Crossing the Line – Chapter 2
by Little PandaSnake-and-Scorpion Woman
Lin Ji was very tall. Her ink-black hair and dark pupils were painted a pale gold by the hanging ambient lights.
A heavy, dark shadow fell directly over Jiang Siyi’s figure.
This woman had always been incredibly cold and aloof in Jiang Siyi’s memory.
It was hard to associate her with the act of bending down to pick up flowers for someone.
Lin Ji had intended to set the flowers back down directly, but her gaze lingered for a moment on Jiang Siyi’s reddened eyes. She took a tissue from her pocket, wiped away the slush and dirt on the flowers, and then placed them back. She wiped the card clean as well.
The thin card, held between her long, slender fingertips, was tucked back among the blossoms.
“Thank you…”
Jiang Siyi hadn’t expected her to do this and felt somewhat flattered.
Lin Ji’s gaze drifted down, landing on Jiang Siyi’s right hand. After a brief pause, she spoke two words in a slow, cool voice.
“Wait a moment.”
Jiang Siyi noticed her earpiece and couldn’t be sure if Lin Ji was speaking to her or on a call.
As she hesitated, Lin Ji took off the earpiece, looked intently at her, and added, “About ten minutes.”
That settled it—she was indeed speaking to her.
Jiang Siyi said, “…All right.”
With that, Lin Ji put the earpiece back in, turned around, and switched languages. Only now was she truly on her call.
Jiang Siyi didn’t know what Lin Ji wanted her to wait for, or if she had something to tell her.
Though their lives rarely intersected, the Song family and the Jiang family did business together, and Lin Ji was Song Ti’s cousin, so it wasn’t entirely impossible that she had something to convey.
Song Ti and the others slowly approached, countless curious eyes peering in the direction of the small garden.
The eldest son of the Zhou family took a sharp breath and whispered, “Are Ji-jiejie and Jiang Siyi close?”
The second daughter of the Xie family smiled subtly. “How could that be? Jiejie is just beautiful and kind-hearted, that’s all. Besides, the small garden is quiet, so it’s probably just a convenient place to make her call.”
With that, she shot a look at Song Ti.
Song Ti understood immediately and stepped forward to take Jiang Siyi’s arm, pulling her to her feet.
“Cousin needs to make a phone call. Let’s go outside to talk so we don’t disturb her.”
With so many eyes on her, Jiang Siyi naturally couldn’t stay. She figured she would just come back to find Lin Ji in ten minutes.
Song Ti noticed that the flowers were dirty.
Even though they had been wiped down, it didn’t change the fact that they were ruined.
Whether it was because the flowers had just been cradled by Lin Ji, giving them some real weight in Song Ti’s eyes, she finally mentioned the card.
“What a pity. I wanted to take it back and take my time reading it.”
The card was slightly stained from being soaked in slush, but it wasn’t torn or burned beyond recognition. It was still readable.
The flowers and the card had been kindly picked up and treated with care, but ultimately, they were still a gift prepared for Song Ti.
Song Ti had received plenty of expensive birthday gifts tonight, piled high like a small mountain. Jiang Siyi had seen them all earlier.
An unappreciated burden had no reason to exist.
Jiang Siyi tossed the flowers, along with the card, directly into the trash can.
“I didn’t write anything important on it anyway. There’s no need to look.”
…
It was very cold outside the small garden. The wind had stopped, and snow drifted down in soft, silent flurries from the deep, quiet sky.
Jiang Siyi wrapped her arms around herself, walking slowly toward a quiet corner with fewer people.
Song Ti sent her a WeChat message, asking where she was.
At this moment, she didn’t want to see Song Ti; she just wanted to be alone for a while.
Jiang Siyi made up an excuse: 【On a video call with my sister.】
Song Ti didn’t reply after that.
For Song Ti, it was a reassuring response that let her breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiang Siyi’s eyes grew dazed as her finger slowly swiped across her phone screen.
Suddenly, she noticed a streak of blood on the screen.
Her finger had been cut open at some point. Tilting it toward the light, she saw that the wound was actually quite deep.
It must have happened when Song Ti knocked the flowers away and she tried to catch them; she hadn’t even noticed it until now.
The wound burned hot, throbbing with pain.
Fueled by the sight of it, the pain grew increasingly clear, twisting her heart as if trying to stir up a storm.
Jiang Siyi took a deep breath, trying to exhale the bitter ache swelling in her chest.
She rummaged through her purse for a while but couldn’t find any band-aids. Only then did she remember she’d given the last one to a colleague.
She had no choice but to wrap her finger in a tissue, planning to tend to it after she got home.
As the tissue covered the wound, threads of bright red blood seeped through.
It was glaringly red.
Her phone screen was still open to her chat with Song Ti.
Song Ti’s profile picture was a photo of herself.
