Crossing the Line – Chapter 70

The Woman Held in the Mirror

West side of J City.

Lin Yunting and Song Liming’s thirtieth wedding anniversary was fast approaching.

            

Lin Yunting told her husband that this year’s celebration had to be done properly. They needed to invite her Eldest Sister’s family and repair the relationship, no matter what.

Holding it at the Song family’s place would be meaningless. Lin Yunting planned to have the Xishan Old Residence cleaned up and invite her Eldest Sister’s family there, using the anniversary as a pretext for a family banquet.

The Xishan Old Residence was where their late mother used to admire the autumn maples.

            

When their mother was still alive, she stayed at Xishan every year around this season.

The two sisters would bring their families to the old residence from time to time to keep her company.

After their mother passed away, the old residence was preserved, but they visited less often.

            

Every visit brought a desolate sense of half a lifetime already gone, of years slipping by too fast. It never put anyone in a good mood.

But the place held so many warm memories. Hosting a family banquet there might remind her Eldest Sister of the sibling bond they’d shared growing up — might remind her of Lin Yunting’s good qualities.

Xiao You had been to the old residence too, and had once expressed fondness for the red maples of Xishan.

            

Winning Xiao You’s favor was the most important thing of all.

She’d been so difficult to please before, but now that she had someone in her heart, there was finally a way to please her.

Lin Yunting dragged Song Liming along to oversee repairs at the old residence.

            

The long-neglected crystal chandelier in the main hall was replaced with a new one. The hand-painted silk wallpaper, water-stained during the last typhoon when the roof leaked, couldn’t be replaced in time, so they moved a painting from Song Liming’s study to cover the damage. The painting was hung so suspiciously high that it was clearly hiding something.

Song Liming found it unbearable and felt his painting was being thoroughly humiliated up there.

Lin Yunting said, “Then you pay to have all the hand-painted silk wallpaper replaced.”

            

After calculating the cost, Song Liming fell silent.

Lin Yunting said, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you — this banquet is to make amends for the mess caused by your daughter and your sister. If it weren’t for the two of them and their handiwork, my sister wouldn’t be giving me the cold shoulder. Would I need to arrange all this? If you’re not going to help, then shut that annoying mouth of yours.”

Song Liming found her nagging insufferable. “What did I even say? You go off on a tirade. Let the painting stay — nobody take it down!”

            

When Song Ti was still wreaking havoc at the group, the consecutive losses at least gave Song Liming someone to rage at. Now that Song Ti had vanished completely, the losses were even more ghastly.

Every step he took came with a sense of impending freefall into an abyss, a dread of becoming the next Jiang Luo.

Song Liming had no desire to become a laughingstock, ruined and disgraced.

            

But that day seemed to be drawing closer and closer.

He didn’t need his wife to tell him how critical it was to repair the relationship with Lin Xuebo’s family.

This banquet had to be done with dignity — to make her Eldest Sister’s family happy, or more precisely, to make Xiao You and her new wife happy.

            

Set aside the misunderstandings, dissolve the grudges, and they’d still be family.

That way, whether it was getting a helping hand with the group or the matter of Song Hui, there’d still be room for maneuver.

Unfortunately, the word “dignity” had become terrifyingly expensive for Lin Yunting and Song Liming in their current state.

            

Seeing the ingredients Lin Yunting had flown in by chartered plane, Song Liming’s heart ached so badly he couldn’t stop grumbling.

Lin Yunting pointed at his nose. “Xiao You has a sensitive stomach, and my sister has plenty of dietary restrictions. If you’d rather they have an uncomfortable meal and never set foot in our home again, by all means, go book a table at Yilan. Or are you telling me you can turn the group’s losses into profits all on your own without Xiao You lifting a finger?”

Song Liming shrugged, still wearing a sarcastic expression, as if he were the one making a concession.

            

In truth, they both knew he was simply speechless.

Sick of the sight of each other, unable to share the same living room, Song Liming went out to the courtyard to smoke.

“And one more thing.”

            

Lin Yunting’s voice followed his back from inside the house:

“Don’t tell Stella this time. That girl is single-minded and can’t see reason — Xiao You and Siyi definitely don’t want to see her. If she shows up, she’ll cause a scene and the whole banquet will be wasted. We’ll arrange for her to apologize properly once relations have softened. Do you hear me?”

Song Liming’s ears were calloused from hearing this.

            

“Am I an idiot? I don’t understand even this much?”

While directing the housekeeping team, Lin Yunting idly scrolled through her Moments feed.

The mechanical upward swipe of her thumb froze, along with her eyes.

