Crossing the Line – Chapter 67
by Little PandaAre Lovers Always This Sappy?
When she woke the next morning, her hand was held in Lin Ji’s.
Who still holds hands in bed?
And holds them this tightly.
A full smile spilled across Jiang Siyi’s lips.
She didn’t want to disturb Lin Ji’s sound sleep — let her rest a little longer.
Jiang Siyi closed her eyes and went back to sleep for a while longer with Lin Ji.
……
It was a day off. After breakfast, Jiang Siyi received a video call request from Yan Yu.
They’d exchanged WeChat contacts with Yan Yu and Cen Lu back when they’d all played badminton together.
On the video, Yan Yu said that with the weather this nice, she wanted to go on a little outdoor hike.
She didn’t even bother video-calling Lin Ji anymore — she went straight to Jiang Siyi.
As long as she could lure Jiang Siyi out, Lin Ji was guaranteed to follow.
Jiang Siyi took the call on the sofa while Yan Yu kept calling her “Saosao” every other breath.
Then a pitch-dark face suddenly appeared in the frame, just behind Jiang Siyi’s shoulder.
Yan Yu: 【Oh my god, you scared the daylights out of me.】
Lin Ji’s eyelids drooped. 【You’ve been looking at this face for over twenty years, and suddenly it scares you?】
Yan Yu: 【Isn’t it because Saosao is so sweet that your scary face looks even scarier by comparison? Why skip an entire sofa and perch on my Saosao’s armrest? Clingy much, You-jie?】
The wraparound sofa in the living room could seat a dozen people, yet Lin Ji insisted on sitting on the armrest of the single seat Jiang Siyi had chosen.
Lin Ji said, utterly shameless: 【Yes. That’s me.】
Jiang Siyi had only sat down at random earlier — she hadn’t even registered that it was a single chair.
She took Lin Ji’s hand and moved with her to the three-seater sofa.
With Lin Ji on her left and Xueqiu on her right — every breathing creature in this house loved to cling to Jiang Siyi.
Jiang Siyi told Yan Yu: 【I’ve already mentioned the hike to my elder sister. She says it’s fine.】
Yan Yu: 【Perfect! Tomorrow at nine in the morning, Cen Lu and I will drive over to pick you all up.】
They’d wanted to invite Jiang Siling over days ago, but she’d said:
【No rush — let’s wait for a day off. Otherwise you two are working, and you’d have to split your attention entertaining me. How exhausting.】
Besides, she had a few things to take care of. There was no hurry; they could gather once the day off came.
Today was that day off. Lin Ji asked Jiang Siyi:
“Why not have Jie come over today? I’m home anyway — I’ll let her taste my cooking. She can stay the night, and we’ll all set out together tomorrow morning.”
Jiang Siyi: “Mm-hm. I’ll tell her.”
When Jiang Siyi got in touch with her, Jiang Siling said she was at her hotel right now.
Jiang Siyi said she’d go pick her elder sister up. Lin Ji said, “I’m coming with you.”
Even a pickup required togetherness.
Jiang Siyi thought of what Yan Yu had just said — Clingy much, You-jie?
Together, the two of them brought Jiang Siling home from the hotel.
Jiang Siling had been out exploring these past few days and bought a mountain of gifts, all of which she’d brought along now — six hands among three people, and they could barely carry everything.
Jiang Siling had left J City years ago, but she still knew perfectly well which districts back home commanded the highest prices.
Linyu Shuian’s location was superb — the newest high-end community in the city center, surrounded by fully matured amenities, home to J City’s nouveau riche.
Faced with a three-story villa on land worth its weight in gold, Jiang Siling’s modest gifts felt even flimsier. She was almost too embarrassed to present them.
Sensing her unease, Lin Ji took the striking designer lamp Jiang Siling had brought and placed it in a prominent spot on the TV console.
“Siyi, Jie. Does this spot look right?”
Jiang Siling looked at her little sister, who said, “It’s perfect.”
Lin Ji: “Mm. I think it suits the space too — this corner was missing exactly one accent piece. Artists really do have an eye.”
Lin Ji rarely praised anyone. When she did, even in that plain, blunt way of hers, it felt remarkably sincere.
Who could have imagined that the class prodigy she’d once both feared and envied would end up as her little sister’s wife — and call her “Jie”?
That stream of “Jie”s left Jiang Siling thoroughly embarrassed.
