Crossing the Line – Chapter 38
by Little PandaI Want to See You
On the other side of the city.
After walking the dog and returning home, Jiang Siyi showered, lay face-down on the bed, and turned on a foreign-language channel.
Every night, whenever she had time, she would listen to English news to improve her English and stay informed about changes in the international landscape. It was a work requirement and her fixed study time.
Tonight was a little different.
After several minutes of listening, she snapped back to attention and realized she had been thinking about Lin Ji the entire time. Not a single word the anchor had said had registered in her brain.
She had to drag the progress bar back.
Pinning her thoughts in place so they wouldn’t scatter, she forced herself to finish tonight’s study session.
After brushing her teeth, she turned on the nightlight and hugged the Pink Mushroom Plushie, ready to sleep.
The events of tonight surfaced in her mind again.
Lin Ji had mentioned getting into a car accident overseas, brushing it off lightly—but the actual situation probably hadn’t been as casual as she made it sound.
Corporate espionage, the mastermind behind it, the car accident, the injuries…
Recalling these key words, she thought of all the movies and TV shows that depicted cutthroat corporate warfare where rivals would stop at nothing to kill each other. There was no shortage of news reports about wealthy individuals dying under suspicious circumstances abroad either.
The more she thought about it, the more her heart raced.
No wonder Lin Ji had hired a bodyguard.
Siyi had always known that the world Lin Ji inhabited was very different from her own, but what was said tonight gave her a clearer understanding.
To be her wife, to enter her life, meant facing danger at any moment.
At this thought, Jiang Siyi’s palms grew slightly damp.
No one was unafraid of danger.
Most importantly, if she ever found herself in a dangerous situation while with Lin Ji, she didn’t want to be the one dragging her down.
In the quiet of the night, Xueqiu had settled into his favorite soft bed, comfortably enjoying the air conditioning and about to drift off, when he suddenly noticed Jiang Siyi sitting up on the bed.
Xueqiu slowly turned his round head, propping up his drooping eyelids, and watched Jiang Siyi prop her phone on the desk, earnestly studying along with fighting tutorial videos on screen, carefully mimicking each move and stance with her slender arms.
He had wanted to keep her company, but she went through one video after another, practicing repeatedly.
Xueqiu let out a yawn, unable to hold on any longer, and fell asleep first.
The next day during her lunch break, Jiang Siyi went to a nearby professional gym to inquire about self-defense courses.
Three sessions a week, an hour and a half each evening after work. The coach said she would see results in about six months—at the very least, she wouldn’t be helpless when faced with unexpected situations.
Having been busy with work before this, Jiang Siyi didn’t have a fitness habit. Starting so suddenly left her entire body sore, and she still had to handle her regular work during the day. She endured a rough period.
She didn’t back down, though, and managed to stick with it—a rare feat of persistence.
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-August.
For this year’s autumn auction, it wasn’t just Manager Wu who wanted the Gold, Stone, and Jade Department to make a name for itself in the industry. After reviewing the lot list and valuations, CEO Gu was even more ambitious, aiming to push for first place in Asia-Pacific performance.
Unlike the company’s upper management, who treated different auctions with varying levels of attention and chased impressive performance numbers, Jiang Siyi treated every auction—whether the autumn sale or a regular one—as equally crucial.
Perhaps because she had once been slighted herself, she felt a certain kinship with those similarly overlooked. She never half-hearted any auction, treating lots ranging from a few thousand to over a million with the same dedication, going all out to secure the best prices.
However, there had been a recent change at the auctions that she found difficult to handle.
Whenever she was the lead auctioneer, Lin Xuebo was always there.
Lin Xuebo always sat in the exact center of the VIP section, in the spot Jiang Siyi could see at a glance, and bid with extraordinary generosity.
A casual raise of her paddle could push the total sale price of each session past a million.
When she was having fun, she would even break ten million.
Jiang Siyi had received the White Glove1—symbolizing not a single lot going unsold—for several consecutive sessions now.
Her performance had also risen to second in all of Jiashibi.
She was just one step behind the ace auctioneer of the Oil Painting Department in first place.
Lin Xuebo was purely there to keep Jiang Siyi company.
Just as she had said before, Lin Ji had been busy with work lately and dealing with the corporate espionage case, unable to attend every session, so she was filling in for Lin Ji.
Boosting sales numbers with a few casual bids was the least of it—the most important thing was laying the groundwork.
Besides, having family present meant Jiang Siyi didn’t feel lonely at work.
