Chapter 40: Day 40 as an Object

Jiang Shiyang had it all planned out. As soon as Shen Wenyi said she liked her, she would tell Shen Wenyi she needed some time to think it over, and then find a chance to tell Shen Wenyi about the mission.

But she couldn’t reveal the entire truth. She had to figure out how to say half and leave half out. After all, even if Shen Wenyi liked her, she hadn’t gone easy on her all these years. She still needed to keep a trick up her sleeve. What if Shen Wenyi, frustrated by unrequited love, used the mission to force herself on her?

Though Shen Wenyi actually seemed more like the one who would get forced upon. She was way more of a top than Shen Wenyi, after all.

But you can know a person’s face, not their heart. If she hadn’t transmigrated into a Bluetooth earbud, you couldn’t have beaten her to death to make her believe Shen Wenyi listened to their audio dramas under the covers, doing who knows what.

She wasn’t a hypocrite like Shen Wenyi. If she said she was straight, she was absolutely straight. She had principles. Kissing and cuddling were one thing, but she absolutely wouldn’t do anything more.

Her head could be severed, her blood could flow, her chastity… well, that wasn’t really a big deal, but mainly, her principles could not be abandoned!

Yes!

In short, as soon as Shen Wenyi said she liked her, she would use “thinking it over” as an excuse to stall for time, until she got Shen Wenyi to help her unbind from the System. Then, sobbing her heart out, she would tell Shen Wenyi her days were numbered and she really didn’t want to be a burden. She wanted her final days of life to burn brightly in her career. Then they’d part ways in the jianghu, never to meet again, each finding their own peace. Perfect!

There was no way the Shen Family would let Shen Wenyi stay in the entertainment industry forever anyway. Shen Wenyi was bound to go home and inherit the throne sooner or later. When that happened, they really would never meet again in the jianghu.

That way, her resentment towards Shen Wenyi over all these years would get a not-so-perfect but still rather satisfying conclusion.

As for Shen Wenyi, considering she was helping her complete her mission, she would cry as tragically as possible at that time, pouring all her acting skills into it, and try not to hurt Shen Wenyi’s fragile little heart.

After all, this was someone who had secretly loved her for so many years.

Even though she was hardly lacking in secret admirers. If she really started counting on her fingers, she probably couldn’t finish tallying up all the people who liked her in two days and three nights.

She was someone with tens of millions of fans, after all. Even one ten-thousandth of that was thousands of people.

She lay in Shen Wenyi’s arms, a look of terminal illness sadness on her face, her eyes encouraging Shen Wenyi.

Shen Wenyi’s lips moved. Her gaze roamed over her face for a moment. She reached out to wipe the lingering cold sweat from her forehead, tucked the stray strands of hair by her cheek behind her ear, and gently stroked her face.

Tsk tsk, Shen Wenyi really was hopelessly in love with her, so gentle.

But stop stroking, I can’t feel a thing anyway. Stroking me is a waste.

That statement seemed a little flawed.

They were both women. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle being flirted with. She was just… a little guilty. After all, it was the first time she was using someone else’s feelings, even if it was her arch-nemesis.

Right, her arch-nemesis! Shen Wenyi is your arch-nemesis. Even secretly liking you doesn’t erase the fact that she made you so mad you nearly coughed blood all these years!

No need to feel guilty!

Come on, Shen Wenyi, say it. I’m not just using you; I’m also kindly helping you end this hopeless, bitter crush. I’m repaying malice with virtue like this, you don’t need to be too grateful.

If Shen Wenyi was too embarrassed to say it, she would reluctantly give her a little push.

She said, “Shen Wenyi, do you know what the most painful thing is?”

Shen Wenyi said, “What?”

She said, “Clearly having the chance to say it, but not saying it, and in the end being separated by death, with no more chance to speak even if you want to.”

Shen Wenyi’s fingers, stroking her cheek, paused briefly. She was still propped up on one elbow, half-rising as she looked down at her lying in her arms.