Jiang Siling’s hands twisted the hem of her skirt. “Then — would it be all right if I called you Xiao You from now on?”
Lin Ji: “Of course. Call me whatever you like.”
Watching “well-behaved” Lin Ji and her still-slightly-nervous elder sister, Jiang Siyi couldn’t help laughing.
Tap-tap-tap—
A burst of excited footsteps came pounding in from the courtyard.
Jiang Siling turned — and saw Xueqiu tearing toward her at full gallop, tongue lolling out!
“Xueqiu!”
Xueqiu pounced, and Jiang Siling scooped him up into her arms.
His little tail whipped back and forth frantically while his little tongue licked every inch of her face.
“Oh my, oh my — the drool! That’s a bit too much enthusiasm, honestly. Such a good baby, you still remember your Eldest Aunt! How did you get so fat? You really are a ball now. Did you just get your head fur trimmed? Your head looks like it was drawn with a compass. Eldest Aunt bought you yummy treats — go have some~”
While her elder sister went off to play with Xueqiu, Jiang Siyi saw Lin Ji in the kitchen and followed her in.
“Let me help out as your sous-chef.”
Jiang Siyi’s head popped around from behind Lin Ji.
“I can chop vegetables.”
Lin Ji was rinsing the vegetables. “No need. Go keep your elder sister company.”
“But…”
So many dishes — cooking all this will wear you out.
Before she could finish, her mouth was sealed by Lin Ji’s kiss.
Jiang Siyi: …
With their ten-centimeter height difference, kissing Lin Ji required tiptoes and careful aim.
For Lin Ji, kissing her was effortless.
When Jiang Siyi tried to speak again, Lin Ji kissed her once more.
This kiss was no featherlight brush — it parted her lips and pinned her in against the kitchen island.
Jiang Siyi gave a muffled “mmph,” spun around, and fled in a fluster.
Only at a safe distance did she turn back, speechless.
Lin Ji leaned one hand on the island. “In the time it takes you to cut one potato, I can cut ten. You rarely handle a knife — you’d cut yourself. Don’t worry, the prep’s mostly done already. Feeding three people won’t tire me out. The guest room’s on the second floor — aren’t you taking your elder sister up?”
“Oh…”
She had no choice but to do as Lin Ji said.
When she went looking for her elder sister, Jiang Siling was cuddling Xueqiu on a video call with Glenda.
Before she even reached them, she heard Glenda firing off a steady barrage — baby, darling, wife, miss you, love you, my whole heart is yours.
And she was mixing Chinese and English, an endless stream of sweet pet names and flirtatious lines.
It slowed Jiang Siyi’s steps.
They’d only been together a month — yes, the honeymoon phase, but this was too sappy even so.
She’d assumed her reserved elder sister would find it as sappy as she did.
Instead, her sister was answering with kissy wife, I missed you to death, every other breath.
Jiang Siyi: …
She sank into deep thought.
So — were all couples this sappy?
She was the only stiff one.
Everyone else was so attuned, so skilled at delighting the one they loved.
Someone like her… even in bed, strictly by the book, without a sound.
Would Lin Ji find her a little boring?
Spotting her little sister, Jiang Siling pulled her into the call with Glenda.
On screen, Glenda wore her long dark-brown curls loose, her deep-green eyes mesmerizing. Copying Jiang Siling, she called Jiang Siyi “Baby.”
Glenda: 【The October wedding — I’ll absolutely be there.】
With her elder sister’s arm around her shoulders, Jiang Siyi laughed. 【Great — see you then!】
After the call ended, Jiang Siyi picked up the bags Jiang Siling had brought, and they headed up to the second-floor guest room together.
Xueqiu hopped along at the very front.
He knew the house like the back of his paw — a little navigator dog, first to leap up the stairs.
Jiang Siling asked, “There’s a third floor? No elevator?”
Generally speaking, three-story houses tended to come with a villa elevator.
“Mm, that’s right. Once we’ve put the bags down, I’ll give you the grand tour.”
“Sure!”
Jiang Siling had only mentioned the elevator in passing.
But the remark made Jiang Siyi realize it too.
Come to think of it, Lin Ji genuinely disliked elevators.
Jiang Siyi rarely visited the second floor.
Before, she hadn’t placed herself in the position of the lady of the house, so she hadn’t felt free to wander.
