Crossing the Line – Chapter 74

I Will Always Accept Everything You Do to Me.

A few days later, a female volunteer teacher who had just arrived in the village came to the house, wanting to take Lin Ji to class.

The household naturally refused. After a few words, they chased the teacher out with a broom.

            

Lin Ji didn’t say much—only looked at her.

Their eyes met briefly.

A few more days passed. Summer arrived.

            

That afternoon, two villagers came and said something to the village woman of the Ma household.

The Ma woman’s face went pale. She cried “aiyo!” and slapped both palms hard against her thighs, frantic to leave.

She got halfway out before coming back—not forgetting to drag Lin Ji along.

            

They arrived at the riverbank. Two drowned corpses lay on the ground.

The disabled son and her husband.

The son had accidentally fallen into the water; the father went in to save him, and both perished together.

            

The Ma woman sat by the river wailing. Passersby glanced over.

Even so, Lin Ji’s trouser leg was still clutched in her grip.

Lin Ji didn’t rashly seize the moment to escape.

            

The Ma woman had a funeral to arrange—she’d certainly be overwhelmed.

She knew this was a good opportunity. The Ma woman knew it too. The whole village was well aware, and would be on extra alert.

She couldn’t escape now.

            

Not only did she not escape—she deliberately fell ill.

It was midsummer. Two people in the household had died. Leftover food had already spoiled.

Lin Ji ate all the spoiled food. Fearing it wouldn’t be enough to keep her in a hospital, she also picked ginkgo nuts from a tree and ate them together with the spoiled meals.

            

She remembered reading in a book that raw ginkgo nuts contained hydrocyanic acid toxin—eating them would cause poisoning.

She was only fourteen, after all. No matter how clever, she couldn’t easily control the severity.

Spoiled food plus a pile of raw ginkgo nuts sent her into violent vomiting and diarrhea, until she finally got what she wanted—poisoning into unconsciousness.

            

The Ma woman had lost her husband and son. In the blink of an eye, a family of three was reduced to just her.

She’d raised a child bride¹ for so long, only for the son to die first. She was probably regretting it bitterly.

The only way to avoid losing money now was to marry off the child bride in exchange for a bride price. As long as the Ma woman had any sense at all, she couldn’t possibly let Lin Ji die.

            

As long as she was sent to the town hospital, there was hope of reaching the outside world.

Very dangerous. She knew that.

But she had to gamble.

            

Otherwise, once the funeral was over and the Ma woman had free time, she would watch Lin Ji even more closely. There wouldn’t be a second chance.

When she woke from unconsciousness and saw the moldy ceiling and the IV drip hanging above her, a faint smile crept onto weakened Lin Ji’s lips.

It worked.

            

She had indeed reached the town hospital.

But arriving at the hospital was only half the battle.

Someone from the village would definitely have followed to stand guard, preventing her from easily contacting the outside world.

            

Sure enough, someone was sitting beside her.

Unexpectedly, it was that volunteer teacher surnamed Wei.

Teacher Wei had just set down a bag of oranges on the table and asked gently, “How are you feeling? A little better?”

            

Lin Ji nodded slowly, keenly noticing a camera hanging around the other woman’s neck.

Teacher Wei patted the hand without the IV.

“I heard about what happened to your family. My condolences. If there’s anything you need help with, you can tell Teacher.”

            

The guard wasn’t here right now—perhaps thinking she was still unconscious, they’d gone to the restroom or stepped away briefly for some other reason.

For them to be so lax with vigilance, the hospital likely had someone they knew.

They wouldn’t be gone long. The guard could return any moment. If she rushed out now, she’d very likely be caught.

            

As for the young female teacher before her, her relationship with the villagers was unknown. Lin Ji didn’t want to tell her the truth, either.

If she sided with the village, learning that Lin Ji had been sold here and was planning to escape, she would certainly tell the villagers.

If she was only here to volunteer and wasn’t aligned with the village, knowing Lin Ji’s situation could implicate her if the villagers found out.