She looked at the shifting light in Shen Wenyi’s eyes and secretly marveled at how beautiful they were, just a tiny bit less so than her own. She encouraged, “You have something you want to say to me, right?”

Shen Wenyi nodded. “I do have something I want to say to you.”

Was Shen Wenyi about to say it? Was she finally going to say it?

She felt like victory was flying at top speed into her embrace.

Say it, say it, say it!

Her pain hadn’t been in vain. Gaining Shen Wenyi, the strongest tool man in history, meant future missions would be a piece of cake!

Excited inside, she didn’t let it show on her face, just gazed unwaveringly at Shen Wenyi.

Shen Wenyi’s red lips moved slightly, her voice clear and pleasant: “What I want to say is, since it’s a hereditary disease, why did you say you’re afraid of your family finding out?”

Huh? What?

Oh no!

She’d been in so much pain earlier, she’d just blurted out a random excuse about not wanting her family to know, and hadn’t even noticed this glaring hole in her story!

Why would she say she was afraid of her family finding out? If it was a hereditary disease, her family would definitely be paying special attention. How could they not have noticed anything at all?!

Especially since she’d also said that falling unconscious was one of the symptoms of the family’s hereditary disease. Last time she passed out, Little Xie even notified her parents, and her parents had even gone to the airport to see them off.

Damn it, the more she said, the more she messed up. Who knew which sentence would trip her up!

Victory had clearly wrapped its arms around her neck, and she’d actually let it slip away?!

This kind of grief was indescribable. She seriously wanted to cry now.

She was racking her brains for a way to respond when the door to the makeup room suddenly pushed open, and Little He’s voice came in.

“Teacher Shen, I’m sorry! I accidentally stepped on the Bluetooth earbud and broke it. I used the prop department’s Super Glue to stick it back together. I tried it, but it’s still unusable. But there’s still one earbud, which should last until the new one arrives. I already placed an order online, it should be here by tomorrow prob…”

Little He froze at the doorway, probably seeing her shamelessly wedged between her Teacher Shen’s legs, disgracefully sprawled on her Teacher Shen, and even hooking her arm around her Teacher Shen’s neck. She looked completely dumbfounded.

She could almost hallucinate the loop playing in Little He’s brain—What am I seeing? What am I seeing? What am I seeing?!

The shock must have completely exceeded Little He’s capacity to process. Little He stood there stunned for a full ten seconds before reacting.

Before Little He could rush in to protect her Teacher Shen, Shen Wenyi shoved her aside without the slightest mercy, got to her feet, and brushed the dirt off her dress with one hand.

Without even looking at her, Shen Wenyi said to Little He at the door, “Go buy me a few packs of Pop Rocks.”

Little He still looked a little dazed: “Huh? Pop Rocks?”

Shen Wenyi said, “Mm.”

Little He glanced at her on the floor. “But…”

Shen Wenyi said, “Are you going or not?”

Little He, with her messenger bag slung across her body, was still clutching the broken, crippled Bluetooth earbud in her hand. Hesitating and reluctant, she turned back to look with every step as she opened the door and left.

Why did this feel like the awkward atmosphere of someone walking in on a secret affair?

Shen Wenyi looked down at her from a lofty height as she propped herself up to sit.

“Alright, Jiang Shiyang, nice acting. But there’s still room for improvement. Next time, don’t let me see through it.”

It wasn’t, it wasn’t all acting. Don’t just kill it with one sweeping statement.

She still wanted to try to salvage the situation. “I wasn’t faking. What I meant was, I didn’t want my family to know my symptoms were getting worse, so…”

Shen Wenyi pulled out a wet wipe to clean her hands, looking down with lowered eyes at her still half-lying on the ground. Expressionless, she said, “So I went abroad to find a specialist for you, and your family kept their mouths tightly shut, not mentioning a single word about the hereditary disease. Did you want me to cure you, or were you afraid I would cure you?”

She: “……………………”

Forget it. She gave up. Whatever.

The key was, she couldn’t patch up the lies even if she wanted to!

