Crossing the Line – Chapter 76
by Little PandaI Love You Today Too.
As soon as she arrived at Jiashibi the next morning, Jiang Siyi received a WeChat voice message from Lin Xuebo.
Xuebo: 【Siyi, have you had breakfast? Are you going to work today?】
Of course it wasn’t really about whether she’d eaten breakfast.
It was about her and Lin Ji.
Whether the two of them had talked things through, whether any knots were still left tied.
She was genuinely worried, so she’d come probing first thing in the morning, in the most roundabout way possible.
Bagged Toast: 【Yeah, Xiao You made beef potstickers this morning, really delicious. She just dropped me off at work.】
Xiao You made beef potstickers—that meant the two of them had breakfast together.
And as always, she was clinging to her wife, dropping her off at work even.
No crisis in the relationship.
Lin Xuebo let out a long breath of relief. Thank goodness.
She was sitting with Qiao Jin at a morning tea restaurant right now.
Qiao Jin had already eaten her way through one round; Lin Xuebo had only managed a single slice of honeycomb tripe.
Coming to test the waters with her daughter-in-law rather than her own daughter was only natural—Xiao You had always buried her thoughts deep, and no amount of probing from either direction would dig them out.
Besides, this matter was far too sensitive to ask about directly.
In the past, whenever Lin Xuebo wanted to ask Xiao You something, she’d have to lay the groundwork for ages, weighing every word.
Now that she had Siyi, she could come here and gently fish for a hint, and her good daughter-in-law would kindly give her exactly the answer she was looking for.
Lin Xuebo set down her phone, delighted.
“All clear.”
Qiao Jin rotated the dish of roast goose—Lin Xuebo’s favorite—until it was right in front of her.
“I told you you were overthinking it. Xiao You and Xiao Jiang aren’t the type to get stuck in a dead end over nothing. Stop worrying, or those white hairs of yours will start sprouting again.”
When her daughter had first gone missing, Lin Xuebo’s hair had gone white in a frenzy of grief; Qiao Jin couldn’t keep up with the dye jobs.
After her daughter was found, some of the color had gradually come back.
These past few years, it was age catching up naturally—but a touch of dye still kept her looking sharp.
“How could I not worry? Those two children finally managed to get together, and then this happens.”
Just thinking about what Song Ti had done still made Lin Xuebo simmer with anger.
The steps toward reconciliation had already been laid out. Siyi was magnanimous, and she’d figured that after the family dinner, they wouldn’t have to keep tiptoeing around each other anymore.
And what happened? Song Ti kicked the whole staircase down and left everything in total ruin.
Now Lin Yunting and Song Liming were taking turns coming to apologize, and she had no patience for any of it.
Qiao Jin said, “Xiao Jiang may be young, but she’s quite mature. She knows how to cherish someone. Once she understood what Xiao You went through, she’d be too busy aching for her to ever think of holding it against her.”
Lin Xuebo was more than satisfied with this daughter-in-law.
“It’s me overthinking. I can’t help it—whenever it comes to Xiao You, I just can’t stop imagining the worst… Hmm?”
She noticed something and immediately picked up her phone again.
Qiao Jin: “What?”
Lin Xuebo stared at the phone screen in astonishment.
Jiang Siyi’s WeChat nickname really had changed from “Sanzhuang Tusi” to “Bagged Toast”—it wasn’t her eyes playing tricks on her.
She immediately checked Xiao You’s.
That WeChat name, unchanged for as long as anyone could remember, had actually changed along with her wife’s.
Lin Xuebo let out an “ah-yo.”
“Those two children—they must have held hands and talked all night long, untied every knot, sworn eternal love, and then changed their WeChat names together. How is it this sweet? My two darlings.”
Qiao Jin: “Ms. Xuebo, mind your image. That blush of yours doesn’t look like your daughter and daughter-in-law being lovey-dovey—it looks like you’re the one falling in love.”
Lin Xuebo shot her a sidelong glance. “The one falling in love is somebody else.”
Qiao Jin, who never smiled, felt the corners of her mouth curve into a faint smile.
“Who, me?”
“Whoever’s smiling to herself, that’s who. So? Is this little pet of yours well-behaved?”
Lin Xuebo didn’t call her “little pet” for nothing—it was just Qiao Jin’s eternal approach to life and love.
As her old friend, she’d never judged her lifestyle, only wished her happiness.
Qiao Jin had always been cold and detached; romance to her meant indulging her whims, each party taking what they needed, killing time.