Lately that mental burden had faded — but apart from the base renovations, the second and third floors were nearly empty.
She’d swum in the upstairs pool a few times; the second floor, she’d barely lingered on.
Jiang Siling was surprised by how bare the second floor was.
“There’s nothing here at all. Just one cabinet.”
The two sisters and Xueqiu all turned to look at the waist-high climate-controlled cabinet in the corner.
Jiang Siyi had a vague idea of what was stored inside. She yanked her thoughts away at once, refusing to dwell, and led her elder sister to the guest room.
Once inside, bags set down, Jiang Siling pulled her sister onto the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window.
She handed her a bank card and a jewelry box.
One look, and Jiang Siyi knew exactly what these were.
She was about to speak when Jiang Siling patted the back of her hand:
“Baby, listen to me first. I only just retrieved this jewelry box from the bank’s safe deposit box a couple of days ago. Do you remember? These are what Mother left behind for us.”
At her elder sister’s words, she remembered.
When Mother passed, she’d left behind very, very little — only two pairs of emerald brooches.
“We were too young then, with no settled home. I was afraid carrying them around wouldn’t be safe, so I stored them at the bank. But now you have a home. Of course they’re best kept here — let Mother’s memory stay with you.”
Jiang Siling opened the jewelry box.
“This is the pair Mother left for you.”
Two identical emerald brooches lay side by side, quiet and still, in the black velvet box.
Jiang Siling: “I remember Mother said they could be given to the one who’d spend a lifetime with you. Thank goodness I kept them until you were truly married.”
Within each emerald glowed a garden effect1 — a brilliant, epic landscape in miniature.
Its beauty transcended time, and all at once Jiang Siyi felt her mother’s presence — real, vivid, alive in her life.
Her vision blurred. Jiang Siyi quickly sniffed and tucked the emotion away.
Jiang Siling stroked her head, then pushed the bank card forward until it rested against the jewelry box.
“This is the dowry I’m giving you.”
“Jiejie…”
“Let me finish. Baby, I wasn’t a proper elder sister. Back then you loved painting too — but Mother was sick, and so I could study art abroad with peace of mind, you took care of her yourself and gave up your own lessons. You were only eleven or twelve. Still in primary school. And I actually just… let you shoulder it alone.”
“…Why bring all that up? It was ages ago. You didn’t leave me to shoulder it alone — you came home every weekend and every holiday. We took care of Mother together. And no one expected her condition to suddenly worsen. We all thought she’d be discharged after a short stay.”
“It’s not the same. I came back on weekends and holidays — you made the trip to the hospital every single day. The time and energy we each gave weren’t remotely comparable. I never had the chance to say it before, so let me say it all today. Saying it out loud makes it easier to bear.”
Jiang Siling sniffled too.
“If you’d kept painting, you might have surpassed me. But you gave it up so I wouldn’t worry. And later, for the sake of my career, you put up with Song Ti’s bullying all those years. I was the useless elder sister… the one who needed her little sister’s protection.”
Her voice gave out there. Jiang Siling’s tears fell, beyond control.
There were no tissues around, so Jiang Siyi wiped her sister’s tears with the back of her hand.
“I stopped painting because I wanted to study art history — otherwise I could pick it back up anytime, couldn’t I? Silly. Sisters are supposed to look after each other. You’ve done so much for me too — how can you call yourself useless? Do you remember? When Mother passed, we promised to protect each other. It’s a promise.”
Jiang Siling gave a soft “ah,” tears still falling even as she started to laugh.
“Look at me, honestly… Anyway — this is the dowry I saved for you. It isn’t much, just a small token from your elder sister, and you must accept it. Honestly, seeing how well Lin Ji treats you puts my heart at ease. But a dowry exists to fall back on. Life is unpredictable — a little extra security never hurts. Baby, don’t refuse me again.”
Just then, Xueqiu — who had been spectating from Jiang Siyi’s lap this whole time — suddenly stretched out a paw and planted it on the bank card.
This ball accepts.
The two red-eyed sisters looked at Xueqiu in unison and burst out laughing despite themselves.
The last dish — matsutake with sliced conch — was plated, dinner was ready, and Lin Ji called the sisters down to eat.
Jiang Siling had assumed they’d ordered takeout — it turned out Lin Ji had cooked everything herself.
Faced with a table laden with lavish dishes, she could hardly believe it.
