Crossing the Line – Chapter 23
by Little PandaNot Knowing Who First Embraced Whom
Unexpectedly, Jiang Siyi didn’t suffer from insomnia that night.
No dreams, no unpleasant nightmares haunting her.
She woke up early the next morning. While taking Xueqiu downstairs for a walk, she received a WeChat message from her sister.
【Is my baby awake yet?】
【Awake. Walking Xueqiu.】
Jiang Siling quickly called via video and showed her sister her recent paintings.
She did this often—almost every piece she was satisfied with, she’d show her sister first.
As though only after her sister had seen it could the work truly be shown to anyone else.
But today Jiang Siling’s commentary was distracted. Her eyes were heavy with worry, as if weighing something, hesitating to speak.
Jiang Siyi: 【Did you find out I broke off the engagement?】
It wasn’t surprising.
Yesterday Song Ti had come storming over, still unable to accept being the one who got dumped.
With her arrogant personality, she probably still hadn’t told anyone around her.
And because she wouldn’t be the one to say it, if people found out through other channels, her face would be thoroughly dragged through the mud—losing control made sense.
Jiang Siyi didn’t care who was spreading the news about the broken engagement. Paper couldn’t wrap fire1; sooner or later everyone would know.
That her sister knew was inevitable.
Fortunately, her sister’s career had already been decoupled from the Song family before this, so the broken engagement wouldn’t affect her.
On the other end of the video, Jiang Siling let out a breath.
【The fact that you can say it so casually means it’s nothing serious.】
Jiang Siyi: 【I was going to tell you once everything was fully resolved. Did Jiang Luo come to you?】
Jiang Siling smiled and shrugged.
Ever since Jiang Luo had remarried, the sisters had stopped calling him “Dad” and no longer treated him as family.
【What did he say to you about it? Trying to get you to talk me around?】
【You guessed it in one.】
【The Jiang family business depends heavily on the Song family. By doing this, I’ve cut off his last retreat. Going forward it won’t just be him—Zhao Jun and even Jiang Cheng will probably come bother you too.】
【I’m across the Pacific from them. How are they going to bother me? You’re the one in the same city—they’ll find every way to come chant in your ear.】
【It’s fine. I can handle it.】
Watching Xueqiu happily bounding back and forth with his best dog friend, Jiang Siyi looked up at the sky and sighed.
【As long as everything goes smoothly on your end, I won’t have anything to worry about.】
That was when Jiang Siling realized—her sister had been worrying for a long time already that breaking off the engagement could affect her career overseas.
So all these years, had her sister been enduring it?
Guilt made Jiang Siling’s heart ache.
【Oh, my silly baby…】
Seeing her sister’s eyes glistening, Jiang Siyi’s nose tingled too.
Not used to this kind of vulnerable moment, Jiang Siyi spoke first:
【I’m going back for breakfast. Talk later.】
【What’s for breakfast? Do you have enough money?】
【Banana oat pancakes and coffee, plus blueberries. Enough. I barely spend anything on my own, and my commissions have been pretty good lately. Don’t worry.】
【Okay, go get busy. Keep in touch. Baby, you still have me.】
Jiang Siyi smiled sweetly and ended the video call.
Jiang Siling worried that her sister might feel lonely in China now that she was single again. Even with Xueqiu, a dog—no matter how well-behaved—couldn’t talk with her, share her burdens, or ease her worries.
Fortunately, her sister’s voice had sounded spirited enough.
After ending the call, Jiang Siling thought it over, drafted her words carefully, and—usually the passive type—picked up the phone and called her agent, Jules.
…
Jiang Siyi’s spirits were indeed quite good.
Even though she’d been harassed just yesterday, there was a still-indefinable gladness hiding beneath the soil of her heart, eager to break through and cancel out all that frustration.
Today was the final day of the current routine auction session.
The Shoushan stone—one of two pieces Wang Tai Tai had rushed over at the last minute—would appear as the finale of the evening auction.
Jiang Siyi put on her qipao in front of the mirror, pinned her hair into a classical low chignon, tidied her appearance, memorized the lot information as thoroughly as always, and took the stage.
CEO Gu and several Jiashibi shareholders and executives had also come today, seated in the second-floor VIP box.
This kind of turnout was unusual. Manager Wu sat with the other department managers in attendance.
Everything went smoothly at first.
Wang Tai Tai’s Shoushan stone paperweight was a rare Ming dynasty Tianhuang stone auspicious beast paperweight, with an opening bid of 10 million.
