Crossing the Line – Chapter 11
by Little PandaI Can Give You Everything You Want
The sense of reality that had finally settled back into place was once again veiled in absurdity the moment Lin Ji spoke those words.
Duan Ning had joked that Jiang Siyi and Lin Ji were childhood friends, and while they had indeed grown up in the same social circle, they were its two most distant points. Their only connection was Song Ti.
Stunned, Jiang Siyi had never expected Lin Ji to say such a thing to her. She instinctively blurted out, “A marriage alliance? You?”
“Yes. A marriage alliance. Consider me.”
Lin Ji gazed at her with the same intense focus as she had at the after-party, as if trying to drink in every detail of her.
There was a strange sense of a long-awaited reunion in her eyes—cherishing, even greedy.
“But…”
“I know the marriage alliance was arranged by your mother, and you’re afraid of going against her wishes,” Lin Ji said. “But you’re the treasure your mother could least bear to part with. Don’t mistreat yourself.”
Lin Ji’s words pierced straight to the bottom of Jiang Siyi’s heart, pressing against her most vulnerable spot. She couldn’t help but take a deep breath, her eyes suddenly growing warm and damp.
Seeing Jiang Siyi rendered speechless by her chaotic thoughts, Lin Ji said, “There’s no need to rush your answer. Marriage is a lifelong matter. Think about it slowly, and give me your response once you’ve made up your mind.”
Whether it was because the car was too warm or Lin Ji was being overly considerate, Jiang Siyi’s cheeks burned so fiercely she couldn’t ignore them. She could only imagine how red they were.
They remained silent for the rest of the drive. It was only when the car pulled up downstairs at Jiang Siyi’s apartment building that she finally remembered the jade pendant she had forgotten again and again.
“Take a look… and see if it looks anything like your grandmother’s.”
Jiang Siyi kept her head lowered the entire time, not daring to look into Lin Ji’s eyes. She could only watch as Lin Ji’s remarkably elegant fingers took the pendant.
“It’s somewhat similar.” Lin Ji turned it over gently. After examining it closely, she said, “May I purchase this from you directly through a private negotiation?”
“Mhm, of course.”
Even though her gaze was fixed elsewhere, she couldn’t close her ears. The soft rustle of Lin Ji’s hair brushing against the seatback as she turned her head reached her.
Lin Ji was looking at her.
“Thank you for keeping my business in mind,” Lin Ji said.
Now, it wasn’t just her face; even her ears were burning hot.
“I just…”
Jiang Siyi had wanted to say, “I was only doing my job.” But when she ran the words through her mind, they sounded too cold and unfeeling, so she couldn’t bring herself to say them.
She chose another phrase instead. “I hope you can find your grandmother’s heirloom soon.”
“That’s my hope as well.”
As Jiang Siyi got out of the car, she took the cashmere shawl with her.
“I’ll wash it before returning it to you.”
When she said this, Jiang Siyi felt a little self-conscious. Returning the shawl naturally meant they’d have to meet again, making it seem as if she were actively arranging their next meeting.
But shy as she was, since the shawl had been dirtied because of her, she naturally had to take proper care of it.
When Jiang Siyi got out of the car, Lin Ji actually followed her. She wasn’t sure if Lin Ji did so out of politeness or if she wanted to go upstairs for a visit.
In this familiar neighborhood, some of the passing neighbors were people Jiang Siyi would greet whenever they crossed paths. Attracted by the overly conspicuous Bentley, they kept casting glances in their direction.
Being alone with Lin Ji still made her nervous. Her heart tightened, and she felt awkward, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet. Not to mention they were currently being watched by so many people.
Lin Ji had helped her and even driven her all the way home. Out of politeness, she ought to invite her up for a drink. But tonight was definitely not the right time.
Even putting politeness aside, Lin Ji had just proposed that she “switch marriage alliance partners.” If Jiang Siyi invited her upstairs right after that, they were both adults; it would look like some sort of suggestion no matter how one looked at it.
Fortunately, Lin Ji didn’t let Jiang Siyi struggle for long and quickly said, “Good night.”
It seemed she’d only gotten out of the car out of good manners. Jiang Siyi let out a sigh of relief.
Just like the previous times, although Lin Ji carried a formidable presence, she surprisingly managed to hit the exact spot where Jiang Siyi felt most comfortable every single time.
Jiang Siyi quickly replied, “Good night.”
As she turned to leave, Lin Ji added, “Even though I’ll wait patiently for your thoroughly considered answer…”
Jiang Siyi looked back over her shoulder.