But then she thought of that night, of the raw emotion in Fan Qing’s eyes, of her saying— “Can I stay by your side? Even just for tonight, that’s enough.”
And suddenly, filing Fan Qing under “little pet” felt a bit cruel.
Qiao Jin: “No.”
Lin Xuebo: “Hmm? Another one that didn’t work out?”
“This time it’s not keeping a pet. Just a normal relationship.”
Lin Xuebo, mid-sip of coffee, paused in surprise.
She studied her old friend’s face and saw that she was serious.
“Qiao Jin, how old are you? How old is Fan Qing? Isn’t that a generation gap?”
How familiar that sounded—the first time she’d tagged along to play at a Jiashibi auction, that had been Qiao Jin’s exact line.
Lin Xuebo threw her own words right back at her.
Qiao Jin casually lifted her teacup. “Should I change my WeChat name too? Maybe to ‘Failing to Act with the Dignity of One’s Age’?”
Lin Xuebo nearly sprayed her coffee.
Sitting in the quiet morning tea private room, looking out at the city skyline and the great billowing clouds in the distance—scolding young people for their reckless energy, their terrifying stamina—trading a few words, no beginning and no end, casually sharing the kind of talk only best friends were privy to.
Warm sunlight fell over her, and for once there was no anxiety, no fear. Lin Xuebo thought, contentedly, that this was the life she wanted.
Jiang Siyi took the jade pendant photos Lin Ji had given her, cropped out just the pendant portion, and went to ask Manager Wu whether it might be possible to match this pendant against Jiashibi’s global database.
Manager Wu: “Huh? Just one photo?”
Jiang Siyi: “Is it that difficult?”
Manager Wu nodded. “Very. You’d need high-resolution scanning and correction first, then macro and micro scanning, technically composited into a 3D model. Once you have that model, it goes on the Raman spectrometer for compositional analysis, and only then into the database for comparison. Every step is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive—and at the end, the human and financial resources you’ve spent might exceed the value of the pendant itself.”
It was clearly a Ming dynasty yellow-green jade piece; the upper limit of its value was self-evident.
Jiang Siyi: “Can our auction house do it?”
She was still pressing, with quiet resolve.
Manager Wu recalled that Lin Ji had been collecting this type of yellow-green jade from the start, and curiosity got the better of her:
“Is Chairman Ji looking for it?”
“Yes. It’s something very important.”
From Jiang Siyi’s expression and words, Manager Wu sensed a determination that didn’t care what anyone else thought.
She tapped her own cheek with one finger, thinking.
“Our auction house can do it, but there’s a catch—the main equipment is all in the Oil Painting Department. To use it, you’d have to apply through them. You’d be better off going to a professional cultural relic recovery agency. It’ll cost more, but at least it’ll save you the headache.”
Manager Wu had some connections and referred her to a professional cultural relic recovery agency that Jiashibi’s London headquarters partnered with.
Jiang Siyi got in touch right away.
After hearing the full situation, the other side was candid: given how long ago the piece dated from, and with only a single not-very-clear photo, the probability of a successful match and recovery was under 50%.
The base service fee was around $100,000, and upon successful recovery, commission would be 15% of the jade item’s value.
That was just the basic fee.
If the yellow-green jade lacked a complete provenance record, there’d be an additional 40%.
If it had fallen into the black market network, another 60%.
…
The person on the other end rattled off one quote after another, all in English, while Jiang Siyi smiled on the surface and felt her head spin.
It really was expensive.
Not that Jiang Siyi cared about money at this point.
Lin Ji had set her up with a joint account card—one account, two cards—giving her unrestricted access to all the funds in Lin Ji’s personal account.
Jiang Siyi’s material desires remained as low as ever; she maintained the frugal habits she’d developed before marriage, and that card had barely seen the light of day.
Money wasn’t the problem. The problem was, just as Manager Wu had said, that the odds were slim—and others might not throw themselves into the search with the same devotion she would.
She knocked on Manager Wu’s office door again and asked who in the Oil Painting Department she should apply to if she wanted to borrow the company’s key equipment.
“Bo Ting, Teacher Bo,” Manager Wu said. “The Oil Painting Department manager—the one whose sales ranking is always number one.”
In other words, the one Duan Ning had greeted at the elevator a while back, only to be completely ignored.
A very difficult Jiashibi ace auctioneer—a veteran.
Manager Wu said, “If you’re really going to do this, you have to go through Teacher Bo. Not just the application—she’s the only one in our entire branch who knows how to operate that equipment.”
