now was the time to play dumb, so neither of them would be embarrassed.

She had no desire for Shen Wenyi to label her an old lecher before her charm even had a chance to shine.

She reached out and pushed open the wardrobe door, acting nonchalant. “No good, it’s too dark. I’m practically blind. Why is the lighting taking so long? How does the power just go out like that?”

The moment the door opened, the inside of the wardrobe brightened considerably. She looked at Shen Wenyi, who was leaning back against the wardrobe wall, clutching the palace attire’s skirt, crouching on her toes. Unlike Jiang Shiyang, who was practically trying to sit on the bottom of the wardrobe, Shen Wenyi’s shoulders were clearly higher. But her neck seemed unable to lift; her head was lowered, roughly level with Jiang Shiyang’s own.

This…

Her gaze flicked to the spot where the shoulder theoretically should be. Just one glance, and her entire body stiffened.

H-How could it be that spot? Could what I pressed just now be…

N-No, no, don’t let your imagination run wild. Shen Wenyi definitely blocked it. There was no way she just let me do as I pleased.

Shen Wenyi lowered her eyes, not looking at her. Her breathing gradually steadied. Jiang Shiyang had no idea what she was thinking. She was about to say a couple more things to ease the atmosphere when the battery-powered light arrived.

She took a deep breath, pushing aside all distractions. Work first.

This was the scene they had just rehearsed with Shen Wenyi. With their professional skills, one take should have been no problem.

No problem?

Shen Wenyi seemed completely out of it. She’d been brilliant before entering the wardrobe, but once inside, she was utterly off her game. NG after NG, over ten times in a row. Director Chen was furious, his voice cracking as he shouted.

“Cut!!!!!”

It was a deafening, furious lion’s roar.

When Director Chen got angry, he spared no one’s feelings. Shen Wenyi was thin-skinned. Would she be unable to take getting scolded?

She wasn’t the only one thinking this; everyone was. But no one dared to speak up and smooth things over.

The entire set fell silent. No one wanted to risk Director Chen’s ire. At a time like this, whoever walked into the line of fire truly brought misfortune upon themselves. Director Chen would definitely launch an indiscriminate attack!

Forget it, just light a candle for Shen Wenyi.

It was just getting yelled at a few times, maybe a little personal attack at worst. In one ear and out the other, it’d be over. Who hadn’t been scolded a few times? No big deal.

Thinking this way, she glanced at Shen Wenyi. Shen Wenyi was looking down, clutching the wide sleeve of her costume. Sunlight filtered through the lattice window, falling behind her, outlining her silhouette with a hazy, lonely glow. Even the little mole on her earlobe seemed as lonely as a tear.

For some reason, Jiang Shiyang’s heart suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Maybe… maybe she should put in a couple of good words for Shen Wenyi. Just say that Shen Wenyi had been busy memorizing scripts these past days, had gone to bed too late, hadn’t rested well, that’s why she…

She was about to open her mouth when she saw Director Chen, his face red and neck bulging, forcefully swallow every single scolding word. He only said to Shen Wenyi, “Take ten. Adjust your state.”

She froze. The entire set froze.

Everyone in the industry knew Director Chen’s explosive temper. That was it? He was letting Shen Wenyi off?

Shen Wenyi was good, true, and Director Chen genuinely appreciated her. But a great director like Chen chose his lead actors meticulously. Which lead he finally picked wasn’t someone Chen appreciated? Why was Shen Wenyi the only one receiving such special treatment?

Earlier, when Shen Wenyi accidentally knocked over a table and interrupted filming, it was somewhat understandable that Chen hadn’t gotten angry. It was an accident, after all. No one wanted it.

But this was work, a problem of professional competence. The one thing Director Chen couldn’t tolerate was lack of skill. How could he… hold back his temper?

Everyone was puzzled, and so was she.

She watched Shen Wenyi walk to her folding stool and sit down. Little He quickly wrapped a down jacket around Shen Wenyi.

Jiang Shiyang also returned to her spot, sitting on her little camp stool.

Little Xie draped a down jacket over her shoulders and even placed a hand warmer into her hands.

Holding the hand warmer, she glanced again towards Shen Wenyi. Not even knowing what she was thinking, she took the hand warmer, walked over to Shen Wenyi, crouched down, and stuffed it into Shen Wenyi’s hands.

“Warm your hands, relax. Think about how it felt when we rehearsed earlier.”

Grasping the milky-blue hand warmer with her pale, slender fingers, Shen Wenyi raised her eyes to look at her.

Shen Wenyi asked, “Are you satisfied now?”

Jiang Shiyang was bewildered. “Huh?”

Shen Wenyi said, “Isn’t this exactly your goal?”

Jiang Shiyang laughed in exasperation. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished. Offering a hand warmer somehow made her a criminal.

She said, “What on earth goes on in that head of yours? What goal could I possibly have? Did I make you NG? You’re blaming me?”

Shen Wenyi looked at her expressionlessly, then suddenly asked, “Why did you make me eat gum?”

