Crossing the Line – Chapter 26
by Little PandaOne-Day Girlfriend? I Agreed to That?
Today was Lin Ji’s birthday, and the gift she’d ordered hadn’t arrived yet.
Jiang Siyi immediately opened her purchase history to check the delivery status.
The tracking showed it was out for delivery. Jiang Siyi knew the courier’s schedule around the company area well—deliveries usually came through during the lunch break.
She let out a breath of relief. That was just enough time.
Jiang Siyi had never attended one of Lin Ji’s birthday banquets. She didn’t know where it would be held or who would be there.
What she could be certain of was that there was a high chance she’d run into Song Ti.
It didn’t matter. J City was only so big—they’d cross paths sooner or later. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life steering clear of Song Ti.
And why should she be the one to give way? If anyone should be taking detours, it was Song Ti, who’d done the shameful thing.
More importantly, she’d already agreed to Lin Ji’s invitation. She couldn’t back out now.
She didn’t want to disappoint Lin Ji.
She needed to prepare properly.
Jiang Siyi looked down at her outfit. There was no auction today, so she wasn’t wearing a qipao—just a drab, dark work uniform instead.
She couldn’t show up in this. She needed to go home and get a proper dress.
To free up more time at noon, Jiang Siyi worked briskly all morning.
At eleven, she asked Manager Wu for an early lunch break, hurried home, and found the dress.
The very one Song Ti had called “unpresentable” before her own birthday banquet.
She only had two dresses suitable for formal banquets. The other one was newer, but she’d worn it to Song Ti’s birthday and refused to put it on again.
This dress was actually lovely. Not cheap—you could even call it expensive.
It flattered Jiang Siyi’s figure, with an elegant, understated allure.
It just wasn’t this season’s design. It was a two-year-old style.
Jiang Siyi thought to herself with a wry smile—out-of-season haute couture indeed.
She changed back into her work clothes, had a quick lunch, and headed back to Jiashibi with the dress.
She spotted the courier’s van right as she arrived at the Jiashibi building.
The courier recognized Jiang Siyi. “Miss Jiang, I have a package for you. Please sign here.”
Lin Ji’s birthday gift was safely in hand.
Jiang Siyi, who was never one to fuss, actually opened the box on the spot to verify everything—the earring style, the gift card and box she’d added on, all accounted for. She let out a breath.
Thank goodness nothing had gone wrong this time.
She tucked the gift into her bag. As she walked toward the office building, a black sedan glided slowly over, rudely cutting in between her and the entrance.
Jiang Siyi stopped. She recognized the car.
The window rolled down, revealing Jiang Luo’s scowling face.
“You won’t reply to my messages or answer my calls. I thought you could hide from me forever.”
Jiang Luo’s expression was dark with irritation. He got out and slammed the door behind him.
Jiang Siyi had already blocked him. She wanted nothing to do with the Jiang family, and right now she didn’t want to say a single word. She turned to leave in the other direction.
Jiang Luo’s driver had gotten out at some point. The two of them flanked Jiang Siyi, blocking her escape route.
Jiang Luo met her wary gaze. “The news about you breaking off the engagement with Song Ti is all over the place. What are you thinking? You broke it off—do you think you’ll find a better match?”
So the broken engagement was common knowledge after all.
Jiang Siyi asked, “If that’s the case, don’t you know why I broke it off?”
Jiang Luo shook his head, uninterested.
“Whatever the reason, you should go apologize to Song Ti.”
Even after being deceived, betrayed, and humiliated—she should still go apologize?
It wasn’t surprising hearing this from Jiang Luo. Over the years, he’d said worse things and done worse deeds. Jiang Siyi wasn’t even angry anymore.
She turned to leave again. The driver lunged forward with a threatening expression, spreading his thick arms, elbows bent and hands jammed at his waist, like a solid iron gate.
It was lunch hour. Most office workers were eating or resting. This was a closed-off road that opened out like a small plaza—spacious, with few passersby. Almost no one noticed them.
Jiang Luo sighed behind her and lit a cigarette.
“Siyi, you’re my daughter. We’re father and daughter. Must you make things so ugly?”