She got up from the floor, patting herself down front and back with both hands until she was sure there was no dirt left, then stopped.

Thinking about it still made her angry. All that pain for so long, and she got nothing out of it.

Was Mercury in retrograde lately?

Sigh.

Whether Shen Wenyi believed her or not, she had to act the part to the end. Otherwise, how awkward would it be later? She was still counting on Shen Wenyi to help her complete her missions.

Besides, she hadn’t been entirely acting. The pain was real. If she couldn’t complete the missions, she’d rather be dead. That was real too.

She said, “Whether you believe it or not, my life really could end at any time.”

Shen Wenyi ignored her.

As expected.

She added, “Actually, I came to get my phone from you. My phone… right, it’s in my bag. Little He took my bag with her. I’ll go catch up to her.”

She turned to leave but heard Shen Wenyi say, “It’s with me.”

Shen Wenyi opened the makeup table drawer, took out the phone, and handed it over.

She took the phone and noticed there was still a dirt smudge on Shen Wenyi’s back. She wanted to brush it off for her. Her hand was already reaching out when she pulled it back.

That was a dirt smudge from when Shen Wenyi had been sitting on the ground earlier. In the past, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. They were both women, what was there to overthink? She’d have just brushed it off.

But… but Shen Wenyi was different. Shen Wenyi was someone who had intentions towards her. Especially after something had happened in the wardrobe just now—something she couldn’t quite figure out but definitely something had happened—she felt a little…

She said, “Shen Wenyi, your dress is dirty here. Dust it off.”

Shen Wenyi turned back to look in the makeup mirror. She didn’t use her right hand but awkwardly tried to brush it off with her left hand.

Using her left hand to brush dirt off her right side? What kind of logic was that?

Normally, she could brush it off that way, but right now, Shen Wenyi was wearing layer upon layer of Royal Palace Attire, with wide, oversized sleeves. Brushing it off wasn’t so easy.

Watching from the side, it was truly a case of the emperor not being anxious, but the eunuch was. The more she watched Shen Wenyi fail to get it clean, the more she just wanted to do it for her.

She glanced at Shen Wenyi’s right hand, hidden by the wide sleeve. “Is your right hand crippled? Can’t you use your right hand?”

Shen Wenyi lifted her eyes and glanced at her. Her gaze held no warmth. Still using only her left hand to brush it off, she looked down and said, “You have your phone. Why aren’t you leaving?”

Fine, she was leaving. Who wanted to deal with you anyway.

She took her phone and turned to head for the door. Her hand was already on the door handle when she paused.

Shen Wenyi was as stubborn as a mule, yes. But she’d been using her left hand even before she’d spoken. This clearly wasn’t about being stubborn with her.

Could it be…

She turned and came back. Shen Wenyi was still facing the mirror, brushing at the dirt. Seeing her return, she turned her head. “Is there something else?”

She smiled sweetly. “Nothing. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to run lines again later?”

As she spoke, she had already walked right up to Shen Wenyi.

Shen Wenyi said, “No need.”

Before the words even finished, she grabbed Shen Wenyi’s right hand with lightning speed and flipped it over, palm up!

Caught off guard, Shen Wenyi’s fingers curled slightly. A large patch of skin on her palm had been scraped off, the skin shriveled and bunched up at the top edge of the wound. The wound wasn’t just bloody; fluid was seeping out too.

This…

Her brows furrowed deeply. An inexplicable tightness gripped her chest. She released Shen Wenyi and turned to go find the medical kit.

She came back with iodine and cotton swabs. As she reached the makeup room door, she heard Shen Wenyi on the phone in English.

Her English was average. She couldn’t understand technical terms, but everyday conversation was fine. Her pronunciation was also pretty standard, at least enough to fool her fans.

Fans said she sounded very sexy when she spoke English. What did English have to do with sexiness? It wasn’t like she was saying “Yamete.”

This generation of fans was just hard to understand.

She was about to push the door open and go in when she heard Shen Wenyi ask a question: “The patient you looked at for me last time, yes, the one who was in a coma and wouldn’t wake up, did she have any other physical problems?”