Jiang Siyi’s social anxiety flared a little, but for the sake of helping Lin Ji recover her grandmother’s heirloom, to bridge that enormous gap of loss, she steeled herself and went to say hello to Bo Ting first.
Oil Painting Department.
The elevator doors slid open slowly.
Bo Ting, whose buttons were fastened all the way to the collar, glanced at her reflection in the elevator’s mirror one last time before stepping out.
The strangulation bruises on her neck had been concealed with foundation, but she still felt deeply uneasy—terrified they might slip through and show.
Bo Ting frowned faintly, took out her foundation, and applied another layer.
She didn’t go straight to her office; instead, she headed for the fire escape to smoke.
The flame had barely reflected on her glasses when she heard laughter from around the corner.
“If she transfers to the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department, with guaranteed lot value backing her up, this autumn’s sales rankings might actually see a real shake-up.”
“Deaf Sister’s five-year grand slam streak is about to be broken.”
“I want to see the look of crushing defeat on that permanent poker face of hers—god, that would be satisfying.”
Menthol burst beads mixed with tobacco smoke hit her nose and throat, making her want to cough.
She held it in. She stood right there, listening, not moving a single step.
The two colleagues crushed their cigarettes and walked out—coming face to face with her.
Oh shit—when did Deaf Sister get here?
Did she hear everything we just said?
“Teacher Bo…”
They greeted her weakly.
Bo Ting didn’t look at them, didn’t respond—as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
The two practically pressed themselves flat against the wall as they fled.
After finishing her cigarette, she returned to her office. The morning was nothing but tedious, aggravating work.
Around noon, her assistant pushed the door open and said that Jiang Siyi from the Gold, Stone, and Jade Department was here to see her about something.
The name “Jiang Siyi” made Bo Ting’s eyelids twitch slightly.
“Send her in.”
“Understood.”
Jiang Siyi knocked and entered.
Bo Ting sat in her chair with no intention of standing—or even looking up at her.
Jiang Siyi proactively explained her purpose.
Bo Ting leaned back in her chair, her cold eyes turning toward her.
“I don’t have the time for this. Besides, Lin Ji is your wife, isn’t she?”
She’d already anticipated that Bo Ting would be difficult.
The office gossip lately had been fond of pitting the two of them against each other.
Saying that J City’s Jiashibi was about to enter an era of twin stars shining side by side.
Some even gloated, saying the incoming wave was about to wash out the old, that she’d knock Bo Ting off her throne as J City’s Jiashibi ace auctioneer.
And, of course, there were even uglier things being said.
Jiang Siyi tried to put herself in Bo Ting’s shoes—her hostility was understandable.
Jiang Siyi said in a consultative tone, “Before Lin Ji became my wife, she was first and foremost a client—the VIC of our Gold, Stone, and Jade Department. Helping clients locate their desired pieces is part of our job. If it ties up time needed for other lots’ appraisals, I can wait. Or if you have conditions—equipment usage fees, appraisal fees—within what I’m able to manage, I will absolutely accept them.”
Bo Ting: “What if I refuse?”
Jiang Siyi’s eyes shifted slightly; she already understood where Bo Ting stood.
She didn’t press further, maintained basic courtesy, and got up to take her leave.
But then she noticed something at the edge of Bo Ting’s collar—a terrible bruise, purplish-blue, shaped like a handprint.
The strangulation marks Bo Ting had been so careful to conceal had been rubbed faintly visible by the collar, just one edge peeking through.
Bo Ting herself hadn’t noticed.
Jiang Siyi hesitated over whether to tell her.
Their relationship was so unfamiliar that pointing something like this out would be awkward.
But if she didn’t say anything, and later someone else saw it—or Bo Ting discovered it herself—she’d know that Jiang Siyi had seen it too.
The awkwardness was unavoidable either way, so she might as well reduce the number of people who’d catch a glimpse of Bo Ting’s private trouble.
“Teacher Bo.” Before leaving, Jiang Siyi gestured to her own neck.
A flash of panic crossed Bo Ting’s otherwise blank face, and she instinctively clapped a hand over her neck.
Jiang Siyi didn’t say anything more, quickly withdrew her gaze, and left Bo Ting’s office.
Bo Ting’s eyes followed Jiang Siyi’s retreating back for a moment before weariness pulled them back. She didn’t bother with more foundation—just dug through her wardrobe for a silk scarf and tied it on.