Lin Ji wasn’t wearing a coat. In this freezing, snowy weather, she wore only a V-neck, cinched-waist long dress. With her light makeup, she exuded a low-saturated, chillingly frosty beauty.
“I still hope that after careful consideration, you’ll ultimately choose me. I can give you everything you want.”
“Everything I want?”
“A comfortable life, a fair life, and a loyal partner. I have the ability.”
Tonight, Jiang Siyi should’ve been lying awake in disappointment and pain over Song Ti’s betrayal.
But after she finished feeding Xueqiu, showered, and lay in bed, a strange current from Lin Ji seemed to breathe life into her previously suffocated emotions. In her gloomy inner world, a surprising glow of light had appeared.
Even though the light was distant, hazy, and surreal, it still protected Jiang Siyi’s fragile nerves, allowing her to drift off to sleep in her warm bed before midnight arrived.
She dreamed many, many dreams that night. She’d probably dreamed of Song Ti; the dreamscape was filled with unpleasant arguments and those chilling eyes. It was so cold that Jiang Siyi shivered under her blanket.
But right before she woke up, Lin Ji unceremoniously barged into her dream.
The sounds of arguing abruptly ceased. Her surroundings became quiet, dry, and warm, with a faint, elusive trace of a cold fragrance drifting through the air.
It was a scent that blended morning dew and incense—deep, warm, and profound. Instantaneously, her chaotic dreams were enclosed within the peaceful walls of an ancient temple.
In this completely noiseless dream world, she was back inside Lin Ji’s car, being stared at with undivided attention by those single-minded eyes.
“I have the ability.”
Jiang Siyi suddenly opened her eyes.
It was seven o’clock. Her phone’s alarm had been ringing tirelessly for quite some time, and Xueqiu was whimpering at the foot of the bed.
Jiang Siyi struggled to pry her eyes open, reached for her phone on the nightstand, and turned off the alarm. Having had too many disjointed dreams throughout the night, she felt incredibly exhausted.
Because she had woken up late, she hurriedly bought a jianbing1 at the subway entrance in the morning.
Today was another snowy day. The subway was packed to the gills, but fortunately, she only had to ride for a few stops. Even so, she felt a bit nauseous by the time she stepped out of the station.
When she arrived at the office and took a bite of her jianbing, it tasted so salty it was almost bitter. To make matters worse, she was run off her feet the entire morning, and it was only at lunchtime that she was able to chug down two large glasses of water.
For ordinary working stiffs, when a weekday got busy, there was absolutely no time to indulge in sentimentality.
On the other side of town, Song Ti had suffered from a headache all night. She’d finally managed to fall asleep after taking some painkillers, only to be awakened early in the morning by her phone ringing.
It was a call from Song Liming, demanding that she come to the office today no matter what. Since she’d ducked several meetings already, the board of directors must’ve had quite a few complaints about her.
Her condition today was atrocious, but she couldn’t afford to slack off any longer.
Dragging herself to the company, she was immediately summoned by Song Liming to his office. He slapped a printed document in front of her, one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the pages.
“Is this the guaranteed-profit project you talked about?!”
Song Ti looked down at the document. It was the fiberglass project she’d strongly advocated investing in—and it had lost nearly fifty million yuan.
“Do you know how those old geezers on the board ridiculed me this morning?!” Song Liming barked. “And look at you! You’ve been completely unreachable since last Wednesday, and you haven’t attended a single meeting. What are you trying to do? Your private life is a total mess of scandals, and you aren’t paying any attention to your work. If this keeps up, how can I trust you to succeed me?!”
Reprimanded so severely, Song Ti had no way to argue back and could only swallow her anger in silence.
Return on investment fluctuated with the market; making money was the exception, while losing it was a daily reality. She could only chalk this up to bad luck. It was just that bad luck seemed to be dogging her footsteps constantly of late.
Returning to her own office, she turned on her computer. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed employees passing by in twos and threes, casting sly looks her way, their lips moving in quiet whispers.
With a cold expression, Song Ti pressed the remote control for the blinds. The slats flipped shut, blocking out everyone’s prying eyes.
She opened the meeting minutes from the past few days on her computer. She’d scrolled all the way to the sixth page before she snapped out of it, realizing she hadn’t taken in a single word.
Song Ti ran a hand through her long hair, pushing the bangs off her forehead. As she scrolled back to the top, she couldn’t resist checking her phone.
No WeChat messages.
Jiang Siyi had splashed coffee all over her, causing her a headache that lasted until now, and yet she actually dared to give her the silent treatment.
