Chapter 34
Only one in the world
Hao Jingshi immediately sensed something was wrong. He touched the window, then looked around, moving from one spot to another, rummaging through boxes and cabinets in the corners of the walls.
Lu Qin finished writing and put down her pen. Hearing a noise, she turned around and saw Hao Jingshi rummaging through the chests and cabinets. She asked, "What are you looking at?"
Seeing that nothing was amiss, Hao Jingshi closed the cabinet, quickly walked a few steps, and arrived at the cabinet where medicinal herbs were stored.
He opened each item one by one to check, saying as he looked, "I'm checking to see if anything is missing. This thief is quite bold, daring to steal from me."
"A thief?" Upon hearing this, Lu Qin looked down at the box under the counter and found that the lock had indeed been pried open.
She quickly pulled out the box and examined it closely: "The account book and loose silver are not missing. How could my husband be so sure that a thief broke in?"
"Without wind or rain, how could half a window be broken? Someone must have done it on purpose," Hao Jingshi said.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qin looked towards the window and saw that it was indeed true. She then began to examine the items in the clinic one by one.
It seems that nothing was amiss.
"That's strange. If they really were thieves, why would they leave without stealing anything? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"
Lu Qin muttered to herself, then went out to check the clothing shop again, only to find that the lock on the shop door was still intact.
At this moment, everyone from the clothing shop had returned to their residences, and Xuan Lan and Ling'er had also left. No one saw what happened, which truly left everyone puzzled.
Lu Qin returned to the clinic and shook her head at Hao Jingshi, indicating that the clothing shop was fine.
Hao Jingshi pondered for a moment, then chuckled, and roughly understood what was going on: "They're after me, but they don't dare to openly challenge me, so they only dare to do dirty tricks in secret."
Lu Qin thought about it and disagreed. Although Hao Jingshi was a bit arrogant, he wouldn't cause trouble for no reason and wouldn't make enemies for no reason.
Besides, even if someone really dislikes him, they might not dare to provoke him like this.
“Husband, you’re overthinking it. Maybe some kid was being naughty and accidentally broke the window. He ran away because he was afraid of getting into trouble,” Lu Qin said. “Anyway, it’s just half a window that’s broken. Nothing else is damaged. We can just call someone to fix it. We can also learn a lesson and have the guards watch over it from now on to prevent things from getting stolen.”
Hearing his wife say this, Hao Jingshi was too lazy to argue and said, "Then let's just say that. It's best if the young master doesn't catch him, or I'll definitely break his arm."
He shoved the cabinet back in: "You stay here and guard it. I'll go back and call someone to fix the windows."
Lu Qin nodded: "Husband, go and come back quickly."
Hao Jingshi walked to the door, then paused and turned back.
"Alright, it's getting dark. I'm worried about leaving you here all alone."
He stepped back to the counter, pulled up a chair, and leaned back, gesturing for Lu Qin to sit down as well. "Let's just wait here. If we don't go back to the manor, Mother will send someone to look for us."
Lu Qin thought it made sense, so she walked over slowly and sat on his lap.
"Alright then, I'll listen to my husband."
Anyway, there's food available as soon as we go out, so we won't go hungry. And there's nothing to do when we get back home, so we can just treat it as a getaway for the two of us.
The two stayed leisurely in the clinic, cuddling intimately. After a while, the servants indeed came to the clinic looking for them.
Lu Qin was reluctant to part with their rare moment of peace and quiet and didn't want to return to the mansion, so she ordered the servants to repair the windows and used the excuse of supervising the work to delay for a while.
In fact, she stayed by Hao Jingshi's side the whole time and didn't leave. Hao Jingshi noticed that she was sullen, so he took out his sketchbook, which was used to draw clothing designs.
He flipped through a few pages, then showed her a page of clothing design: "Do you like it?"
Lu Qin glanced at it and saw that the clothes in the drawing were elegant in color and every detail was clear. Her eyes lit up instantly: "This outfit is truly exquisitely designed. If it were made, it would definitely be a sensation."
“Everyone wears it, so how can it show its preciousness?” Hao Jingshi raised his eyebrows and said, “This was specially designed for you. I spent three days drawing it. It’s the only one of its kind in the world. I originally wanted to give you a surprise after it was finished.”
Lu Qin was deeply moved and looked at it again and again with great affection: "Then why did you have to say it, my husband?"
"I wanted to see you happy, so I told you," Hao Jingshi said. "Tear it off, and when we get back to the manor I'll give it to Xuan Lan and have him send it to the tailor shop tomorrow morning to make it. That way you can wear it as soon as possible."
Lu Qin leaned her head against him and said sweetly, "Thank you, my husband."
As she spoke, she pulled up the page and used the curve created by the previous pages to tear it.
She paused halfway through tearing the paper and suddenly noticed a row of jagged paper marks on the next page.
"Husband, come and look." Lu Qin brought the sketchbook closer. "Isn't a page missing?"
"Um?"
Hao Jingshi took it and looked at it. Sure enough, one page was missing.
He squinted, couldn't help but straighten up, and carefully looked through it again from front to back.
The original garment drafts were still there; what was torn up were several new garment drafts he had recently drawn, which he hadn't yet sent to the tailor shop to have made into garments.
Lu Qin looked at him, puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Hao Jingshi tossed the sketchbook into the box and snorted coldly, "I told you so, a thief really did break in."
...
Lu Qin analyzed that the person who stole the design draft must want to launch the new product first and steal customers.