The ice-cold class prodigy could actually cook?
Cooking is exhausting — these days, hardly anyone still cooks with their own hands.
She stole a glance at Lin Ji’s expressionless face.
Who’d have thought she was the type to cook for family?
Any notion that her little sister had been carried off by some tyrant had long since been tossed to the winds.
Still, seeing home-cooked food and Lin Ji in the same frame, Jiang Siling — who hadn’t eaten a single bite yet — suffered the strange illusion of an already-stuffed stomach.
When Lin Ji reached for the serving chopsticks2, Jiang Siling’s heart gave an instinctive little shudder.
Lin Ji smiled politely. “I’m serving myself.”
Jiang Siling: …
Jiang Siling’s stomach made it through the meal unscathed.
That night, when Jiang Siyi tried to sleep beside her elder sister, she got tossed right back out the door.
Hugging Xueqiu, Jiang Siling declared, “Xueqiu is sleeping with me tonight. Don’t come disturb us.”
Jiang Siyi: …
She ambled back downstairs to the master bedroom.
Lin Ji had just showered and was working hair oil through her hair.
As Jiang Siyi went to close the window, she sensed Lin Ji approaching from behind.
Footsteps drew closer, one beat at a time — until they were right behind her.
The looming presence of the tall woman’s silhouette pressed faintly against her back. So close.
After days of frequent intimacy, her body had learned to respond to her automatically.
The moment that silhouette drew near, her mind automatically conjured the premonition of an imminent kiss.
But…
Jiang Siyi raised a hand to block Lin Ji, murmuring, embarrassed:
“My elder sister’s home…”
Her elder sister was upstairs — not exactly close, unlikely to hear anything private from downstairs.
But knowing they were under the same roof, Jiang Siyi just couldn’t loosen up.
Lin Ji’s hand paused on the curtain.
Jiang Siyi looked at her hand too.
Lin Ji blinked. “Jiejie’s home — does that mean I can’t draw the curtains?”
Jiang Siyi: …
The mortification of the misunderstanding instantly flared into waves of heat surging up her face.
Lin Ji seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded in understanding. “So that’s the kind of person I am in your heart.”
“That’s not it…”
And she dared keep teasing.
“Then are you mad that I’m not that kind of person?”
“You— Lin Ji—”
Flushed and furious, Jiang Siyi flung both palms against her arm at once, like a little bunny pouncing in a rage.
Lin Ji couldn’t hold back a laugh.
How was even her anger this un-fierce?
A stir of movement and faint human sounds drifted up from downstairs. Jiang Siling, who was also closing her window, froze.
That was…
Oh.
She shut the window at once, and when she lay down, plugged in a pair of noise-blocking earplugs.
She ordered herself to fall asleep, posthaste.
Tonight she mustn’t hear a single thing. Mm — she wouldn’t hear a single thing.
……
Lately, Lin Ji had been falling asleep without trouble.
Tonight, lying in bed, she’d listened to her sleep-aid music for a while, and her breathing had evened out.
She must be asleep.
It was Jiang Siyi’s turn to hunt for sleep in vain.
She’d actually called Lin Ji by her full name just now.
Forget sweet pet names like normal couples use — she’d gone and called her by her full name.
And swatted her.
Ugh…
Sneaking a look at Lin Ji’s peaceful sleeping face, she rehearsed in the tiniest of voices:
“Darling, Wife, Baby.”
Yeesh.
So sappy.
Jiang Siyi shivered at her own sappiness.
Forget it. She couldn’t pull it off.
And Lin Ji might not even like it.
She was about to roll over when the long arm of her bedmate curved around and caged her in.
It hooked her back, pulling her tight into an embrace.
Jiang Siyi: !
She wasn’t asleep?
Eyes still closed, Lin Ji pressed a kiss to the soft ear that was beginning to burn in her arms, and murmured:
“Darling wife baby, goodnight.”
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Wife-pampering, Step 33 — call out every single pet name your wife wanted to hear (bushi
Footnotes
- 花园效应 | huayuan xiaoying | The 'jardin' (French for garden): natural inclusions in an emerald resembling moss or foliage, prized as proof the stone formed in nature.
- 公筷 | gong kuai | Separate chopsticks used only to transfer food from shared dishes to one's own bowl, a hygiene practice standard at Chinese family dinners.
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