            

She saw Lin Xuebo’s Moments.

A full screen of photos made her eyelids twitch.

Her Eldest Sister and… so many people, all went to Forest Park together?

            

Having a photo with Jiang Siyi was one thing, but she’d even put a group photo with that Jiang Siling right in the center.

So many people went on an outing together, yet no one thought to invite her, their own flesh-and-blood younger sister…

Lin Xuebo rarely posted on Moments. Posting this many photos at once was unprecedented.

            

The comments and likes were flooding in.

Everyone was praising her daughter-in-law — how beautiful she was, what a perfect match she and Lin Ji made.

Saying they’d definitely attend the wedding and bring generous gifts.

            

Her sister’s comment section was buzzing. Lin Yunting sat in the cold, empty old residence, a sour knot tightening in her chest.

She sat there, propping her aching head, thought for a moment, then prepared to handwrite invitation letters to deliver to Lin Xuebo’s residence.

Three of them.

            

One for Lin Ji. One for Lin Xuebo.

And one she would deliver in person.

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That evening, when Lin Ji’s car pulled into the community, she happened to run into Jiang Siyi coming home.

            

Jiang Siyi parked her shared bike by the gate and was walking briskly toward home.

She seemed lost in thought, and didn’t notice when Lin Ji got out of the car and caught up behind her.

Not until Lin Ji’s fingertip tapped her shoulder did she turn in surprise.

            

A chance encounter in the autumn twilight, ten minutes ahead of schedule — delight leapt to her brows.

Hands intertwined, the person she longed for right beside her, the walk home became unhurried.

Jiang Siyi said, “Lin Yunting came to see me today.”

            

Lin Ji said, “To deliver the banquet invitation?”

Jiang Siyi nodded.

Lin Ji said, “She knows both my mother and I might refuse, so she thinks you’re the easygoing one and wants you to accept. You can turn her down directly.”

            

But Jiang Siyi said, “I want to go.”

A sycamore leaf, half yellow and half green, drifted slowly down from the trunk, floating past their eyes.

Jiang Siyi gazed into Lin Ji’s eyes and said, “Auntie Xuebo and she are biological sisters. In the same family, they’ll cross paths whether they want to or not. Avoidance is possible, but it drains energy. And I overheard Auntie chatting once — the two sisters still have business ventures they started together years ago. They’re entangled to this day.”

            

Blood ties ran deep, and the Lin family was a large clan.

The web of kinship and competing interests among the families was tangled and deeply complex.

Lin Xuebo and Lin Ji had already done so much for her. She couldn’t keep hiding under their wings, letting them scheme only on her behalf.

            

Lin Yunting had gone out of her way to host this banquet and personally delivered the invitation, her attitude humble to the point of obsequiousness — clearly a signal of reconciliation.

“It’s just a family banquet. Why not go? If I don’t, it’ll only look like I care about something, or fear something.”

Lin Ji felt obliged to remind her. “You might see someone you don’t want to see.”

            

Jiang Siyi shook her head.

“I don’t care. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not the one who should be taking detours.”

Sometimes Jiang Siyi’s courage was so small, she looked easy to bully.

            

Sometimes she was so unyielding that no one could bend her.

They walked into the back courtyard.

Lin Ji slipped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her lips.

            

Jiang Siyi closed her eyes, lost in the tangle of lips and tongues, remembering that Lin Ji loved her embraces too.

Her arms climbed to Lin Ji’s shoulders, clinging affectionately around her neck.

Sensing Jiang Siyi’s initiative, the kiss deepened from deep to deeper.

            

Until a low moan slipped from Jiang Siyi’s lips.

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That evening, Lin Ji called Lin Xuebo to say that Siyi had decided to attend the banquet.

Lin Xuebo sighed with quiet relief.

            

【Siyi is truly such a sensible, good child.】

Lin Ji leaned against the kitchen island.

【Is she going?】

            

She meant Song Ti.

【Your aunt specifically assured me she wouldn’t come, and that she wasn’t told.】

In truth, Lin Ji didn’t care whether Song Ti showed up or not.

            

She just didn’t want to sully Jiang Siyi’s eyes, didn’t want anything to dampen her mood.

Of course, if Song Ti did come, it wouldn’t matter.

As Siyi had said — they weren’t the ones who should be taking detours.

            

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With the banquet approaching, Lin Xuebo didn’t want to waste the two girls’ time on excessive outfit selection. While attending fashion shows in Kyoto, she’d purchased quite a few top-tier haute couture pieces and had her assistant deliver them all to Linyu Shuian.