            

Worst of all, if she pinned all her hopes on this teacher, only for the villagers to silence her and suppress any chance of getting word out, then the plan she’d spent so long devising would be completely ruined—and she’d have dragged the teacher down with her.

The closer hope drew, the more cautious she had to be.

There was a safer approach.

            

Let Teacher Wei spread the information about her whereabouts, so more people would know.

One tells ten, ten tell a hundred—spread her story beyond the villagers’ ability to stop it.

She grasped Teacher Wei’s hand in return and said, “Teacher Wei, actually, I… have leukemia.”

            

In that moment, she could only think of a TV drama plot she’d once glimpsed.

Teacher Wei was stunned. “Huh?”

“But my family is just too poor. There’s no money for treatment. Now that my dad and younger brother are dead… my mom definitely won’t get me treated.”

            

Lin Ji sniffled twice, looking at Teacher Wei pitifully.

Teacher Wei was guileless, never imagining a girl this young could be acting. She believed her, and her kind heart ached in sympathy.

Her own income was meager; she certainly couldn’t afford the girl’s medical expenses.

            

Seeing Lin Ji staring blankly at the camera she’d brought for field photography, she suddenly thought of a good idea.

Teacher Wei said, “Xiao Li, shall Teacher take a photo of you? We can put your situation on an online forum and see if any kind souls are willing to donate for your treatment. I also know a producer on a TV charity program—I can tell them about you and have them spread the word.”

This was exactly the outcome Lin Ji wanted most.

            

“Okay! Thank you so much, Teacher Wei.”

Teacher Wei pressed the shutter.

Just after Teacher Wei finished, a middle-aged man strode quickly into the ward.

            

Lin Ji recognized him—the Ma woman’s younger brother. A mute, gaunt and short, but radiating menace.

He was the one sent to keep watch over Lin Ji.

The man stared warily at Teacher Wei, who was somewhat frightened by his terrifying appearance.

            

Lin Ji said, “Teacher Wei, thank you for visiting. But I don’t have money to go to school, so you don’t need to come anymore. I won’t eat the oranges—take them back for the students.”

This was to protect her—to dispel the man’s suspicion and also hint that she should leave quickly.

Teacher Wei smiled, still left the oranges behind, and then departed.

            

The mute suspected Lin Ji was up to something. He gestured to one of the nurses and left.

The nurse sat at the station not far away, watching her.

Sure enough—someone they knew.

            

Lin Ji did nothing more.

The food poisoning symptoms hadn’t passed. She was actually in agony.

Once Teacher Wei left, Lin Ji realized her back was drenched in cold sweat, her stomach churning violently. All she could do was close her eyes and drift into fitful sleep.

            

The next day, the Ma woman and her mute brother took her back.

She still had bouts of vomiting, her whole body groggy—any movement triggered nausea. Extremely uncomfortable, yet she still had to work.

Lin Ji barely held herself upright, her heart set on hoping someone would see that post and spread it further.

            

Longing for her family to see it, to recognize her.

But the next day, she heard devastating news.

Teacher Wei had indeed posted a plea for help on a forum, but the Ma woman’s family soon showed up at her door and forced her to delete it.

            

Feeling her life was threatened, Teacher Wei took leave that same afternoon and temporarily left the village.

For a long time after, Teacher Wei was never seen again.

By her reckoning, the plea for help had existed on the forum for two days at most.

            

What kind of forum was it? How many people would see it? And how many would care?

Just as Lin Ji had predicted, once the funeral was over, the Ma woman stayed with her almost around the clock, watching her every moment—watching her last cash cow.

As the days crept forward, Lin Ji’s heart sank deeper and deeper into an abyss of despair.

            

With all hope extinguished, she couldn’t help but think that she had perhaps truly lost her best chance of ever leaving this place.

In the deepest recesses of her heart, that last thin thread of longing was quietly, mercilessly shattered.