Her wine-red hair covered half her face, and she was faintly visible smiling with her eyes closed, her red lips striking and her smile composed and charming.
Jiang Siyi had taken that photo for her—a casual snap, yet it had turned out beautifully rich in texture.
Song Ti had said it looked great and asked her to send it over.
She had set it as her WeChat profile picture right then and there.
A profile picture that everyone could see.
Jiang Siyi had really liked the photo too, and she’d originally wanted to keep it for herself.
Unfortunately, Song Ti hadn’t given her the chance to keep it as a private treasure.
…
The chatter of people was far in the distance, and her surroundings were dead silent, with only large snowflakes drifting down, outlining her delicate features and lonely silhouette.
She had a fiancée; they were supposed to lean on each other and support one another to the end of their days, yet at this moment, she preferred to be alone.
The cold made her shiver, her small nose and ears turning red from the freezing air.
Song Ti’s villa was just like her character—open to the wind on all sides, leaving nowhere for one to take shelter.
The small garden was a bit warmer, but Song Ti wouldn’t let her go disturb Lin Ji’s phone call.
Lin Ji was likely discussing business, so it indeed wasn’t a good time to go over.
Besides, she had been afraid of Lin Ji since childhood.
She and Lin Ji had grown up in the same social circle. They were three years apart, attending the same schools from elementary through high school. Because of their families and mutual connections, Jiang Siyi would frequently run into Lin Ji at various private or business gatherings during holidays. However, the number of times they’d actually spoken could be counted on one hand.
The impression Lin Ji left on Jiang Siyi was simply “formidable.”
Unrivaled in every aspect.
They were in the middle and high school divisions of the same school.
She would always remember the first day of school when she’d accidentally witnessed the school hunk handing Lin Ji a love letter.
The school hunk had stroked his thick eyebrows—freshly groomed that morning—with his pinky and said to Lin Ji, “I’ve liked you for a long time. I hope you can give us both a chance. It’ll definitely exceed your expectations.”
This was right at the school’s main gates, where people were constantly coming and going, and it quickly drew a large, excited crowd of onlookers.
The school hunk confessing to the school beauty was exactly the kind of drama everyone loved to watch.
Unfortunately, Lin Ji didn’t possess the virtue of helping others fulfill their wishes, and she never considered whether her words would leave someone unable to save face.
“I don’t have time to waste on you.”
Right before everyone’s eyes, Lin Ji tore the love letter to shreds with both hands and casually tossed it into the trash can.
The school hunk and the rowdy onlookers were all stunned.
The school hunk was about to lose face completely, but with so many people watching, if he was rejected by Lin Ji just like that, he’d be the school’s biggest laughingstock until graduation.
Thickening his skin, he continued, “Are you shy? Alright, it’s my fault, I didn’t think this through. Next time, I’ll be more discreet…”
Before he could finish, Lin Ji walked past him. As she left, she cast a sidelong glance at the shredded love letter and threw down a single line: “Trash belongs in the trash can.”
The school hunk: …
A few years later, Jiang Siyi went to university, attending a different school from Lin Ji.
At the time, Lin Ji had founded her first company, and any intersection in their lives grew even more distant.
Yet, by some inexplicable fate, they’d still occasionally run into each other in the crowd.
One day, her dorm room was too noisy, and someone in the library was smacking their lips while eating jiucai hezi1. Since Jiang Siyi had to rush an assignment, she took her laptop to an off-campus café to work.
Sitting in her favorite quiet spot by the window, she was deep in her research when she noticed something unusual across the street out of the corner of her eye.
An unshaven, scruffy man in a suit stood in the middle of the road, arms spread wide as if embracing a heroic death, blocking a Porsche with his body.
Passersby stopped to watch, pointing and whispering.
The man screamed at the top of his lungs at the Porsche, “If you’ve got the guts, run me over today! We’ll make the headlines together! Let everyone see what a snake-and-scorpion heart you have!”
Using one’s life as leverage was usually nothing more than an empty threat.
No one expected that the Porsche owner would actually floor the accelerator and drive straight at him.
The man, who’d been cursing just a second ago, went pale with terror. He spun around and scrambled out of the way, scraping past the side of the Porsche as pathetically as a □□, missing a direct impact by a hair.
The crowd was shocked, and Jiang Siyi also covered her mouth in shock.
The Porsche driver was incredibly aggressive, actually driving straight at him in broad daylight.
What if she’d lost control and actually killed someone?
Just as her heart began to hammer out of control, she saw a pair of cold, mocking eyes through a crack in the open car window.
As if looking at trash, she gave the man—who’d thrown his back out and was now sitting on the ground shouting profanities—an indifferent glance.
Then, she withdrew her gaze, rolled up the window, and drove away.
It was Lin Ji.
Jiang Siyi remembered.