Back at her own desk, Jiang Siyi sipped black tea and thought.
Lin Ji had been searching for her grandmother’s heirloom all along, bidding on every lot with a similar jade pendant. Given her tenacity and her decisive, efficient style, she’d surely already engaged professional cultural relic recovery agencies.
She sent Lin Ji a WeChat message to ask about it.
Meanwhile, at Huanwei Technology Headquarters, Lin Ji’s office.
Lin Ji had just returned from a meeting and was on the phone with Lin Xuebo.
Lin Xuebo told her what kind of nonsense Song Ti had spouted at Siyi after she’d left the Xishan Old Residence that day, and how Siyi had responded.
—I only want to hear it from Xiao You herself. I only believe her words.
【Is that so? She really said that.】
Lin Ji sat in her chair, gazing out at the dry landscape garden outside her office, and gave a small, pleased spin in her chair.
She’d actually already heard all of this from Zhou Ni.
It was just that Zhou Ni was an emotionless, verbatim repeater—quite different from Lin Xuebo’s vividly expressive delivery.
She knew her own daughter, of course.
And she asked again just so her mother would say more. Lin Xuebo was naturally happy to oblige.
Lin Xuebo recounted every detail of how, in the car that day, Jiang Siyi had comforted her, reassured her, how she’d said “Xiao You is the wife I’ll spend my whole life loving”—every little bit, all told to Lin Ji.
Lin Ji carved every word into her heart, utterly contented.
Before hanging up, Lin Xuebo added:
【I’ve already narrowed down a few wedding gown options for you—just pick a time to have them brought home for fittings. I’ve got five photography teams for you to choose from too; I’ll send you their portfolios later. Leave the venue setup to me. Apart from the ceremony flow, you can have A Qing liaise with me on everything else. All in Siyi’s preferred style—I promise you’ll both be satisfied.】
Lin Ji was busy, stretched thin, and had no desire to let Jiang Siyi worry about any of it. Having Lin Xuebo handling things was indeed a relief.
Lin Ji: 【Thanks, Mom.】
【That child—what are you being polite with me for?】
After hanging up, Lin Xuebo gazed at her phone with a sigh:
“Our Xiao You is getting sweeter and sweeter. Having a wife who loves her is such a wonderful thing.”
Lin Ji set down her phone. Fan Qing happened to come in to submit some documents.
While Lin Ji was flipping through the files, a thought occurred to her.
“Has Tan Ya’s work visa expired?”
“It has. She returned to London last month.”
“The wedding is in half a month.” Lin Ji said to Fan Qing, “I want Song Ti out of J City too, before the wedding.”
Fan Qing nodded. “Understood, BOSS.”
Lin Ji: “Handle this cleanly, and starting next year, I’ll add a 20% raise and five extra days of annual leave.”
Fan Qing: !
“Don’t worry, BOSS. I’ll get it done.”
Lin Ji gave her a faint smile. “Thank you for your hard work.”
BOSS was actually smiling at her this radiantly—Fan Qing left in a daze.
What was going on—had BOSS turned into a kind, gentle older sister?
No—a kind, gentle older sister who also gave raises and time off.
After Fan Qing left, the phone on the desk buzzed twice.
It was a WeChat from Jiang Siyi.
Bagged Toast: 【Have you ever used professional cultural relic recovery agencies to search for your grandmother’s heirloom?】
The tone was quite serious, but that newly changed nickname still made Lin Ji’s heart go soft.
.: 【I have. The agencies that verified the similarity for me before are these.】
“These”—meaning Lin Ji had gone to more than one.
Sure enough.
Jiang Siyi rested her chin on one hand, lightly creasing her brow. She’d have to keep thinking of other approaches.
Bagged Toast: 【Oh, got it. Nothing else, then. Get back to work.】
.: 【There is.】
Jiang Siyi was about to lock the screen when she saw Lin Ji send another reply.
She snatched it up immediately.
Bagged Toast: 【Hmm?】
.: 【There’s something I need to tell you.】
She could only see text—no voice message, so she couldn’t hear the tone.
Just reading that line made Jiang Siyi’s heart tighten slightly.
Bagged Toast: 【What’s wrong?】
Lin Ji’s status showed “typing…” and in the interim, Jiang Siyi grew nervous.
What does she need to tell me?
Until she saw—
.: 【I love you today too.】
The author has something to say:
Lin Ji: Step thirty-six of wife-pampering—confess your love sincerely every day 🥰
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