---

At this point in the story, Jiang Siyi—cradled in Lin Ji’s arms—lifted her head, her eyes distant with recollection.

            

“No wonder. When I saw the post on that forum, I only managed to take a photo and send it to my mom. By evening, it was already deleted.”

While the Ma woman was looking around for buyers, trying to sell Lin Ji for a good price—

A thousand miles away in J City, eleven-year-old Jiang Siyi called the phone number left on the forum once more.

            

Still no answer.

Curling her legs up on the sofa, Siyi was puzzled.

Tao Xu, at the office, called her back and asked what was wrong.

            

Siyi said over the phone: 【I saw a post on a forum about a meimei with leukemia who has no money for treatment. She’s so pitiful. I don’t know why that teacher’s phone number won’t connect.】

Siyi couldn’t be blamed for misjudging Lin Ji’s age.

In the photo, Lin Ji was extremely gaunt, looking much younger than her peers. Siyi thought she was even younger than herself.

            

At that time, her mother was still alive, the family was financially comfortable, and her allowance was generous. Siyi had always been generous by nature—if classmates or friends needed small favors, she’d help as a matter of course.

This gradually extended to a little girl far away whom she’d never met—she still wanted to reach out and help.

Tao Xu said: 【Try calling again in a while. They might be busy.】

            

They had no way of knowing that after Teacher Wei left the village, she was still harassed by the Ma woman’s extended family.

Fearing further danger, Teacher Wei changed her address and her phone number. Naturally, Siyi couldn’t reach her.

A chance encounter—a fleeting glimpse across the internet.

            

The good deed couldn’t be completed. Anyone else might have turned around and forgotten.

But Siyi kept thinking of that Little Pear Meimei, time and again.

She’d think of those eyes gazing into the lens—bright, melancholic, yearning—indescribably compelling.

            

As if they pierced through time and space, through everything, gazing straight into her heart, lingering and refusing to leave.

It was a feeling beyond words.

As if not approaching it, not resolving it, would leave her heart unsettled.

            

As if she would lose something precious and unknowable.

After some time, Siyi tried the number again. Still unreachable. She told her mom once more.

Tao Xu had just completed an antique restoration project for a museum. Her health wasn’t great, and she wanted to rest at home for a while.

            

With extended time at home, and her younger daughter still fixated on that girl from the impoverished mountains, she pulled up the photo Siyi had originally taken of the forum plea for help.

The more she looked… the more it seemed familiar.

Like Lin Xuebo’s daughter, missing for seven years.

            

Tao Xu knew that for seven years, Lin Xuebo had never given up searching for her daughter.

No matter how small the lead, how high the cost, how far the distance—she would spare no effort.

Sadly, there had been no word at all.

            

If she went to Lin Xuebo now and said she’d seen a sick mountain girl who looked like her missing daughter, it would naturally reignite her hope.

But what were the odds of such a coincidence?

After so many years of searching without success, this was probably just another false alarm.

            

She could empathize with how painful that disappointment would be.

Tao Xu set the phone down.

Siyi watched her with dark, shining eyes, seemingly wondering: why wasn’t Mom doing anything?

            

Tao Xu thought for a moment, then picked it up again.

What if.

She’d go see Lin Xuebo tomorrow and ask.

            

If it wasn’t her, then so be it.

But if it really was—that would be extraordinary.

For the child herself and for that family, it would be a lifelong salvation.

            

Tao Xu called Lin Xuebo and arranged a time to meet the next day.

No mother fails to recognize the child she loves.

Even after years apart. Even if her face had changed.

            

When Lin Xuebo saw the photo from the plea for help, her long-dead heart suddenly raced wildly.

The phone number didn’t work, but the plea listed not only Teacher Wei’s phone number but also her real name and bank account number.

After going through multiple departments and companies, they finally reached Teacher Wei herself.

            

Lin Xuebo, Kong Yuchen, relatives and close friends, along with city police, stormed the village together.