The starting price alone set a recent high for their department.
As soon as bidding opened, all three platforms—floor, phone, and online—competed to bid, the atmosphere electric.
Jiang Siyi had been present throughout the entire preview.
Which collectors were interested in the Shoushan stone, who had their eye on it, the bidding paddle numbers of key collectors’ agents, where they were seated or which platform they were on—she had it all mapped out in her mind.
At this moment, the steady, rapid-fire calls of bids came like a well-rehearsed patter song.
In the VIP box, Manager Wu leaned toward the woman seated beside her. “President Yan, that’s Jiang Siyi, the backbone of our department. Don’t let her age fool you—she’s meticulous and her capabilities are outstanding.”
The woman addressed as “President Yan” was approaching middle age, with fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes that did nothing to detract from her appearance. Her black hair was swept up, and she projected a sharp, polished air—clearly not one for idle laughter.
She was the Global CEO of Jiashibi Auction Group, responsible for the overall operations and management of all Jiashibi branches worldwide.
CEO Gu headed the J City branch; President Yan was his superior, the one he submitted monthly performance reports to.
President Yan was on an inspection tour of the Asia-Pacific region. She’d arrived in J City and, with a routine auction in progress, decided to drop in with no advance notice.
The opportunity was rare, so Manager Wu found every chance to sing Jiang Siyi’s praises.
CEO Gu didn’t pick up the thread, sitting quietly in a manner quite unlike his usual style.
Manager Wu didn’t know President Yan, but CEO Gu knew full well how difficult his boss was to please.
President Yan’s strictness was legendary within the group.
Once, in another city’s exhibition hall, the lighting had made a key lot look less luminous—potentially lowering its profile and therefore its hammer price. She’d fired the preview manager on the spot.
Manager Wu’s intention had been to showcase her department’s star performer to the higher-ups. Unfortunately, she’d picked the wrong audience.
Drawing President Yan’s attention to Jiang Siyi was a dangerous thing.
President Yan said nothing, her gaze settling impassively on the auction podium.
The Shoushan stone paperweight’s price quickly climbed to 16 million.
After that bid, no one raised their paddle for a moment.
Jiang Siyi coaxed several times. Both the floor bidders and the phone agents looked hesitant, murmuring in low consultation.
16 million—an acceptable but not particularly ideal price for the consignor, Wang Tai Tai.
Naturally, Jiang Siyi had to keep fighting for her.
Hesitation meant there was still room to push higher. Jiang Siyi didn’t rush. She withheld the gavel and once again narrated the rarity of this Tianhuang Shoushan stone.
“Tianhuang stone is only produced in the field pits of Shoushan village, in an area of roughly one square kilometer. According to the 《Shoushan Stone Gazetteer 》, Tianhuang stone production had already sharply declined by the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty. Today, what circulates on the market is mostly old collection pieces or small fragments. Large specimens like this lot are the kind of find one might hope for but never count on…”
Collector 128, who had placed the last bid, listened to Jiang Siyi’s narration while leisurely rubbing the edge of her paddle with her thumb, looking as though the piece was hers no matter what.
Collector 128, Shen Miao, was a young woman with long hair dyed a striking mermaid blue, wearing seasonal haute couture from a luxury house.
She wasn’t anyone’s agent—she was here in person to bid.
An assistant beside her was dedicated to filming the event. The Shoushan stone paperweight was a birthday gift for her grandfather.
As she flashed a V sign for the camera, a middle-aged man smelling of alcohol leaned over, grinning with shameless insolence.
“So the nouveau riche heiress has come to the auction house?”
His voice, unrestrained and loud, cut through the quiet auction hall with jarring prominence.
Jiang Siyi and many others in the room turned toward the source of the voice.
Shen Miao looked back and met the man’s murky, brazenly rogue-like gaze.
“I hear Eldest Miss Shen spotted a Qi Baishi with an inscription by the great collector Qiu Yan at the antique market last time and bought it for 2 million without a second thought. Ha—2 million for a Qi Baishi!”
He deliberately raised his volume so everyone around could hear.
Shen Miao’s foolish mistake from her first year in the circle was being thrown out in public, and sure enough, it drew quiet snickers from the crowd.
The middle-aged man continued, “Now she’s here to play the sucker again. The fortune your dad scraped together selling fake goods through bulk orders—you’ll blow it all.”
Shen Miao’s face flushed red, anger barely contained.
“Are you sick in the head?”