She recognized the man too; a friend had shared some news about him and Lin Ji in a group chat before.
He was an industry senior who’d tried to push Lin Ji out, actively starting a price war.
Just at the beginning of this month, he’d filed for bankruptcy protection.
Ruthlessly crushed by a junior and left in pieces on the beach, this self-proclaimed industry giant couldn’t swallow his pride. He’d tried to cause trouble for Lin Ji in public, never expecting to nearly lose his life in the process.
“How embarrassing.”
“The one driving is a crazy woman, too.”
The fragmented whispers of the crowd drifted into Jiang Siyi’s ears.
In that moment, the high school student who’d shredded the love letter and the mature, striking, yet highly dangerous adult Lin Ji merged in Jiang Siyi’s trembling eyes.
After that incident, Lin Ji made the news again, and Jiang Siyi scrolled past trending topics about her in her friend group chats.
Lin Ji’s indifferent yet sharp eyes in those trending posts further deepened Jiang Siyi’s stereotype of her.
Even though she’d shared a somewhat significant encounter with Lin Ji back in middle school, that had been the only time.
During later gatherings in their circle, Jiang Siyi would see her but didn’t dare go up to speak, instinctively staying in the furthest corner.
They were barely acquaintances to begin with, and had very little reason to speak to each other.
Even when they were in the same frame, they were always one in front and one behind, one on the left and one on the right, keeping the greatest possible distance between them.
After that, Lin Ji went to develop overseas markets, not returning to the country for three whole years.
Their lives had very little overlap to begin with; while Jiang Siyi’s life spiraled out of control, heading downhill, Lin Ji flew to even greater heights.
Living in completely different worlds, it was only natural that they’d lost touch.
Meeting again tonight, Jiang Siyi still didn’t know how to behave around her.
Not having seen her for three years, this prominent figure of their circle seemed even more of a stranger.
The intimidating aura she projected had only grown stronger.
Despite her fear, Lin Ji’s gesture of picking up the flowers was the only comfort she’d felt tonight.
She really ought to go say thank you.
The ten minutes were up, and Jiang Siyi walked toward the small garden.
At that moment, Lin Ji was still on the phone in the small garden.
The person on the other end of the line was still tirelessly describing how their startup was unique, how it would absolutely become a unicorn enterprise in the future, and what kind of rich returns it would bring her…
They spoke extravagantly, but at its core, they just wanted Lin Ji to invest another ten million.
Lin Ji lost her patience and frowned in irritation.
She already looked fierce with a neutral expression, let alone when she frowned.
Her face was a gathering storm, as if hiding a thunderous fury.
Not far away, the returning Jiang Siyi caught sight of her anger-filled profile, which instantly merged with her memory of the Lin Ji who’d nearly run down her business rival.
Jiang Siyi froze, a shudder passing through her.
The voice that had been about to call her name died in her throat; she didn’t dare make a sound.
Or maybe… she should find another opportunity to thank her later.
She shouldn’t disturb her right now.
Just as Jiang Siyi was thinking this, someone tapped her on the back.
It was Song Ti.
…
Hanging up the call, Lin Ji checked the time. It had taken one minute longer than expected.
Turning around, Jiang Siyi was nowhere to be seen, with only the dark night remaining.
Inside the villa, someone was playing Snowdreams2. Accompanied by the soft melody, Lin Ji’s assistant arrived, bringing the iodine swabs and band-aids she’d requested over WeChat.
But there was still no sign of the person who needed them.
Lin Ji took two steps toward the villa and saw Jiang Siyi standing by the entrance, her hand held by Song Ti.
The two stood face-to-face, very close, looking at each other with faint smiles.
“Are you angry?” Song Ti asked.
Song Ti had seen her parents arrive. As a junior, Lin Ji would certainly have to greet the Song family elders and wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. Since there was no rush, she’d come to find Jiang Siyi first.
“No,” Jiang Siyi replied. “Maybe I didn’t eat well at lunch. My stomach hurts a little.”
“Then I’ll drive you back,” Song Ti said.
“But I haven’t said goodbye to Cousin yet…”
Song Ti smiled gently. “Your health is what matters most.”
Seeing Song Ti’s insistence, Jiang Siyi said, “I can just take a cab back myself.”
Standing beside Song Ti, the second daughter of the Xie family, Xie Shuyi, chimed in, “Stella treasures you so much. She purposely didn’t drink just so she could drive you home. You’ve got to give her a chance to show off.”
Jiang Siyi couldn’t very well refuse again.
Fragments of their quiet conversation drifted into Lin Ji’s ears from a distance.
Watching Jiang Siyi get into Song Ti’s car, Lin Ji slipped the iodine swabs and band-aids back into her pocket.
A single snowflake landed right between her brows, and she slowly withdrew her gaze.
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Who has a stomachache? I do.
Dropping fifty random red envelopes!
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