Letting out a cold sneer, Song Ti thought about how they’d argued before. She’d wait and see how long Jiang Siyi could hold out this time.
Song Ti propped her chin on her index and middle fingers.
The Jiang family’s reliance on and sycophancy toward the Song family were written all over their faces; Jiang Siyi couldn’t hold out for long.
She’d just wait for Jiang Siyi to come and apologize, to see how she’d admit her mistake this time. No matter how much Jiang Siyi coaxed her this time, Song Ti didn’t intend to forgive her easily.
When she clocked out that evening, Jiang Siyi stood in the swaying subway car, holding her phone. She opened her chat history with Song Ti.
She typed it in, character by character: 【Let’s call off the engagement, just as you wished.】
She typed the line out, but she didn’t send it just yet.
Jiang Siyi couldn’t help but worry about her older sister, Jiang Siling.
Jiang Siyi was well aware that her sister’s ability to gain attention overseas, hold art exhibitions, and realize her dreams relied entirely on the Song family’s connections—specifically the help of Song Ti’s aunt.
If she broke off the engagement, her sister would very likely lose everything she’d worked so hard to achieve.
Her insistence on staying in this marriage alliance had not only been out of gratitude and affection for Song Ti’s childhood help, but also because her sister’s career was what she cared about most.
Yet, when she recalled how Song Ti and that other woman had demeaned her the day before, a sharp, unbearable pang of pain shot through her heart. Anyone with even a shred of backbone would find such humiliation impossible to endure.
Jiang Siyi planned to make a voice call to Jiang Siling first, telling her sister of her intentions beforehand so she could prepare herself.
Perhaps due to the time difference, combined with Jiang Siling’s irregular hours as an artist, the voice call didn’t go through and disconnected automatically.
Just then, the subway arrived at her station. Jiang Siyi decided to try calling her sister again once she reached home.
It took about ten minutes to walk from the subway exit to her residential complex. During those ten minutes, it was hard to keep her mind from wandering.
The moment her mind drifted, Lin Ji would take over her thoughts without warning, forcing her to ponder a certain question.
Why did Lin Ji want to form a marriage alliance with her?
One could clearly sense Lin Ji’s utter disdain for Song Ti from her words.
Jiang Siyi wondered if there was some bad blood between Lin Ji and Song Ti, and if Lin Ji was simply using her—a fiancée on the verge of breaking things off—as a weapon to target Song Ti.
One could hardly blame Jiang Siyi for her thoughts taking a darker turn. After all, Lin Ji’s proposal was too sudden, too incomprehensible.
Putting aside the fact that she and Lin Ji had zero emotional foundation and could barely be considered acquaintances, Lin Ji’s status and looks alone meant that if she ever leaked word of her desire to marry, suitors would beat a path to her door.
Lin Ji clearly had countless superior choices. Why did she refuse everyone else, only to seek out someone as helpless and isolated as her?
Aside from a private feud with Song Ti where she wanted to use this marriage alliance to humiliate her, Jiang Siyi truly couldn’t think of any other possibility.
Once the thought of being used as a tool took root, Jiang Siyi’s mind fell into disarray.
Yet, as she walked up to her building’s entrance, the memory of Lin Ji’s earnest eyes made her feel like she was just overthinking.
She still remembered how caring Lin Ji had been toward Song Ti when they were young.
Song Ti had always boasted that her cousin doted on her. Her cousin was naturally aloof and ignored the other children in the family, and she had few friends at school, only ever speaking to her.
When they were in middle school, Jiang Siyi, Song Ti, and their other friends would go out, sometimes losing track of time. No matter where they were, Lin Ji would always come to pick Song Ti up.
And every single time, Jiang Siyi would get a free ride home in Lin Ji’s car.
Come to think of it, the day Lin Ji returned to the country was the night of Song Ti’s birthday party. Even though she was so busy she’d been constantly on the phone, she’d still rushed over to attend.
In that light, it made even less sense.
Jiang Siyi pushed open the front door. Xueqiu leaped and bounced around her feet, begging to be picked up. But instead of immediately scooping him up and rubbing his round head like usual, Siyi squatted down with a heavy heart, her eyes unfocused, lost in thought.
Xueqiu rested his short, wide front paws on her knees, standing up on his hind legs to tilt his head and look at her with curiosity.
Buzz—
The phone in Jiang Siyi’s pocket suddenly began to vibrate.
Jiang Siling was returning her call with a video chat.
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Wife-stealing (1/1), immediately initiating the wife-luring plan.
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