From a distance, catching only a side profile of Lin Ji, Lin Xuebo’s tears fell like rain.

Lin Xuebo didn’t care who was around. She slapped the Ma woman until her own finger fractured.

            

Kong Yuchen fought like a madman against the villagers who tried to block them.

In the end, the police—fearing someone would be killed—struggled to pull the two sides apart.

Lin Ji was finally reunited with her family in this world.

            

After returning home, the food poisoning and the accumulated illnesses from years in harsh conditions needed prompt treatment.

Lin Xuebo stayed by her side throughout her treatment.

Kong Yuchen handled the aftermath.

            

Teacher Wei’s safety, for one, along with generous compensation for her help.

Tracking down the original kidnappers and those who bought and sold children—making sure they were all brought to justice.

There were also details that even Lin Ji didn’t know.

            

Lin Xuebo had always remembered Tao Xu’s kindness.

When she fell gravely ill, Lin Xuebo sought out the most eminent specialists, but alas, they were beyond help.

Afterward, she devoted herself entirely to her daughter’s physical and psychological treatment, while not forgetting to ask her sister to treat Jiang Siyi well.

            

From there, each had their own winding path, until today—different roads leading to the same destination.

…

Eleven at night.

            

Lying on their own spacious, clean, and soft double bed.

Lin Ji breathed in the warm, sweet fragrance rising from behind Siyi’s ear, recalling the day on that rutted village dirt road when she saw her family again—the feeling still as vivid as yesterday.

“Before they came, I’d already given up hope. By then, the woman had already negotiated the bride price. I was ready to fight to the death.”

            

Listening to her words, the tears that had been pooling in Siyi’s eyes finally broke free, soaking into the pillow.

She turned to look at the person behind her, her wet eyes brimming with retrospective terror.

So many questions now had answers.

            

Why Lin Ji never celebrated her birthday.

Why she disliked enclosed elevators, why she slept with the lights on, why she always liked to stroke plush toys.

Even the car she regularly used was bright and spacious.

            

Where the coldness in her personality and its subtle deviations came from.

Siyi understood it all now.

Lin Ji, as always, took her hand—clenched so tight the knuckles had gone white—gently uncurled the fingers, and softly kissed away her tears.

            

“Don’t be afraid. I’m right here in front of you, perfectly fine, aren’t I?”

Siyi shook her head.

“I’m not afraid…”

            

It was that her heart was completely beyond her control, aching more with every word Lin Ji said.

The thought of Lin Ji writing her name over and over, not wanting to forget her, made her heart clench violently, a surging ache filling her body and soul.

The moment she opened her mouth, more tears spilled.

            

So many that Lin Ji couldn’t kiss them away fast enough.

As a child, one coax and she’d stop crying. How come growing up made her harder to soothe?

All she could do was gather her up, pull out tissues, and gently wipe them away.

            

“Do you know, when I received the letter you wrote—my mom passed it to me—and realized it was you who’d seen the forum post, you who’d found me in this vast sea of people, how amazed I was? It’s hard to believe something this incredible could happen in this world.”

Siyi thought so too—it was simply unbelievable.

“So you weren’t actually studying abroad…”

            

“Mm. Seven years was a very long time. I went through countless disappointments. But my mom never lost faith that she’d bring me home. She was also afraid that after I returned, gossip would cause me secondary harm, so she told everyone I was studying abroad.”

“Then… my engagement was reassigned to someone else because you went missing?”

Lin Ji nodded.

            

“At the time, no one really believed I’d come back. Even though my mom and the others were still searching, they might not have truly held much hope. It was a mother’s conviction that sustained her. Everyone else thought it was even more impossible. Understandable.”

No wonder.

Siyi finally understood why she’d never known that the original engagement partner had been Lin Ji.

            

Lin Xuebo had kept her lips sealed—to protect her daughter’s dignity and to preserve that faint glimmer of hope.

And after the engagement was reassigned, bringing up the past even once more was an additional wound for a family that had lost a daughter.