As for the bidding itself, for Lin Xuebo, it was no different from browsing a mall or shopping at a luxury boutique.
If she saw something she liked, she bought it. If someone competed for it, it only fired up her desire to possess it.
Before long, she found the thrill of bidding quite enjoyable too.
To Jiang Siyi’s relief, Lin Yunting never showed up.
Lin Xuebo hadn’t brought her younger sister along even once.
The pieces Lin Xuebo won were still all gifted to Jiang Siyi, said to be her dowry.
Keep what she liked, and cash out what she didn’t—entirely up to her.
Jiang Siyi had tried to refuse, but couldn’t.
She thought of Lin Ji’s words—
“She gives you gifts because she likes you. If you keep giving them back, she’ll be hurt.”
Lin Xuebo was kind to her, and she couldn’t bear to make the older woman unhappy, so she rented a safety deposit box at the bank and stored everything there for safekeeping.
A few days later, while attending a reception, someone came over to fish for information about Song Ti and Jiang Siyi’s broken engagement.
After a little probing, Lin Xuebo could tell that Qiao Jin had already gotten it done.
Song Ti had cheated, Jiang Siyi had initiated the cancellation of the engagement, and the two had been done for months—this fact was now circulating smoothly through the social circle.
Qiao Jin’s efficiency was impeccable. Lin Xuebo planned to move to the next step immediately.
But first, she needed to deliver the compensation she had promised Qiao Jin.
Cradling her favorite glass of hot apple rum wine, Lin Xuebo took a sip and called Fan Qing, asking if she had been busy lately.
Normally, because of BOSS’s affairs, Fan Qing communicated with Lin Xuebo privately quite often, and she was well familiar with her direct, no-nonsense style.
Today’s sudden roundabout opening made Fan Qing sense something was up.
Fan Qing: 【I’m currently helping BOSS wrap up the follow-up work on the corporate spy.】
Lin Xuebo: 【Almost done?】
Fan Qing: 【Almost.】
Lin Xuebo: 【Perfect timing, then. I’m thinking of discussing with Xiaoyou whether we can give you a week off.】
Being offered a vacation out of nowhere was even stranger.
Fan Qing: 【May I ask, is there something you need me to do?】
Lin Xuebo loved talking to smart kids.
【Here’s the situation. Your Qiao Jin-jiejie wants to travel in Europe but hasn’t found a satisfactory travel companion. You two get along well, don’t you? Ah Qing, could you keep your Qiao Jin-jiejie company?】
Fan Qing: .
She understood the reasoning, but… agreeing to be a travel companion wasn’t something to take lightly.
What if things went wrong?
Never mind whether she could handle Qiao Jin’s “pet-keeping” proclivities—the main issue was that she wasn’t that kind of person.
Even if she were, it would cost extra.
Fan Qing fell silent for a moment, unsure how to broach it.
Lin Xuebo added: 【I don’t need you to compromise your dignity. Just keep your Qiao Jin-jiejie company and make sure she has fun and stays safe. I’ll suggest to Xiaoyou that your year-end bonus be increased. If she doesn’t have the budget for it, I’ll pay for it personally. Hmm… how about a 20% increase? Would that be too little?】
Fan Qing struggled to control her tone.
Her tone of joy.
【Auntie, is one week enough?】
In the afternoon, Jiang Siyi had just returned from giving an appraisal lecture when Manager Wu told her there was an important private sale they needed to handle.
Jiang Siyi took the requested lot list and flipped through page after page after page.
“This many?”
At the very bottom, she saw the client’s name: Ms. Lin.
She immediately compared the two most familiar Ms. Lins in her mind.
Lin Ji had been very busy lately. Although they regularly had meals together “to deepen mutual understanding” and kept up their WeChat conversations, having time for a private sale of this many lots seemed unlikely.
Judging by the scale, it had to be Lin Xuebo.
Sure enough, Lin Xuebo’s WeChat message arrived shortly after, confirming the private sale.
【Waiting for you at home [rose]】
Jiang Siyi: …
The stern, cool-aura Auntie Lin was, surprisingly, warm and lively when it came to her.
Jiashibi had regulations on the total value of lots employees could carry outside for private sales.
The total value of this private sale far exceeded the limit for a single person to handle alone in the field.
So today, Manager Wu, Duan Ning, and Jiang Siyi formed a team of three, heading to the private sale together.
One by one, the lots were placed into specialized lockboxes and secured. They wore matching work suits, put on white gloves, each carried a case, and carefully loaded them into the company-assigned vehicle.