She answered truthfully. “Because I only had gum in my pocket.”

Shen Wenyi said, “In this cold weather, you eat mint-flavored gum?”

She replied, “To stay awake. You know I didn’t sleep well last night, was afraid I’d be sleepy first thing this morning.”

Shen Wenyi shoved the hand warmer back into her hands, utterly unappreciative. “Drop the act. I’m not in the mood for your scheming. I know you did it on purpose.”

Jiang Shiyang was speechless. “How was I on purpose? What did I do on purpose?”

Wait, was Shen Wenyi talking about the wardrobe incident?

A sudden pang of guilt hit her.

No, don’t let it show. If you show guilt, you lose.

Shen Wenyi said, “You know perfectly well.”

She said, “I don’t understand. Spit it out, don’t beat around the bush, like you’ve got something to hide.”

Shen Wenyi inhaled sharply, her pearly teeth seemingly clenched tight. She was clearly angered.

Shen Wenyi said, “Which of us has something to hide? You don’t know full well why you gave me gum?”

She retorted, “I don’t!”

She really didn’t this time. What was wrong with gum? Did it cause cancer?

Shen Wenyi glanced around. Seeing no one was paying attention to them, she lowered her voice. “You dared to talk about it then, so why pretend now?”

Jiang Shiyang was truly at her limit. Couldn’t she just speak plainly? What was with the riddles?

She said, “You say I dared to talk about it then? Fine. Let me recount what I said, okay?”

She started counting on her fingers, recalling the conversation.

“I said, ‘Please have some gum.'”

“I also said, ‘Chewing gum makes your breath fresh.'”

“Then I said, ‘Even if you brushed your teeth, you still ate breakfast.'”

“That’s it, right? If I missed something, remind me. What’s wrong with saying any of that?”

Shen Wenyi sneered, turning her head away to ignore her.

Little He, standing nearby, was utterly confused.

Jiang Shiyang was just as confused.

She tugged on Shen Wenyi. “If there’s something, just say it. If you don’t, I’ll announce it loudly. I’ll shout about why you say I caused your NGs.”

Shen Wenyi was infuriated by her shamelessness. She turned her eyes back to her. “Are you sick?”

Jiang Shiyang answered, “Knowing I’m sick, you better talk fast. If you don’t, I might be contagious.”

Shen Wenyi rolled her eyes. Really, Jiang Shiyang saw it clear as day. Shen Wenyi, the great Best Actress Shen, actually rolled her eyes in a situation where someone might see!

Shen Wenyi, how come you’re not afraid of breaking character now?

Shen Wenyi enunciated each word. “Gum. Fresh breath. Wardrobe.”

Ah?

Shen Wenyi continued, “I’ve said it. Now get away from me, or if I NG again, it’ll still be your fault.”

Picking up her folding stool and script, Shen Wenyi walked straight over to Director Chen, completely ditching Jiang Shiyang.

Jiang Shiyang felt a little panicked.

No way.

Shen Wenyi couldn’t possibly think she’d given her the gum so she could kiss her in the wardrobe, right? And then to make her lose focus and embarrass herself in front of Director Chen?

So… did she actually kiss Shen Wenyi in the wardrobe just now?

No, no, that logic didn’t hold. No one foresaw the power outage. How could she have predicted it?

Wait. The filming outside the wardrobe came first, inside afterward. Even without a blackout, there would have been a period of time they were alone together in the wardrobe.

Holy crap, now it really couldn’t be explained clearly!

No, that wasn’t the point. The point was, did she… really kiss Shen Wenyi?

Don’t panic, Jiang Shiyang. It’s not the first time you’ve kissed her, what’s there to panic about?

Inhale, exhale.

Alright, not panicking anymore.

Anyway, she didn’t feel a thing. Shen Wenyi got the better end of the deal.

She pressed a hand against her pounding heart. Whether she was panicking or not, she’d just pretend she wasn’t. She picked up her little camp stool and returned to Little Xie.

No sooner had she walked away than Little He rushed over, voice lowered and tone extremely aggressive. “I’m warning you, Jiang Shiyang! Don’t think you can bully our Teacher Shen just because she has a good temper. Just wait. Don’t let me catch proof of your scheming against our Teacher Shen. I’ll make you utterly ruined!”

Ha, haha. So domineering, I’m so scared.

With a smirking, insincere smile, she said to Little He, “Then you better hurry up. I’m curious to see how many pieces you can tear me into.”

Little He huffed angrily and left. Little Xie watched Little He’s retreating figure for a long time.

Jiang Shiyang tilted her head at Little Xie, lifting her chin teasingly. “Staring so intently, what? Thinking about getting revenge for me?”

Little Xie shook her head. “I just think Little He isn’t much to look at, but seems quite sincere. That’s rare in the entertainment industry. Most assistants just do it for the money. Where’s all that devotion from?”

She nodded. “Oh~~~~ So you’re only working for me for the money too.”

Little Xie caught on and hastily declared loyalty. “Of course, it’s not just for the money. I think you’re a great person, Teacher Jiang. I’m very happy as an assistant. Plus, I get to see so many celebrities, and thanks to you, getting autographs is easy too.”