Moreover, Siyi’s mother passed away just a few years later, so even fewer people knew about it.

            

Jiang Luo probably knew, but his heart was entirely devoted to his new wife and son. He had no time to spare for this matter.

As for her elder sister—she was about the same age as Lin Ji, so she might have that memory. But given her personality, she might not even remember much about her own affairs, let alone things concerning others.

Lin Ji finally dried Siyi’s tears.

            

She dabbed little by little, trying not to irritate Siyi’s delicate skin, hoping it would feel better by tomorrow.

Only, those beautiful large eyes were swollen, making her look pitiful.

Siyi didn’t want to cry anymore, either.

            

She hadn’t wanted to cry in the first place—didn’t want Xiao You to think she couldn’t handle things, that she was too fragile.

She sniffled a few times and said, “After that… after that, you didn’t come back until high school…”

“Mm. My mom took me abroad for treatment for two years. My health wasn’t good then.”

            

“After you came back, why didn’t you tell me about the original engagement?”

Lin Ji smiled, tilting her head slightly, hair spilling over her shoulders, looking extraordinarily gentle in the soft lamplight.

“How should I put it… By then, you had someone else by your side, and you were so afraid of me. To you, I was just a strange transfer student—a stranger. And my condition still wasn’t great in many ways. I didn’t really know how to talk, didn’t know how to interact with people. I might have hurt you without meaning to.”

            

She couldn’t imagine what Lin Ji must have felt at the time.

How sad. How aggrieved.

Siyi recalled.

            

“Did you… want to say something to me?”

The first day Lin Ji transferred in, Siyi seemed to have seen her.

Lin Ji’s gaze deepened. She said, “Mm… That day, I actually just wanted to see you. In any capacity would have been fine.”

            

She’d seen some photos of Siyi from her mom.

Before going abroad for treatment, she’d also secretly caught a glimpse of her at the Small Park.

Meeting face-to-face after growing up was a first.

            

She wanted to see her meimei.

Even if she was no longer her fiancée.

Even if she was merely her current fiancée’s biaojie—that would do.

            

She just wanted to see her.

Lin Ji remembered that day. She’d been anxious most of the day, rehearsing in front of the mirror for a long time before finally mustering the courage to go to Siyi’s classroom.

The result…

            

Siyi, of course, remembered.

“The result was, I avoided you.”

Guilt surged into her heart once more.

            

Lin Ji said in a lighthearted tone, “Mm. The bread in your hands dropped to the ground from fright.”

It didn’t have the intended comforting effect. Siyi couldn’t smile at all. Her lips trembled, holding back tears, until she could only bite down hard on her lower lip.

“Why are you biting yourself?”

            

Lin Ji frowned. Her fingers slipped between Siyi’s lips, parting them from her teeth.

Her bent knuckle pressed between Siyi’s burning lips, opening her teeth, gently pushing inward.

Not letting her bite herself.

            

Her poor lower lip already bore teeth marks.

With her lips parted by those fingers, tears fell one by one from the girl’s reddened eyes, landing on Lin Ji’s hand.

With Lin Ji’s knuckle between her teeth, she couldn’t bite her lip anymore.

            

Her lips kissed the finger softly, pressing tender little kisses against it, the soft curve of her upper lip rubbing against the side of the finger, ticklish—like a kitten’s affection.

She could bite hard on herself.

But toward Lin Ji, she couldn’t bear to use any force at all.

            

Lin Ji’s heart grew achy and tender.

Her palm cupped the side of Siyi’s face, rubbing her ear, then stroking her head.

“Siyi, you don’t need to feel guilty. You didn’t know anything back then. Don’t be sad over an unintentional mistake. I’ve told you—you never have to apologize to me. Any misunderstanding, any unintentional mistake, even an intentional one is fine. I will always accept everything you do to me.”

            

---

The author has something to say:

Lin Ji: Wife-pampering step thirty-five—never blame your wife 🥺

---