His fingers holding the cigarette trembled slightly in the air, his voice carrying a cajoling, manipulative lilt.
“I’m only asking you one thing. Think it through carefully. What good does it do you if the Jiang family falls? When the company was founded, your mother poured blood and sweat into it too. If she knew from the beyond that you’d ruined a strategic alliance out of spite and abandoned the Jiang family, what would she think?”
Jiang Luo pointed at Jiang Siyi with his cigarette.
“She’d only think you were unfilial.”
Jiang Siyi could let most things go in one ear and out the other. But not when it came to her mother.
She turned back, her cold eyes piercing Jiang Luo.
All these years, she’d only wanted to stay away from the Jiang family, away from a father who had never truly loved her.
But running away only made people think she was weak. They’d only push further.
“So you do remember that Mother bled and sweated for the company.”
Jiang Siyi rarely spoke with such sarcasm.
“Back then, she was lying in the ICU, and you forged share transfer documents right in front of her. You had a fake will ready to go alongside it. The ICU cost 6,000 yuan a day. You played the part of the helpless, devoted husband, signing the treatment waiver with tears in your eyes—then turned around and bought a villa worth 10 million yuan for Zhao Jun. My sister and I were too young then. We never wondered why Mother hadn’t left us any assets. Only later did we realize you’d taken everything for yourself.”
Jiang Siyi’s words made the driver’s expression shift. He glanced at Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo opened his mouth, but Jiang Siyi continued:
“If Mother hadn’t secretly opened overseas accounts for us and set aside some money, I’d probably have been scavenging for scraps under Zhao Jun’s broom. My sister certainly wouldn’t have been able to go abroad and pursue her dreams. My sister and I have relied on each other to get through all these years. Have you helped us even once? The year my sister had her car accident, I called you. You hung up without even listening. Do you care about us at all? In your eyes, my sister and I are just chips to be stuffed into various matchmaking events and sold for the best price.”
Ash fell from Jiang Luo’s cigarette. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“You have no right to mention Mother. Jiang Luo—from the moment Zhao Jun brought Jiang Cheng into the Jiang family, you and I ceased to be father and daughter. I haven’t counted on you for anything all these years. And now, you have no standing and no power to control my marriage. You couldn’t save your own business because you’re a failure. That has nothing to do with anyone else, and I certainly won’t save you. If Mother’s spirit is truly watching, she’d applaud everything I’m doing right now.”
Jiang Luo’s eyelid twitched.
He realized that Jiang Siyi had changed.
Before, she would never have been so aggressive. Even when unhappy, she would choose silence, swallowing everything on her own.
But the woman before him carried a clear, cold aggression.
Jiang Siyi noticed the change in herself too.
After Song Ti’s betrayal, after hearing the venomous truths beneath the hypocritical surface, after wading through countless petty, absurd obstacles these past weeks—Jiang Siyi understood one thing:
If you wanted respect from others, you had to respect yourself first.
One more second with Jiang Luo was a waste.
The road was wide. One or two people blocking it didn’t mean she had nowhere to go.
As Jiang Siyi turned to leave, Jiang Luo tossed his cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his shoe.
“You’re as ungrateful as your sister. I’ll spell it out for you. You have two choices. Go back and beg Song Ti to restore the alliance and set a wedding date within the year. Or marry Qu Er and make it official. And if you’d rather do things the hard way—next time, it won’t just be the dog that gets thrown in the river.”
He wasn’t even pretending anymore.
Jiang Siyi: “So it really was you who tried to drown Xueqiu yesterday.”
“The moment you got clever, you should’ve known the consequences. It’s just a dog. Even if you call the police again, the worst that happens is I pay some compensation. You think I’d go to jail over a dog? That aside, I have countless ways to make your life miserable. Try me if you don’t believe it.”
Jiang Siyi confirmed once again: when someone had no shame, there was nothing they wouldn’t do.
Setting aside the fact that he was threatening her with Xueqiu’s life—there was also Qu Er. The Qu family’s second son was a full zodiac cycle older than her, twice her weight. Even before she’d become a background fixture in this circle, she’d heard the sordid rumors about his affairs with various young models.