“Oh, touchy. Lashing out already?”
Both their voices were loud enough that the tension was impossible to ignore.
Jiang Siyi knew Shen Miao—they’d met during the preview.
Though Shen Miao had never said it outright, Jiang Siyi could tell from the small details in her speech that she was very taken with the Shoushan stone; she’d come to this auction specifically for it.
The middle-aged man was clearly trying to provoke Shen Miao deliberately—he was trying to drive her away.
If Shen Miao left in a huff, the most important lot of the day could very well go unsold.
In the second-floor VIP box, the auction house executives sat in silence, watching the floor.
Manager Wu started to rise, but CEO Gu pulled her back.
CEO Gu: “If she needs you to handle something this minor, Jiang won’t grow.”
Manager Wu hesitated, then sat back down.
President Yan, who had shown little interest until now, gained a flicker of amusement in her eyes, her focus once again converging on the young auctioneer.
The middle-aged man kept cracking his “nouveau riche” jokes as security made its way toward him.
Shen Miao looked agitated and humiliated, clearly not wanting to stay any longer.
Just as Shen Miao was about to stand, a soft female voice came through the microphones, broadcast from speakers on all four sides of the hall.
“Mr. Liu, you seem to be quite the connoisseur.”
Jiang Siyi had suddenly named the man’s surname.
The middle-aged man’s attention shifted to her, mildly surprised.
Jiang Siyi braced both hands on the podium, leaning slightly forward.
“Then please tell us—in your expert estimation, what is this Ming dynasty Shoushan stone worth?”
The middle-aged man genuinely hadn’t expected Jiang Siyi to call him out, let alone pose such a question in front of the entire room.
Publicly humiliating the nouveau riche heiress and driving her away to sabotage the auction—all he needed was a little payment and he could do it.
After all, the Shen family had only been wealthy for five years, starting from bulk-order online sales. Many of J City’s self-styled old-money elites considered the Shens insufficiently respectable and had no interest in associating with them. Offending them cost nothing.
But the Shoushan stone’s consignor, Wang Tai Tai, was a different matter.
Wang Tai Tai was a well-connected widow in J City. Her wealth and social capital were such that anyone in any industry had to give her face.
Her one serious pastime was dealing in antiques.
If he dared to publicly appraise and critique her collection, he’d likely be fleeing J City with his head in his hands within a week.
Though she was often mocked as “out-of-season haute couture,” gossip in this circle more or less reached Jiang Siyi’s ears.
Now she effortlessly pinned the middle-aged man at his most uncomfortable point, leaving him stammering for a long while, unable to produce a single word.
Jiang Siyi straightened up and lowered her eyes.
“It seems Mr. Liu is more skilled at appraising fakes.”
The middle-aged man: “You…”
Shen Miao burst out laughing, her expression returning to one of delight as she sat back down.
Jiang Siyi: “One more reminder—according to Article 65 of the Auction Law, anyone who disrupts auction order shall be subject to a mandatory fine of no less than 10% of the hammer price. At the current price, your fine would start at 1.6 million. Collectors on the floor, phone bidding, and online platforms—does anyone wish to place a bid on Mr. Liu’s behalf?”
As the middle-aged man’s face changed color, a round of low laughter rippled through the second-floor VIP box.
Even President Yan’s perennially frozen mouth twitched upward.
Manager Wu covered her mouth, shaking with suppressed laughter.
Jiang Siyi, you’re really something.
There was indeed such a provision, but it targeted malicious collusive bidding.
What the man had done was obnoxious, but it wouldn’t actually incur a fine that large.
Saying this was clearly a bluff to scare him off.
As a seasoned legal ignoramus, the middle-aged man was indeed bluffed. His face turned the color of liver.
By now, security had arrived at his side, making motions to escort him out.
“Don’t touch me!” the middle-aged man pointed at them. “I’ll leave on my own.”
The middle-aged man was “escorted” out of the auction hall, and Jiang Siyi’s taut emotions gradually settled.
She discreetly relaxed her clenched fists—her palms were slick with sweat.
No one noticed that the seemingly composed Jiang Siyi was actually forcing herself through it.
A breath of relief.
Thankfully, she’d made it through.
The auction continued.
The entire incident had been livestreamed online. That little interlude only fanned the bidding atmosphere even higher.
In the end, the Shoushan stone sold for 24 million. The buyer, naturally, was the determined Shen Miao.
That price would make Wang Tai Tai happy.