If someone wanted to steal it, their first thought would be the clothing store, but this person came directly to the clinic, which shows that they knew exactly where Hao Jingshi's design drafts were kept.
However, only those close to the business and the franchised stores know about these things, and the number is so large that it is really difficult to distinguish them in a short time.
After discussing it, the two decided to remain silent for the time being.
Lu Qin obtained the list of franchise stores and instructed Lu Hua to visit them daily, inquiring about which stores had new clothing items. However, several days passed without any news.
Lu Qin was completely baffled and found it strange every time she thought about it.
Seeing this, Hao Jingshi comforted him, "Don't think about it anymore. It's just a draft of clothing. Consider it a leftover meal. I'll draw another one."
Although Lu Qin nodded, she still had doubts in her heart.
After lunch that day, Lu Pan'an brought Lu Xishi over from next door, intending to take a short rest. Seeing Lu Qin sitting alone at the counter, Lu Xishi greeted her politely.
Lu Qin came to her senses, smiled at Lu Xishi, and also greeted Lu Pan'an, but Lu Pan'an noticed something was amiss.
He approached her and said gently, "Ms. Lu is always intelligent and capable. I wonder what has happened to make you look so worried?"
Looking at the handsome brother and sister, Lu Qin's mood eased a bit. She rested her cheeks on her hands and said, "Young Master Lu, to tell you the truth, a few days ago someone stole the clothing design my husband drew, but I can't find the thief no matter what I do."
Lu Pan'an laughed after hearing this, "The thieves are indeed despicable, but Boss Lu should also relax. Since the clothing shop has not suffered any losses, it is not a big deal."
Lu Qin nodded, not refuting his good intentions, but thought to herself, "That's not actually the case."
It's no surprise that a clothing shop's business has been thriving for so long, attracting envy from others.
She wasn't afraid of encountering rivals, but rather that they might be lurking in the shadows, harboring treacherous intentions she couldn't comprehend and that would be difficult to deal with. That's why she needed to take precautions.
Seeing that she nodded, Lu Pan'an thought he had persuaded her and didn't say anything more.
He escorted Lu Xishi to rest, then returned and stood in front of the counter, chatting with her.
"Boss Lu, speaking of which, the clothing shop has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to properly thank you and Young Master Hao."
“If it weren’t for your help, my sister’s condition would probably have worsened, and my family would have been in dire straits.”
As Lu Pan'an spoke, he bowed deeply to her and said, "I have no way to repay you, but I thank you in advance."
Seeing him suddenly express his gratitude seriously, Lu Qin felt embarrassed and quickly got up to help him.
"Oh, Mr. Lu, there's no need to be so polite. The clothing shop's success today is also thanks to your hard work. We're business partners, so there's no need for such formalities. Just call me by my name."
Upon hearing this, Lu Pan'an straightened up and smiled, "Then I, Lu, will dare to call you Aqin. After my parents passed away, no one has ever treated me so well. From now on, I will regard you two as family."
Lu Qin couldn't help but think to herself, "This young master Pan An is truly gentle and refined, with an elegant demeanor."
She replied kindly, "Yes, so do my husband and I."
The two chatted amiably for a few more minutes about other things. After a while, Hao Jingshi walked in from outside and, seeing the two chatting so animatedly, couldn't help but cough.
Lu Pan'an immediately left to avoid suspicion. After saying goodbye to him, Hao Jingshi crossed his arms, walked to Lu Qin's side, and leaned in for a kiss, feeling a little jealous.
Although he knew she had no feelings for Lu Pan'an, he was still not entirely at ease. Whenever he saw the two of them talking, he needed to use this to prove that she loved him the most before he could feel at ease.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing."
As Lu Qin leaned close to Hao Jingshi's lips, Lu Pan'an suddenly turned around, saw the two embracing, and immediately turned back.
Lu Qin awkwardly pushed Hao Jingshi away: "Brother Lu, please speak."
With his back to the two men, Lu Pan'an said, "The Wu family's shop contacted me a few days ago, saying they wanted to give me a fee to show up in their new clothes for a product launch."
“I know the rules written in the contract, and I can’t make decisions on my own. However, since Boss Wu is one of our franchisees, I’ve come to ask… Boss Lu.”
Lu Pan'an was afraid that Hao Jingshi would misunderstand, so he changed his form of address back to what he used.
"Of course not. Franchised stores also have rules. How dare he break his promise?"
Before Lu Qin could speak, Hao Jingshi angrily asked, "How much silver did he promise you?"
"Thirty taels."
"Quite a lot." Hao Jingshi scoffed. "Young Master Lu, thank you for informing us, otherwise we would still be in the dark. You don't need to pay him any attention. If you urgently need money, I'll give you double."
Lu Pan'an quickly replied, "No need, no need. Young Master has already helped enough. I thank you. In that case, I will go and refuse them."
After saying that, he strode into the small room where he usually took naps with unprecedented speed and drew the curtains.
The curtain swayed, as if it were feeling guilty.
Although they could no longer see each other through the curtain, Hao Jingshi still felt awkward, so he simply led Lu Qin to the clinic.
He sat in the armchair, pulled Lu Qin onto his lap, and was about to kiss her when he noticed she was distracted.
What are you thinking about?
Hao Jingshi gently cupped her face in his hands.
"I'm thinking about what Lu Pan'an just said."
Lu Qin tilted her head, her cheek pressed affectionately against his palm, her expression becoming much more serious.
She pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think the theft a few days ago might be related to the Wu family's shop?"
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