Jiang Siyi’s stomach churned with disgust.
She pulled out her phone and dialed 110. The driver barked “Hey—” and lunged for her phone.
Before Jiang Siyi could dodge, the driver’s face contorted. He let out a scream, hopping in place, clutching his left foot and spinning in circles.
Before Jiang Luo could react, a dark blur seized his arm, wrenched it behind his back, and pinned him against the car window.
Jiang Luo looked horrified—and even Jiang Siyi was startled.
In the reflection of the car glass, Jiang Luo saw that his attacker was a woman.
Ha.
He let out an incredulous, disdainful laugh, flushed red, and bellowed, throwing everything he had into breaking free.
But all his effort only earned a brief struggle before an even greater force slammed him back.
Jiang Luo’s entire face was pressed flat against the window, features distorted, ridiculous and wretched.
The woman pinning him wore her hair in a simple single ponytail. Her bangs were thick, her expression dark and fierce. Her narrow phoenix eyes1 were full of menace as she turned to ask Jiang Siyi:
“Police station, or should I dislocate an arm?”
The young woman’s voice wasn’t low—on the contrary, it was clear and bright. But the grimness in her tone made it sound somber, and the words themselves were chilling.
Only then did Jiang Siyi remember—this must be Zhou Ni.
She’d been protected all day without sensing her presence at all. Someone really had been watching from the shadows.
The words “dislocate an arm” were violent enough to make Jiang Siyi freeze. Jiang Luo went pale.
Jiang Siyi: “Police station…”
Jiang Luo snarled, “Police station? What did I do that you’d dare take me to a police station?”
Zhou Ni: “I recorded your threats on video. The whole thing.”
Jiang Luo faltered. “You…”
Zhou Ni didn’t give him another chance to speak. She dragged him toward the police station.
The driver called out “Hey—” several times and limped after them.
“You head back to the company. I’ll be back soon.”
Zhou Ni left Jiang Siyi with those words before departing.
By the time Jiang Siyi returned to Jiashibi, she still couldn’t believe what had just happened.
It was violent—but effective.
The malicious gaze that had been lurking in the shadows was now blocked by a solid wall. The anxiety that had been flickering beneath the surface slowly receded.
A sense of safety rose unbidden.
The midday meeting was done, and the day’s work was wrapping up.
Jiang Siyi received a text from an unknown number.
【Detention from five days and a fine from 500 yuan upward. This is the minimum penalty; it could go higher.】
It was Zhou Ni.
Jiang Siyi could almost picture Jiang Luo’s furious, helpless face.
She replied: 【Thank you.】
Zhou Ni, like a machine with no emotions, didn’t reply.
The time for her appointment with Lin Ji drew closer.
Jiang Siyi headed to the restroom to change into her dress.
The moment she left for the restroom, Manager Wu came by to announce that someone was treating the department to dinner and karaoke that evening.
“If you don’t have other plans after work, come along. It’s a good chance to build relationships with the Network Operations Department.”
Free dinner was always welcome, and the venue was nice. The Gold, Stone, and Jade Department erupted in cheers.
Manager Wu scanned the room and asked Duan Ning, “Where’s Xiao Jiang?”
“She went to change.”
Duan Ning and Manager Wu had gotten along quite well lately—so well that Duan Ning no longer treated her strictly as a superior. She pulled Manager Wu aside and whispered.
“President Wu, give me a hint. What’s the Network Operations Department up to, being so generous out of nowhere? This isn’t a setup for a blind date, is it? If it is, don’t invite Siyi.”
Duan Ning had seen Jiang Siyi walk into the restroom with clothes in a garment bag—what looked like a formal dress.
Combined with the fact that Jiang Siyi had checked the time three times in five minutes, Duan Ning guessed she had a date.
And it was very likely with Chairman Ji—no, Lin Ji-jie’s date.
Manager Wu didn’t commit either way.
“President Ke said we have to bring her along. If Xiao Jiang doesn’t go, there’s no dinner, no karaoke. This whole thing was arranged for her.”
“Don’t. Siyi’s romantic prospects aren’t here.”
Manager Wu understood. She lowered her voice further.
“Then where? Chairman Ji?”