After the auction, Jiang Siyi went to the rest room, where Duan Ning immediately handed her a cold drink.
“I was scared to death back there. I thought that lunatic was going to wreck the whole thing. Siyi, you’re incredible. If it were me, I’d probably have gotten into a screaming match with him on the spot.”
A swallow of the cold drink took the edge off the summer heat and dryness.
Jiang Siyi fanned herself. “Honestly, I was terrified too. But you can’t humor people like that. If they disrupt once, they’ll disrupt every time after.”
“Do you know that guy?”
Jiang Siyi nodded slowly with a quiet “Mm.”
It wasn’t that she really knew him—she just remembered his surname.
She recalled crossing paths with the man once, at one of Song Ti’s gatherings. Back then, he’d been Zhou Yanlin’s driver.
He probably never expected Jiang Siyi to remember him.
This time, showing up to cause trouble at Jiashibi—it was likely Zhou Yanlin and Song Ti’s other hangers-on trying to cause trouble on her behalf, currying favor with Song Ti, or possibly acting on Song Ti’s direct orders.
She slowly pressed her lips around the straw.
Whether it was Song Ti herself or her habitual sycophants seizing the chance to make waves, this probably wouldn’t be the last time.
Beyond that, there were others watching with hungry eyes.
Like Jiang Luo, unwilling to accept his loss.
She’d handled this one. But what about next time?
Jiang Siyi fell into thought.
…
By the time Manager Wu reached the rest room, Jiang Siyi was already gone.
“She left that fast? I was going to take her to dinner with CEO Gu and the others.”
Duan Ning: “It’s already ten o’clock, Manager Wu.”
Manager Wu was genuinely disappointed. She’d planned to bring Jiang Siyi before the bosses to receive praise, share a few toasts—the path to promotion would be that much smoother.
She’d already sent a message hinting at it. But this girl, bless her, hadn’t picked up on the subtext at all. She simply didn’t think in that direction.
And indeed, Jiang Siyi hadn’t thought in that direction at all.
She was starving. She craved Auntie Liu’s wontons and just wanted to get off work as fast as possible.
After getting home, she clipped on Xueqiu’s leash and took him to the Night Market.
Eat a late-night snack, walk the dog, go home, shower, sleep—all in one trip.
Since summer began, this little night market had gotten much livelier, and Auntie Liu and Uncle Yu’s business had picked up considerably.
When Jiang Siyi arrived, there wasn’t a seat to be had. Auntie Liu had gone to the next stall to borrow a table and chairs and set up a special spot just for Jiang Siyi.
“Having the wontons again?”
Auntie Liu’s eyes crinkled deeply when she laughed, but laugh she always did.
“The same.”
“You never get tired of them. What about Xueqiu—can he eat the food out here?”
“Don’t worry about him. I fed him before we left.”
In crowded places, Xueqiu was very well-behaved—occasionally glancing around but never leaving Jiang Siyi’s side, a model mama’s boy through and through.
To stay sharp during auctions, Jiang Siyi ate very little beforehand, to avoid what she called “carb dizziness.”
Most auctions were held in the evening. She’d eaten nothing but a single banana all night, and now, inhaling the smoky, savory aromas of the night market, she was ravenous.
As always, her deluxe exclusive wontons came with a chicken leg and greens.
Jiang Siyi looped Xueqiu’s leash around the table leg, held it in her hand, and ate her wontons while scrolling through her phone.
Someone came over to ask for directions. Jiang Siyi pointed the way.
The person still wasn’t clear, so Jiang Siyi stood up and gave more detailed instructions.
“Thanks.”
As the person left, they cast an odd glance back at her.
Something about that look made Jiang Siyi vaguely uncomfortable.
The person walked off. Jiang Siyi sat back down. The leash coiled around her hand felt empty.
She looked down. Beside her foot—empty.
Her mind exploded.
Jiang Siyi shot to her feet. Auntie Liu, passing by, noticed something wrong with her expression and came over.
“What’s the matter?”
Jiang Siyi’s face had gone deathly pale.
“Xueqiu is gone.”
Xueqiu was gone.
The jostling crowd. A heart growing more frantic by the second.
Jiang Siyi searched everywhere in the crowded night market—her body burning up, breath coming hard, hair and the back of her shirt soaked with sweat.
Auntie Liu, worried about her, told Uncle Yu to watch the stall and came along to help search.