It was their first time carrying this many valuable jewels out of the office, and Duan Ning kept glancing around nervously, terrified of running into a robbery.
Manager Wu didn’t know that the client they were about to meet was Jiang Siyi’s “mother-in-law.” She said bluntly:
“Stay focused in a moment. No matter what happens, make sure at least one of us is watching the lots at all times. Never let any lot completely leave our line of sight.”
She turned to Jiang Siyi. “I know Ms. Lin is a big supporter of yours, but business is business, right? Can’t be sloppy with work.”
Jiang Siyi nodded in agreement.
Manager Wu: “After all, lose one piece, and we’ve worked for nothing this year.”
Duan Ning paled at that and immediately suggested: “Why don’t we have the Security Department come with us?”
Seeing Duan Ning’s pale face, Jiang Siyi couldn’t help but laugh.
“Manager Wu is scaring you. Everything’s insured.”
Duan Ning: …
Manager Wu burst out laughing.
“Look at you, so easily frightened—I was just teasing. And already feeling the pressure? Worst case, even if something did happen, the payout isn’t that much. But don’t worry, the Security Department colleagues are coming with us whether you ask or not.”
Duan Ning: …
Excuse me, who exactly is creating this pressure? And you’re calling me easily frightened?
Manager Wu, you’re not exactly young, yet you’re quite childish.
Duan Ning couldn’t even stand to hear the word “payout”—she immediately spat several times for luck and held out her red bracelet strung with lucky beads2 toward Manager Wu.
“Nothing’s going to go wrong. Don’t say things like that. Quick, touch the red string to ward off the bad luck.”
Manager Wu speechlessly went along with it, touching the red string several times.
Duan Ning offered it to Jiang Siyi: “Siyi, you touch it too.”
Jiang Siyi had no choice but to comply.
Manager Wu: “So superstitious at your age?”
Duan Ning: “I wasn’t superstitious before. Someone made me a believer in ‘better safe than sorry.'”
Manager Wu was still laughing. “Who? Me?”
Two colleagues from the Security Department arrived and took the front seats to drive, while the three of them sat in the back “first-class” seats, heading to the Lin family villa.
On the way, Manager Wu said: “Ms. Lin won’t possibly take all these lots. Let’s not get too greedy with our big benefactor’s pockets—everything should be based on what she likes. Even if she only wants the cheapest 20,000-yuan diamond in this private sale, we still need to provide top-notch service.”
Duan Ning teased Jiang Siyi: “Look at Manager Wu’s level of awareness. Just being a department manager is a waste of her talents.”
Jiang Siyi thought to herself that Manager Wu was quite composed.
The Gold, Stone, and Jade Department’s quarterly performance had improved significantly, ranking third in the entire company after the Oil Painting Department and the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department, and the gap with the top two wasn’t even that large.
It was already an impressive achievement, given the enormous pricing gap between lots.
A few days ago, she had overheard Oliver mocking Manager Wu, saying she worked hard for nothing—putting in all that effort only to remain the perpetual number three.
Manager Wu hadn’t stooped to his level, but who didn’t want to prove themselves?
If today she had Jiang Siyi butter up Lin Xuebo, pushing harder and using every sales tactic to close more deals, given Lin Xuebo’s spending habits, she really might buy several more pieces.
That would put the Gold, Stone, and Jade Department’s performance on par with Oliver’s Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department, with even the possibility of surpassing it.
That would certainly be deeply satisfying.
But Manager Wu had no intention of charging forward recklessly, much less pressuring Jiang Siyi.
Steady core, even mindset.
Jiang Siyi shared Manager Wu’s thinking—no matter what others said or did, focus on doing your own job well first. Slow and steady.
At the same time, in a J City club.
From last night until now, Cen Lu had been playing cards here, pulling an all-nighter.
She didn’t actually like card games. In Northern Myanmar, she had been surrounded by this kind of thing day in and day out. She was sick of it.
But if she didn’t fill her brain with these stimulating distractions, she would always think of that dead woman.
Think of the steamy Northern Myanmar nights, the tangled encounters with that woman again and again, trapped by a unique and exquisite sensation, like an addiction buried deep in her body.
Whether it was daylight outside, she had no idea, nor did she care.
She just mechanically threw out card after card, listening to boring gossip and flattery, eyes heavy, mind hazy.
Until someone mentioned Jiang Siyi.
They didn’t use her actual name, of course—they used a code name, and everyone understood.