Duan Ning smiled and mimed zipping her lips shut.
Manager Wu pointed at her excitedly. “All right, I’ll go ask President Ke whether they’re still treating if Xiao Jiang doesn’t come. If not, we all go home.”
“Sounds good!”
Colleagues nearby smelled gossip and crowded around eagerly.
Duan Ning’s lips were cement-sealed. She refused to say a word. Her coworkers nearly hoisted her up and tickled her.
Duan Ning’s makeup was nearly ruined. In her heart, she screamed at Jiang Siyi:
When you and Lin Ji-jie get married, I want a seat at the main table!
It was a bit embarrassing to wear a formal dress at the office. Even though the weather had turned warm, Jiang Siyi threw on a jacket over the dress, revealing only the hem and her nicely shaped legs.
As she walked down the corridor, Zhao Yong spotted her.
Zhao Yong’s eyes lit up.
Jiang Siyi had actually changed into formal wear for tonight. She must be looking forward to it too.
Zhao Yong hastily adjusted a few strands of hair, eagerly anticipating the evening’s blind date.
“Xiao Jiang’s not coming.”
Three minutes later, President Ke broke the cruel news to him.
Zhao Yong’s mouth twisted. “How is that possible? I just saw her change clothes!”
President Ke: “She’s already left. She has another date. The outfit was probably for something else.”
Zhao Yong: …
At two o’clock sharp, Jiang Siyi came downstairs on time and found Lin Ji’s car already waiting.
But Lin Ji wasn’t there.
Fan Qing opened the door for her and said, “BOSS had an important business partner to meet at the last minute. She asked me to pick you up and to tell you she’s sorry. She’ll be waiting for you at the banquet.”
Jiang Siyi knew Fan Qing was Lin Ji’s personal assistant—possibly handling other, more confidential duties as well. She’d been at Lin Ji’s side every time they’d met. It hadn’t occurred to Siyi that Lin Ji might be too busy to come herself and would send Fan Qing instead.
She got in the car and found a large pink mushroom plushie on the seat.
It was the same IP as the three on her bed—a new release that had only recently come out.
When it first launched, Jiang Siyi had wanted to buy one too, but it was too expensive—over 300 yuan each. She hadn’t been able to justify it.
Fan Qing, in the driver’s seat, said, “BOSS was worried you’d be bored on the way. She asked this little guy to keep you company.”
She hadn’t expected Lin Ji to notice such a small detail…
On the drive to the destination, the spacious back seat held only her.
Jiang Siyi couldn’t resist giving the pink mushroom a hug.
She didn’t know how long it had been sitting there, but it had already taken on Lin Ji’s cool fragrance.
Soft, and sweet-scented.
Outside the Ruihua Bank Building.
Oliver and Wan Xin sat in their car, watching invited guests and luminaries file in with their invitations—like watching countless yuan bills flowing past their eyes.
Oliver urged Wan Xin, “What did your dad say? Did he get the invitations?”
Wan Xin was irritated too. “I’ll call him right now.”
Today’s Ruihua Bank banquet brought together the heads of different industries. When Oliver got wind of it, he’d been desperate to get in. One WeChat contact added would be worth the trip; two would be pure profit.
But who would’ve thought you needed an invitation to get in?
Half an hour ago, when the doorman asked Oliver and Wan Xin for their invitations, they obviously didn’t have any. So, under the gaze of the crowd, the doorman and security guards—with bright, very polite smiles—”escorted” them back outside and asked them not to obstruct other guests.
It was humiliating, of course. Oliver consoled himself: if a banquet like this was something people at his level could just walk into, it wouldn’t be worth much.
Being kept out was only logical. It only made him want in more.
Oliver told Wan Xin to get the invitations immediately.
Wan Xin was exasperated by Oliver’s whims. She didn’t have that kind of pull. She could only nervously contact her father.
Her father had been thoroughly sick of her lately.
She’d spent ages planning an art salon, wanting to invite Xie Shuyi to discuss two Huang Qingzheng paintings in her family’s collection. The salon had been an epic failure, and Xie Shuyi hadn’t given her the time of day.