That statement, the very first clause was wrong.

Forget it. She’d chosen Little Xie precisely for their lack of smoothness and basic honesty.

After waiting a while longer, Director Chen called for filming to start. This time went more smoothly and passed quickly.

The subsequent scenes were fairly smooth sailing. Lunch was again delayed. After eating, with her scenes temporarily not up, she carried her little camp stool to the palace gate entrance to bask in the sun. By instinct, she wanted to pull out her phone to browse, then suddenly remembered her phone was still with Shen Wenyi.

She told the drowsy Little Xie and got up to find Shen Wenyi.

She searched a whole round but saw no sign of her. Could she be back in the makeup room?

She turned and headed for the makeup room.

The door to the makeup room was slightly ajar. She knocked and entered. Shen Wenyi was alone, bent over the makeup table for a nap. Little He wasn’t there.

She quietly pulled up a chair and sat next to Shen Wenyi, leaning sideways against the makeup table, resting her head on her hand, watching Shen Wenyi.

Shen Wenyi looked quite obedient in her sleep, her stray hair tucked behind her ear, revealing her forehead. Gentle brows, meek eyes, even her lips were pursed in a docile manner.

Lips…

She closed her eyes. Don’t think about it. You can’t come to any conclusion by thinking anyway. Kissing her was like not kissing her at all. Besides, you don’t even know if you actually kissed her.

She glanced at Shen Wenyi’s lips again. Classic lipstick painted a dark, subdued red, dignified and stately. A face that clearly wouldn’t tolerate an eyesore, one that dared to love and hate. Even if she had to bide her time for the sake of her Motherland, she would eventually bloom with brilliance, breaking out of her predicament.

Such a forbidden, noble pair of lips, she had tasted them.

That flavor…

She tapped her forehead. Stop it, stop it. What are you imagining?

It was lucky Shen Wenyi misunderstood and thought she wanted to make her NG. If she’d been mistaken for an old lecher, that would be truly terrible.

But what exactly did she do in the wardrobe? She clearly felt she’d only leaned a little closer. How had she forced Shen Wenyi into crouching on her toes?

Having no sense of touch was awful. It even messed with her spatial judgment, like failing to control the force of a face slap.

Shen Wenyi’s face had been retouched with makeup, so no fingerprints were visible. But she clearly remembered it had been a little swollen at the time. Covered with foundation now, she didn’t know if it was still swollen.

She extended a finger, cautiously pointing it towards Shen Wenyi’s face.

She had slapped the left cheek. Shen Wenyi was lying with her right cheek down, left cheek up. Was it because putting pressure on the left cheek hurt?

Her fingertip gently pressed on Shen Wenyi’s left cheek. Shen Wenyi’s brows furrowed slightly, and she opened her eyes.

“What are you doing?”

Shen Wenyi sat up, evading her finger.

Jiang Shiyang looked back and forth between both sides of Shen Wenyi’s face. On close inspection, there was indeed a slight asymmetry. It seemed her left cheek was truly swollen.

She said, “Your face… is it okay?”

Shen Wenyi lightly touched her left cheek. “It’s fine.”

Jiang Shiyang said, “It looks a little asymmetrical to me.”

Shen Wenyi insisted, “It’s fine.”

Jiang Shiyang offered, “How about I tell Director Chen, you can remove your makeup and apply some medicine?”

Shen Wenyi lifted her eyes and glanced sidelong at her. “Did you need something?”

Only then did Jiang Shiyang remember her phone.

“Oh, right. I came here for… for…”

“For what?”

What was happening?

She clutched her chest! Such pain! The agony of ribs about to fracture!

She had no sense of touch, couldn’t feel skin or muscle pain, but her internal organs and bones did have sensation.

Her ribs felt as if… they were truly… broken!

This pain came inexplicably, without any warning. She was in so much pain she couldn’t sit steady. Her body tilted, and she pushed Shen Wenyi, sending them both tumbling to the floor!

Amidst the excruciating pain, she heard Shen Wenyi’s heavy, rapid breathing, voice laced with fury. “What exactly are you trying to do?! Jiang Shiyang! Get off me!”

Get off… I can’t get up… it hurts so much…

Damn it, why did it hurt so much!

The pain made her incoherent, her mind full of curses. She couldn’t even open her eyes. She didn’t need to think to know her face must be twisted in a horrifying grimace.

She seemed to be pressing down on Shen Wenyi. Shen Wenyi kept pushing her, but she couldn’t spare the thought. There was only the pain.

How was this possible? Was she dying from some sudden illness? But sudden death would be brain or heart pain. What did her rib pain mean?!

Shen Wenyi abruptly shoved her aside, grinding her teeth. “Stop pretending! Do you find this amusing?”

The pain was so intense she clutched her chest, unable to utter a single word. She just lay there, curled up beneath the table.

Shen Wenyi paused, then crouched down. “Jiang Shiyang? Are you… really unwell?”