Seeing Jiang Siyi get bumped several times—her arm already red—and still not caring, still ducking through the crowd, calling Xueqiu’s name heedless of who was watching, Auntie Liu wiped her own sweat and pulled her to a stop.
“Xiao Jiang, don’t panic. Don’t rush. Xueqiu’s so smart—maybe he wriggled out of the leash and went home on his own after playing for a bit.”
Jiang Siyi shook her head. The black hair at her temples was plastered to her skin in damp strands, her cheeks flushed red.
“He wouldn’t. Someone untied the leash. That person asking for directions was distracting me—they did it on purpose… They wanted to take Xueqiu. How could I be so careless? After what happened at the auction, I should have been more alert…”
What started as a composed response gradually dissolved into panicked muttering. Jiang Siyi’s mind was in chaos.
Auntie Liu knew full well how important Xueqiu was to Jiang Siyi, who lived alone. Her brow furrowed tight as she kept offering ideas.
“Here’s what we’ll do—let’s ask the shop owners and customers nearby. Maybe someone saw which way Xueqiu went. You need to take care of yourself. Panicking will only make things worse.”
Jiang Siyi took a deep breath and wiped the tears threatening to spill with the back of her hand.
Right. She couldn’t panic now.
She had to stay calm enough to think.
If she fell apart, Xueqiu might truly never come back.
The bustling night market, with its throngs of people, was an obstacle to finding Xueqiu—but it was also a sea of eyes that might have witnessed the truth.
This street was a pedestrian-only zone. No cars could get in. So whoever took Xueqiu, they couldn’t have gone unnoticed.
Jiang Siyi held up a photo of Xueqiu on her phone, and together with Auntie Liu, went stall by stall, street by street, asking everyone.
Finally, an employee at a milk tea shop said that about ten minutes ago, she’d seen two men carrying a dog past. The dog matched their description.
The clerk had thought at the time: such a cute dog, and those two rough-looking men didn’t seem like the type to own one. She’d looked twice.
Jiang Siyi grabbed the clerk’s hand and asked urgently, “Which way did they go?”
The clerk said two words that made Jiang Siyi’s heart lurch.
“Riverside.”
A sense of dread and terrible imagined outcomes kept flooding her mind.
The riverside was dimly lit. The black surface of the water revealed nothing—only the ceaseless sound of flowing water.
When she spotted Xueqiu’s strawberry-patterned harness lying at the river’s edge, every drop of blood in Jiang Siyi’s body froze.
She started down the bank, but Auntie Liu seized her arm.
“You can’t go down there—it’s too dangerous!”
Auntie Liu, afraid for her safety, held on tight.
Jiang Siyi spoke in a voice that trembled despite her best efforts to control it: “Don’t worry, I’ll just go down and look.”
She was putting on a brave face. In truth, she didn’t dare imagine.
Couldn’t imagine what Xueqiu might have gone through, what suffering he might be enduring.
Couldn’t imagine life without Xueqiu.
Images of her time with Xueqiu flashed through her mind over and over. The whole world narrowed to the sound of her own breathing and footsteps.
Whatever the result, stay calm, Jiang Siyi told herself. You have to stay calm.
Her unsteady footsteps halted when she caught sight of a figure.
Jiang Siyi froze.
She saw someone walking toward her out of the darkness.
A tall woman.
Light from a distance laid down a path, and as the figure drew closer, it faintly illuminated half her body.
And the small, shivering dog cradled in her arms.
Xueqiu was soaked through. His fur, usually so carefully groomed and pampered by Jiang Siyi, was plastered flat against his body, making him look half his size.
But Jiang Siyi recognized him at a glance.
Xueqiu—alive.
Lin Ji was even wetter than Xueqiu. Water dripped from her hair to her cuffs, streaming down.
She saw the disbelief in Jiang Siyi’s eyes, saw those beautiful eyes brimming with tears.
Jiang Siyi would never know how pitiful and shattered she looked in Lin Ji’s eyes in that moment, how desperately she needed to be held tightly in someone’s arms.
“He’s okay.”
Lin Ji said only those three words.
They undid Jiang Siyi completely, and the tears came pouring down.
The taut composure she’d held for so long collapsed. Relief and the terror of what almost happened crashed over her in waves.
She didn’t need to be calm anymore.
Not knowing who first embraced whom, in a closeness she hadn’t felt in so long, Jiang Siyi’s suppressed, silent weeping and her tears warmed, layer by layer, an embrace that didn’t flinch from holding her.
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Wife-luring Step 11—everything the wife cherishes must be well protected.
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