She froze.

Could Shen Wenyi be calling that specialist from abroad?

Why was Shen Wenyi making this call? Didn’t she say she was acting? Didn’t she say she didn’t believe her?

Shen Wenyi asking meant there was still some wavering in her heart. It meant she still had a chance to fool Shen Wenyi.

She should be happy, but she suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in her heart.

Shen Wenyi really seemed… to like her quite a lot. She had even cried for her just now. Even thinking she was lying, she still called the specialist to ask.

She closed her eyes.

No, she couldn’t go soft. As the saying went, she wasn’t just using Shen Wenyi; she was also helping Shen Wenyi break free from this hopeless secret crush. Both sides would benefit. The advantages absolutely outweighed the disadvantages.

It wasn’t fake that Shen Wenyi had nearly angered her to death all these years. Wasn’t it great enough that she was repaying malice with virtue?

She wouldn’t think about it anymore. This was the plan. People’s troubles were all imagined. Just look at fools—they never think, and they’re never troubled.

After Shen Wenyi hung up the phone, she waited another moment before pushing the door open and going in. Shen Wenyi was already sitting in a chair. She didn’t know if the dirt smudge on her back had been cleaned off yet.

She went over, placed the iodine and cotton swabs on the table, and pulled up a chair to sit down.

Shen Wenyi frowned at the iodine and dodged the hand she extended. “This will leave a stain. We still have to shoot later. Don’t bother, it’s fine.”

She opened the iodine bottle, pulled out a cotton swab, reached out and grabbed Shen Wenyi’s hand, palm facing up. Dipping the cotton swab in iodine, she gently dabbed it onto Shen Wenyi’s wound.

Shen Wenyi’s wrist stiffened. Holding her wrist, she clearly felt it. She looked up at Shen Wenyi.

“Does it hurt?”

Shen Wenyi tried to pull her hand back. “It hurts a lot. Just leave it.”

She said, “It really hurts?”

Shen Wenyi said, “It hurts.”

She said, “That’s great, then. Seeing you in pain makes me happy.”

Shen Wenyi’s face darkened, and she let out a cold laugh.

She smiled and said, “Angry already? You really get angry so easily.”

Shen Wenyi turned her face away and ignored her.

Why hadn’t she noticed before? Shen Wenyi seemed to only get angry so easily with her alone. With everyone else, she was all peace and harmony.

She tossed the cotton swab into the trash can, then turned and grabbed several paper napkins, laying them flat on the table. She pushed Shen Wenyi’s wide sleeve back a bit more, then pulled Shen Wenyi’s hand over to rest on the napkins.

She picked up the plastic iodine bottle, turned it upside down, and poured the iodine directly onto the wound.

Shen Wenyi sensed something was off and looked over.

“What are you doing? You’ll stain it all yellow like that.”

She put the iodine bottle down. “Don’t worry, just wait.”

She lifted Shen Wenyi’s yellow-stained hand and used the napkins to wipe the iodine color off everywhere except the wound. After the napkins, she used wet wipes, carefully cleaning the skin bit by bit until it was spotless.

She looked up and smiled at Shen Wenyi. “There, how’s that?”

It was just a glance upwards, but Shen Wenyi seemed to have seen something inappropriate. Her eyes visibly flickered, and she hurriedly lowered her long lashes to avoid her.

Shen Wenyi was usually so poised, her expression management even better than hers. When had a single glance ever thrown her off? What was going on today? This wasn’t like the usual Shen Wenyi at all.

Shen Wenyi said, “The wound is still yellow. If it gets caught on camera, we’ll have to reshoot.”

She said, “The sleeves are so long, just cover it up a bit. As long as we’re careful, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Just as she said this, Little He came back. The moment she saw her still there, she immediately pushed up her black-framed glasses and transformed into Shen Wenyi’s guardian beast, hurrying over in two or three quick steps.

“Why are you still here? Don’t disturb Teacher Shen’s rest… Teacher Shen, how did you get hurt?!”