Wan Xin had been under enormous pressure lately. Zero progress at work, and her father had discovered she’d spent 200,000 yuan on idol merchandise and chewed her out thoroughly.
She’d sent her father a WeChat message asking for invitations. He’d replied with two words: “Wait.”
They’d been sitting in the car for ages. Not a peep from her father.
Wan Xin’s attention drifted to the net bandage on Oliver’s head, which wrapped his skull like a premium watermelon.
“Master, what happened to your head?”
Oliver’s head had been smashed with a wine bottle by the Yilan Hotel banquet manager, who accused Oliver of setting a trap for him. The manager had been fired and was facing a lawsuit, but he’d chased Oliver for three streets, demanding Oliver take responsibility.
Oliver had finally run straight to a police station to escape.
This humiliating story was impossible to explain. And he was stunned that Jiang Siyi actually wasn’t afraid to pursue the lawsuit. Oliver felt he’d been on a terrible luck streak lately. He didn’t want to answer Wan Xin’s question and urged her to hurry up and get the invitations from her father.
Wan Xin, pressured by Oliver’s nagging, called her father directly. He didn’t pick up.
Just as the call auto-disconnected, Oliver suddenly slapped her arm, staring ahead.
“Am I seeing things? Is that Jiang Siyi getting out of that Bentley?”
Wan Xin followed his gaze, her lips pressing together involuntarily.
It wasn’t “looked like.” It was Jiang Siyi herself.
Oliver and Wan Xin watched Jiang Siyi in her formal dress walk toward the entrance.
Oliver scoffed. “See? She’ll be thrown right back out in a minute.”
Wan Xin: “Why do I feel like… the person with her is Lin Ji’s assistant?”
Wan Xin had seen Fan Qing at the after party last time. The scar on her eye had been striking—hard to forget.
Come to think of it, Lin Ji’s car was a Bentley.
Oliver fell silent. He watched Fan Qing say something to the doorman. The doorman beamed and flanked Jiang Siyi alongside Fan Qing, escorting her inside.
Oliver and Wan Xin: …
The car was very quiet.
Oliver and Wan Xin looked at each other and cursed “WTF” in unison.
The moment Jiang Siyi entered the banquet hall, she noticed something odd.
Why was it so… corporate? There wasn’t the slightest hint of a birthday party atmosphere.
Half of J City’s wealthy elite and their second-generation heirs were here.
When Jiang Siyi appeared, surreptitious glances turned her way.
“What’s she doing here? Who gave her an invitation?”
“I saw someone selling invitations in the group chat. They’d already been scalped up to 150,000 yuan. That’s got to be half a year’s salary for her, right? She really went all in.”
“Is she wearing a three-year-old haute couture piece? Oh my god… I can’t even look. So awkward.”
“Whatever, forget about her. I just want to add Lin Ji-jie on WeChat. Does anyone have her? Can you introduce me?”
“Nobody does. The people who have her contact guard it like treasure and refuse to share. Ugh. Where is Lin Ji-jie anyway? Every single time…”
The socialites’ conversation stopped abruptly.
They watched with their own eyes as the person they’d just been talking about walked down from the second floor, looking at no one, heading straight in one direction.
Jiang Siyi’s direction.
Jiang Siyi once again experienced firsthand what it felt like to have gazes wash over her like a tide.
Lin Ji hadn’t dressed up at all. She was wearing the same clothes she’d had on when she left Siyi’s apartment that morning.
Lin Ji still had no interest in dressing to please any occasion. She cut through the stares, walking across the suddenly silent banquet hall, her heels clicking against the agate-blue floor, until she reached Jiang Siyi.
Standing there in her work clothes at this banquet built on mountains of money, she made Siyi’s out-of-season haute couture look fresh by comparison.
“Beautiful.”
Lin Ji whispered beside her ear, cool fragrance spreading.
“Thank you for agreeing to be my one-day girlfriend.”
Wait.
One-day girlfriend? I agreed to that?
Jiang Siyi’s expression froze.
Just how many things had she agreed to Lin Ji in that moment of distraction?
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Wife-luring Step 13 — now that she’s a girlfriend, can a wife be far behind?
I’m already looking forward to the next chapter.