Shen Yanzhi was a workaholic, not wrapping up until eight in the evening.
Inside the phone, Chi Yu was bored out of her mind, idly growing mushrooms in a mobile game.
Ever since the meeting room incident when she’d been taken out due to the device overheating, Shen Yanzhi had never put her back in his pocket.
It was only when leaving work that he finally slipped the phone into his coat pocket.
The [Charging] notification appeared on the screen once more, and Chi Yu’s spirits instantly lifted.
Shen Yanzhi took the executive elevator directly down to the parking garage on the first basement level.
No sooner had he settled into his car than his phone rang. The caller seemed to be at an internet café—the background noise was chaotic—inviting Shen Yanzhi out to hang out.
Shen Yanzhi declined and hung up directly.
Having already eaten dinner at the company, he drove home in silence.
Shen Yanzhi had begun getting involved with the family business right after high school graduation. By his university years, he’d already entered the core management circle.
Upon graduating from university, the family patriarch, Old Master Shen, bypassed Shen Yanzhi’s uncles entirely and directly appointed him as the next heir to the Shen Group.
In the four years since Shen Yanzhi took power, the family’s assets had multiplied several times over, silencing those uncles who had initially been dissatisfied with his management.
A few years earlier, for commuting convenience, Shen Yanzhi had bought an apartment in an upscale residential complex near the company—about a twenty-minute drive home.
Inside the phone, Chi Yu stared intently at the screen.
During Shen Yanzhi’s drive home, the battery level rose from 2% to 4%, and her available human form time increased from 0.2 to 0.4 minutes.
Though the progress bar crawled slowly, it didn’t dampen Chi Yu’s good mood.
Shen Yanzhi lived alone. With a flick of the light switch, the previously pitch-black apartment was instantly illuminated.
The interior was decorated mainly in light tones. Snow-white marble covered the entire floor, walls clad in tiles bright as mirrors, and a gorgeous crystal chandelier hung overhead. The open kitchen had complete appliances. At a glance, the living room was spotlessly clean, everything arranged and organized. It seemed orderly yet carried an inexplicable coldness and emptiness—a sense of sterile precision.
Chi Yu didn’t realize it at first. It wasn’t until Shen Yanzhi brought her into his bedroom, allowing her to observe its similarly cold decor, that she belatedly realized she was no longer limited by the front and rear cameras—she could see a full panoramic view of her surroundings!
Her ears caught some faint rustling, and Chi Yu’s gaze drifted over.
The suit jacket worn all day was being removed. The man with his back to her had an impressive physique—beneath the black dress shirt, his spine was straight, the hem tucked neatly into his waistband.
The fabric of the man’s dress pants was exquisite, the lines of his long legs subtly outlined. Even without seeing his face, one could sense an inviolable, cool aloofness from those broad shoulders and upright bearing.
Seeing Shen Yanzhi’s hands move to his belt, clearly about to change clothes, Chi Yu—who had never witnessed such a scene—hurriedly closed her eyes in panic.
With her visual function disabled, Chi Yu didn’t know that the man with his hands on his belt was frowning deeply, remaining motionless for quite a while.
Shen Yanzhi looked down, his gaze somewhat sharp.
He turned his head and scanned around but found nothing out of the ordinary.
When she was next held in Shen Yanzhi’s hand, Chi Yu reopened her visual function.
By then, Shen Yanzhi had already changed into athletic wear and was heading to the adjacent gym.
An hour later, the man was drenched in sweat.
He stayed in the gym for a while before emerging, tossing the phone onto the living room sofa before apparently heading for a shower.
Watching the tightly closed glass door of the bathroom, Chi Yu felt a growing urge to act.
She could now exchange for 0.4 minutes of human form time—that is, 24 seconds.
No matter how quickly a man showered, he couldn’t possibly come out that fast, right?
Chi Yu hesitated internally for a moment but ultimately chose to make the exchange.
She’d waited the entire day—she desperately wanted to know the answer to this question.
The instant Chi Yu tapped [Yes], blinding white light flashed before her eyes, making her involuntarily close them.
The insubstantial, ethereal sensation vanished instantly, replaced by the solid feeling of feet on the ground.
Chi Yu nervously opened her eyes. Before her was the luxuriously yet simply decorated living room, exactly the same as what she’d just seen from inside the phone.
She was actually still in Shen Yanzhi’s apartment!
Chi Yu immediately looked down, raising her hands to touch her face.
Cool fingertips met soft, warm skin. This was her own face!
Even the dress she was wearing was the one she’d had on when she went out to sea with Chen Jiazhi!
She bent down to touch the nearby sofa. When her fingers pressed down, the cushion formed a slight indentation.
Chi Yu wept tears of joy. She could touch things—she was still alive!
The 24 seconds passed quickly. Like a night-blooming cereus, it granted Chi Yu brief happiness before she soon found herself back inside Shen Yanzhi’s phone.
About twenty minutes later, Shen Yanzhi emerged from the bathroom.
He must have blow-dried his hair inside. Completely dry and fresh, he wore high-quality black silk pajamas that made the skin at his neck appear snow-white. His thick black hair, dried by hot air, fell in slightly messy strands across his forehead. He looked less sharp and authoritative than his impeccably groomed CEO appearance at the company during the day, appearing more pure and harmless instead.
Looking at Shen Yanzhi’s pale, austere face, Chi Yu suddenly realized his actual age might not be very great.
At the company today, she’d assumed Shen Yanzhi was at least in his thirties. Now it seemed he was probably only around twenty-six or twenty-seven.
Shen Yanzhi was completely unaware of the changes that had just occurred in his living room, just as he still hadn’t discovered the mysterious string of data now residing in his phone.
Shen Yanzhi walked over and sprawled on the sofa, his posture extremely casual and relaxed.
His body was very close to the phone. Chi Yu maintained a state of studied indifference.
Shen Yanzhi found the remote control, turned on the TV but didn’t watch it, instead lowering his head to play with his phone.
Just as Chi Yu grew curious about what the man would play to pass the time, he skillfully scrolled and opened a financial software app.
Chi Yu: …
She remembered now.
This man had more than ten financial apps on his phone.
Besides being a company CEO, he was actually also a stock trader!
Chi Yu sneaked a glance and discovered nearly all the stocks the man held were in the green, with very few losses.
Truly worthy of being a CEO—even his financial management ability was this strong.
Chi Yu secretly took mental notes.
During this time, Shen Yanzhi’s phone rang twice more, both times from acquaintances calling to invite him out, but Shen Yanzhi declined each time.
At nine-thirty, Shen Yanzhi turned off the TV and went to bed right on schedule.
Chi Yu was placed on the dark solid wood nightstand beside the bed. Recalling Shen Yanzhi’s entire day, she felt an inexplicable sense of admiration. Clearly possessing wealth, looks, and status, yet living such an ascetic, highly disciplined life—did such a man really exist?
However, she felt a tinge of regret that the man didn’t sleep with his phone on the bed. If only he would sleep pressed against her.
An entire night’s time—if she could stay close to Shen Yanzhi, even if she couldn’t charge the battery to 100%, she could at least reach 50%, right?
Chi Yu had never imagined she would one day find herself coveting a strange man’s body.