Lin Ji asked Jiang Siyi to help her choose a dress.

Jiang Siyi said, “But I feel like you have better taste.”

            

Lin Ji shook her head, insisting Siyi choose.

Jiang Siyi couldn’t out-stubborn her. “All right.”

Jiang Siyi chose for her a modern tailcoat cut from ebony satin and velvet.

            

Black on anyone else would be boring, monotonous. On Lin Ji, it took on an entirely different allure.

The upper body of the piece retained the tailcoat’s iconic silhouette, while the cinched waist and voluminous skirt below accentuated Lin Ji’s striking waistline.

Leaving her long hair loose wouldn’t suit it, so Jiang Siyi helped her pick a hair clip at the display cabinet.

            

The dowry gifts Lin Xuebo had lavished on her at Jiashibi were all kept here.

Jiang Siyi’s gaze lingered among the fine jewelry, drawing on her limited styling experience to accessorize Lin Ji.

“This one.”

            

Lin Ji singled out the most inconspicuous oddity among the fine jewelry.

Jiang Siyi’s hair clip.

The one Lin Ji had “commandeered” for ages and always refused to return.

            

Jiang Siyi frowned, tapping her own chin.

It wasn’t impossible — overall there was a certain contrast to it, and it more or less matched.

But… it was just a ten-yuan hair clip.

            

Before Jiang Siyi could respond, Lin Ji clipped it on herself.

She also wore the white camellia ear-clips Jiang Siyi had given her on the day they registered their marriage.

An aura entirely of Jiang Siyi.

            

Jiang Siyi stole glances at her.

She had a pretty good idea why Lin Ji styled herself this way.

And was gradually confirming that she really was quite stingy.

            

Stingy in the most endearing way.

Lin Ji’s outfit was settled. Now it was her turn to choose for Jiang Siyi.

She studied the rack of dresses for a while, then pulled out one.

            

“Try it?”

Jiang Siyi changed into the dress and the two of them stood together before the mirror wall.

A silk dress with exquisite hand-embroidery as its highlight.

            

At first glance, it radiated Eastern elegance — all its luxurious touches hidden in the details.

Lin Ji, standing behind her, looked with her at the unadorned woman in the mirror.

Still as lovely as ever, yet now with the faint emergence of a transformed, mature beauty.

            

Jiang Siyi hadn’t expected the dress to fit as if it had been tailored for her — it was perfect.

The arms behind her encircled her waist with fascination, gradually tightening.

Flecks of desire floated in Lin Ji’s eyes.

            

“The one I picked — do you like it?”

Through the mirror, Jiang Siyi watched herself being held from behind.

“Mm, I like it. Then I’ll wear this one…”

            

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Once she opened her mouth, who knew what sounds might slip out.

Because the spot where the little wings sat on the back of her neck had been bitten.

            

A gentle press of teeth — faint pain, intense tickling.

Those impossibly beautiful hands traced up from the sides of her face, caressing her slender neck.

The neck, held lightly by a woman’s hands with perfect knuckles, was like a freshly peeled tender bamboo shoot — skin so thin it seemed the slightest extra pressure could bruise it.

            

Jiang Siyi arched her chin upward under the dual assault of caress and bite, unable to bear it.

A flush spread across her body.

Slowly, even that wasn’t enough anymore.

            

Keenly sensing the tremor in her arms, Lin Ji’s bite suddenly applied more force.

“Mm…?”

This drew out a soft, trembling note at the tail end of her breath.

            

Teeth pressing deep and shallow, ceaseless.

The woman held in the mirror had an increasingly dangerous look in her eyes.

Jiang Siyi wanted to turn her face away, not wanting to see how thoroughly undone she looked.

            

But Lin Ji’s hand turned it back.

Forced to watch herself fall under Lin Ji’s control — the water-color in her eyes deepening until total surrender.

The dress was tossed back onto the clothing rack.

            

The little wings had been dyed vivid red.

Jiang Siyi, sitting in Lin Ji’s lap, was nearly ripe to bursting.

In a daze, brought to tilt her chin upward, glistening.

            

Shy and self-possessed as she was, she couldn’t hold back the sensuality that spilled out under Lin Ji’s touch.

How thoroughly she was being possessed.

Everything in the mirror reflected in both their eyes, crystal clear.

            

This clarity clearly intensified Jiang Siyi’s response.

Even without a word, Lin Ji knew exactly how much she felt it, how overwhelming it was.

The words whispered beside Jiang Siyi’s ear: “You’re mine.”

            

Almost simultaneously, the person in her arms went rigid.

Her thighs trembled.