The portly man who had just sat down across from her picked up a card and immediately started talking about how the most famous mismatched couple in the circle had broken up. Three years engaged and still didn’t make it to the altar. Tragic.
The woman sitting to one side, sporting a lip piercing, laughed and said, “You only just found out? They broke up ages ago. Months ago.”
Portly man: “Really? What happened? How’d they break up?”
Lip-piercing woman, absentmindedly drawing a card, said, “Fake Smile Sister messed around and got caught, didn’t she? Heard she even got a hot coffee thrown in her face by Out-of-season Haute Couture. Served her right.”
That was where Cen Lu understood.
Fake Smile Sister was Song Ti, and the one who threw hot coffee in her face was naturally Jiang Siyi.
Of course she’d cancel the engagement, Cen Lu thought. She’s already married to Xiaoyou.
The two of them kept going back and forth, completely failing to notice that another girl wearing glasses kept clearing her throat, glancing nervously toward Cen Lu—panicking that she might be the only one who knew Cen Lu and Lin Ji were childhood friends, that Lin Ji was Song Ti’s Biaojie, which basically meant Cen Lu was also Song Ti’s older sister!
Lip-piercing woman said, “Speaking of which, Haute Couture seems to have gotten married already. Someone spotted a wedding ring on her ring finger.”
The portly man chuckled. “I heard that too. A plain band, no less. How tacky. Must be true, then. Out-of-season Haute Couture married some broke loser on the rebound just to spite Fake Smile Sister.”
Lip-piercing woman burst out laughing: “Seriously? A plain band?”
Portly man: “Wearing something worth about 10,000 yuan as your wedding ring every day? I’d be embarrassed. They call this ‘ambitions higher than the heavens, but a fate3…'”
Before he could finish, a playing card flew from across the table, slicing straight toward his eye.
Startled, he instinctively ducked. The card caught his face, leaving a clear red mark.
Everyone fell silent.
The portly man turned back, still reeling.
If he hadn’t dodged, the card would have hit his eye. Who knew if it would have blinded him. The force behind it was terrifying.
The one who threw it was Cen Lu, sitting directly across from him.
The portly man was about to curse, but when he met Cen Lu’s beautiful, razor-cold eyes, he suddenly remembered that this crazy woman had apparently caused quite a few major incidents in Northern Myanmar.
And, she seemed to be close with Lin Ji.
Cen Lu held a fresh deck of cards in her hand, leaning forward.
“If I hear that filthy mouth of yours mention her again, I’ll make you eat every last one of these.”
…
Leaving the club, Cen Lu ordered a coffee, sat in an air-conditioned private booth, and dialed Lin Ji’s number.
At that moment, Lin Ji had just finished her morning meeting.
When Cen Lu’s call came in, Lin Ji found an empty spot to take it.
She had thought the earlier comfort session with Yan Yu hadn’t worked and that her friend was still wallowing in heartbreak.
To her surprise, the first thing Cen Lu brought up was nothing of the sort.
Cen Lu didn’t relay the full extent of the distasteful rumors making the rounds. She summarized and then conveyed it to Lin Ji in her own words.
Then, with a sudden impulse, she added:
【Even if you’re together day and night from this moment on, you’ve already wasted over twenty years. What are you still politely waiting for?】
Cen Lu’s words were firm, every syllable.
She had never liked meddling in other people’s lives, which made this rare crossing of the line all the more striking.
Word by word, it was unclear whether she was urging Lin Ji on or reproaching herself.
She hung up.
The office was quiet to the point of absolute silence.
The stillness made Lin Ji feel as though she were back in a foreign land, in one of countless sleepless midnights—waking alone, engulfed by the immense regret of a life that could never be whole.
Lin Ji sat on the sofa, deep in thought for a long while, before opening WeChat and sending a message to the pinned chat with Jiang Siyi:
【Where are you? I want to see you.】
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Wife-pampering Step 10—pamper her with family and friends together.
Cen Lu’s complete story will unfold in 《Crease》, which is now open for pre-orders. If you’re interested, please add it to your collection~
Footnotes
- An auction industry honor awarded to an auctioneer who achieves a 100% sell-through rate in a session, with zero unsold lots.
- 'Lucky beads' (zhuan yun zhu) are small gold or jade beads threaded onto a red cord, worn in Chinese culture to attract good fortune and avert misfortune.
- A truncated Chinese idiom: 'heart higher than the heavens, fate thinner than paper,' describing someone with grand ambitions but a lowly or miserable destiny.
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