A whimper like a kitten’s.

            

That declaration of ownership sent an unimaginable wetness tracing across Lin Ji’s knuckles.

After the stiffness passed, Jiang Siyi’s beautiful, damp eyes swirled with thoroughly infused pink and softness.

She’d gone too far again — greedy for so much.

            

“Trying on clothes” took over four hours.

Even after reducing her to a crying voice, she still went two more rounds.

But she loved Jiang Siyi too much — loved too much the feeling of truly possessing her.

            

A demonic greed.

Lin Ji breathed out softly, her hot breath warming the little wings.

She kissed the narrow shoulders in her arms with tender devotion, still refusing to let go.

            

The kisses were too gentle, as if apologizing.

Jiang Siyi sensed her guilt, turned around, and pressed her burning lips to Lin Ji’s.

Initiating a soft, lingering entanglement.

            

Jiang Siyi’s kiss was still clumsy, simply imitating Lin Ji.

As if to soothe, to tell Lin Ji not to feel guilty.

She loved everything Lin Ji did to her.

            

All of it.

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Monday, the day of the banquet.

Jiang Siyi’s profession meant ordinary weekends were her busiest time.

            

So her days off were usually other people’s workdays.

The Lin family banquet was scheduled around her availability.

Jiang Siyi and Lin Ji set out together, bringing Xueqiu, and met up with Lin Xuebo in front of the Xishan Old Residence.

            

Lin Yunting and Song Liming were standing at the main gate fifteen minutes early to welcome them.

The moment she saw her sister, Lin Yunting rushed forward and linked arms with her, as if afraid she’d bolt. She chatted about the old residence’s renovations, brought up their late mother, and mentioned the business the two sisters had founded together in their early years.

From the gate to the courtyard, before they’d even entered the house, Lin Yunting had already said all this — rather too obviously fawning.

            

She caught herself, turned back, and smiled at Lin Ji and Jiang Siyi.

She praised Xueqiu in Jiang Siyi’s arms for his pure breeding and how well he was kept.

Lin Yunting said, “The Xishan maples are all red now — perfect for maple viewing. Xiao You always loved them, and this year they’re even more beautiful. Siyi, you’ve come at just the right time.”

            

Jiang Siyi smiled politely.

Lin Yunting went on to say that all the ingredients for today’s banquet had been flown in by chartered plane, and she’d hired a state banquet chef.

“Today the five of us will have a proper meal together. It’s truly been so long since we all gathered.”

            

Five people.

Lin Yunting and Song Liming, plus the three of them — five in total.

The deliberate phrasing was meant to signal that Song Ti wouldn’t be coming.

            

Neither Jiang Siyi nor Lin Ji responded to that. Lin Xuebo steered the conversation back to their late mother.

Song Liming knew he was an eyesore no matter where he stood. After a round of pleasantries, he retreated to the kitchen, where he smoked facing the range hood.

At noon, the butler and kitchen assistants brought the dishes out one by one to the main table.

            

It was obvious Lin Yunting had spared no expense for this banquet. The chef was a state banquet master, and every dish was state-banquet caliber.

Throughout the meal, Lin Yunting kept steering the conversation toward Jiang Siyi.

Praising her capability — so young and already a renowned auctioneer at Jiashibi. She often watched her videos online.

            

She also very subtly alluded to the past.

Mentioning the care she’d once shown Jiang Siyi.

Of course, she didn’t dare hint at the fact that they’d once been quasi-mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. She wouldn’t dare.

            

Song Liming played the waiter, introducing each dish, pouring tea and wine, asking everyone about their preferences so he could adjust the afternoon refreshments.

Jiang Siyi spoke rarely, offering only a polite word or two in response.

Lin Ji didn’t speak at all through the entire meal.

            

The lunch was awkward, and Lin Yunting and Song Liming both knew it.

But the fact that they’d come at all was generous enough. The atmosphere was so stilted that no one could muster laughter.

It didn’t matter. The couple understood each other without words.

            

Today didn’t need to be warm. Just opening the door was enough — there’d be plenty of time ahead.

Once the rift was healed, everything else would follow.

After lunch, everyone moved upstairs.

            

Beyond the glass curtain wall on the third floor lay the finest maple-viewing vista in all of Xishan.

The card table was set up. Song Liming produced a black tea caddy and, wincing inwardly at the cost, sat down at the tea table and introduced:

“Phoenix Mountain Dancong Songzhong No. 1 mother tree¹ tea — the genuine blood amber from the peak of Wudong Mountain. Harvesting was banned long ago, and fakes have flooded the market for years. The last two jin of the real thing—”

            

He opened the tea caddy with reverent care.

“—are all right here. Saved specially for family to taste.”

Lin Xuebo took a sip and detected a hint of cinnamon.

            

It wasn’t the flavor profile of a mother tree — it was second-generation grafted tea.

Smiling, she set her teacup down slowly.

Listening to Song Liming’s speech just now, either he was deliberately deceiving people, or he himself had been fleeced as a sucker and had been bragging about it for years.

            

Given his intelligence, the latter was far more likely.

The afternoon stretched on. Xishan was beautiful, but no one could simply stare at scenery all afternoon.

Cards were the most suitable pastime.

            

Lin Yunting had a bellyful of things she wanted to say, and she also wanted to lose a few hands to her Eldest Sister’s family — curry favor, show a little weakness.

The card game had just been organized when Lin Ji’s phone rang.

Lin Ji answered but stayed beside Jiang Siyi, listening for a while. It was about an acquisition deal that had hit some friction — she had to get up.

            

As she left, she looked at Jiang Siyi.

Jiang Siyi understood what that glance meant.

Following Lin Ji’s own habit, she tapped her finger against Lin Ji’s knuckles.

            

Signaling that she was fine, and that Auntie Xuebo was here — no need to worry.

Lin Ji stepped away. The remaining four sat around the table and played two rounds, both of which Lin Xuebo won.

Halfway through the third round, Song Liming’s phone rang too — the auditors needed him.

            

He set his cards on the table. Three missing one.

Lin Yunting said, “Then let’s wait for Xiao You, no rush…”

Even as she spoke, her gaze drifted past Lin Xuebo and Jiang Siyi toward the doorway behind them.

            

Her expression shifted quickly from surprise to helplessness, even a touch of annoyance.

“No need to wait.”

Song Ti dropped into the seat to Jiang Siyi’s left, staring at her.

            

“I’ll play with you.”

Lin Yunting looked at Lin Xuebo, her chest rising and falling, visibly wanting to explain but unable to speak.

She truly hadn’t told Stella to come. She’d kept it secret the whole time.

            

Song Ti had found out on her own from heaven knows where.

But her daughter was right here — she couldn’t explain herself in front of her.

Lin Xuebo’s expression didn’t change. Even her act of sipping her apple rum mulled wine didn’t falter at Song Ti’s sudden appearance.

            

She didn’t look at Lin Yunting — as if she’d expected this and needed no explanation.

Nor did she look at Song Ti.

Her gaze merely drifted slightly toward Jiang Siyi, watching her emotional state.

            

Song Ti had spent years running with Xie Shuyi and become a party regular. She knew how to play cards — her social circle had crowned her a card table killer.

She knew Jiang Siyi barely played. After picking up Song Liming’s hand and glancing at it, she provoked:

“Scared? Afraid of losing?”

            

A childish scene, an even more childish approach.

But Jiang Siyi knew she couldn’t walk away right now.

She said nothing, meeting Song Ti’s gaze with cool indifference.

            

Lin Yunting was at her wit’s end. “Stella, you…”

Song Ti slapped down a pair.

“Pair of tens. Jiang Siyi, want them?”

            

Jiang Siyi had a pair of Queens — she could beat it.

Only, this was now the biggest pair in her hand.

The game was more than half over. If she played them and Song Ti still had bigger cards, she could lose.

            

But if Song Ti didn’t have bigger cards, she could run out the straight in her hand.

Win or lose — it all came down to this choice.

Jiang Siyi’s thumb pressed lightly against the face of her cards.

            

From the corner of her eye, she saw Song Ti watching her with casual ease.

As she hesitated, Lin Ji’s voice rose from behind her:

“Play them just like that. No mistake.”

            

Jiang Siyi turned sharply. She’d been so focused she hadn’t noticed Lin Ji had not only returned but had settled onto the arm of her sofa, as always.

Lin Ji propped one arm on the back of the sofa, leaning toward Jiang Siyi, her gaze casually surveying the pile of played cards as she said with calm certainty:

“She doesn’t have anything bigger.”

            

Lin Ji hadn’t gone far — she’d been in the hallway on her call.

Her eyes had been on the card game the whole time.

As always, subconsciously tracking everything that concerned Jiang Siyi.

            

So she remembered every card that had been played this round.

Song Ti, who had been bluffing to confuse Jiang Siyi, watched her composed expression slip away bit by bit after Lin Ji — who could count cards — called her out.

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The author has something to say:

            

Lin Ji: Wife-pampering, step thirty-four — those who know know 5.0

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