RGL – Chapter 185

“You want to cooperate with foreigners in business?”

“I do have that idea.” Although those were the words he said, his expression carried a look of determination.

Looking at the growing maturity between his brows and eyes, Su Min suddenly felt that this young man she had watched grow up had truly become a man. No longer the innocent youth from before, no longer the newly rising star in the workplace, but a businessman who could strategize and command.

“Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?” Xue Mian felt a little uneasy under her steady gaze.

Seeing that he could still blush, Su Min’s heart softened. She leaned over and kissed his lips. “I just suddenly realized—you’re really handsome.”

She couldn’t help but think, An old cow like me really did bite off a tender sprout.

Xue Mian couldn’t resist the surge in his heart. He pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips down fiercely on hers, greedily kissing and tasting her.

Perhaps the room was a bit too warm, or maybe the secluded setting was too ambiguous. That kiss soon left the two of them breathless and dizzy with desire.

Their young bodies rubbed against each other. Xue Mian’s hand wandered restlessly, caressing the graceful curve of her body. He slipped his hand under her clothes, brushing against her soft, tender waist—but then as if scalded, he pulled back abruptly, flipped over, and let her go, collapsing onto the bed and gasping for breath.

Su Min hadn’t reacted yet, still immersed in the daze of their earlier passion. She had lived two lifetimes, yet it was the first time she had ever felt something like this—strange, thrilling, but she also knew exactly what such feelings would lead to.

What she hadn’t expected was that, at the very brink, Xue Mian would stop.

She lay beside him, turning her head to look at him.

Sensing her gaze, Xue Mian curved his lips into a smile. After calming his emotions, he reached out and drew her into his arms. “Wait a little longer. On the day we marry, after you graduate.”

Although Su Min was always cautious with relationships, and even conservative to a degree, she was now officially with Xue Mian—and their relationship was built on the premise of marriage. Moreover, she was already someone who had lived an entire lifetime before. She had often listened to the little girls in her dorm gossip about their boyfriends, some even living together. So when it came to this, she wasn’t as rigidly conservative.

But since Xue Mian had said so, she couldn’t very well pounce on him herself—that would make her look too impatient. So instead she pursed her lips, nestled obediently in his arms, and chuckled softly to herself.

Her love life was progressing smoothly, and her career was going well too. Su Min soon found a suitable storefront in the city center. It had previously been a restaurant, but with the fierce competition, the business had failed. Su Min paid a huge sum to buy it outright. Of course, the process had been full of twists and turns, but she had finally secured the property.

Once the shop was purchased, Su Min immediately called on Liao Laidi to oversee the renovations.

But things weren’t going as smoothly for Xue Mian. His negotiations were still ongoing.

Since the matters in City B weren’t urgent, Su Min decided to stay and wait for Xue Mian, while also keeping an eye on the renovation.

However, she didn’t end up staying. Right after the National Day holiday, she received a call from Liao Zhaodi: the design drafts for Xiuse had been stolen by another clothing factory, who had already released them to the market.

For a clothing company, design drafts are of utmost importance. If competitors got hold of them before production and release, it could affect the entire season’s sales. More seriously, it could hinder the growth of the brand.

Upon hearing this, Su Min immediately prepared to fly back to City B.

Although Xue Mian was a little disappointed, he still smiled and supported her, personally driving her to the airport. “If it’s hard to handle, go to Uncle. After all, Xiuse has ties with him too, he can’t just ignore it. Don’t stress yourself too much. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“I know, don’t worry.” Su Min smiled and nodded. Since the huge quarrel between them about Li Weisi’s help last time, they no longer interfered in each other’s work. Now that Xue Mian suggested she seek Li Weisi’s help again, it must be because he was really worried. So this time, she didn’t resist the idea.

But after boarding the plane, Su Min’s face grew heavy.

She hadn’t wanted to make Xue Mian worry, so she had acted calm. But deep down, her heart was already in turmoil. On one hand, she worried about the impact on Xiuse’s upcoming new season. On the other hand, she worried that there might be a traitor within.

Although Xiuse had grown quite large, the core team was still her original trusted group. And she wasn’t naïve—she was always wary of business risks.

For outsiders to steal the design drafts would be very difficult.

So there was a more than 90% chance this had been done by someone on the inside.

It couldn’t be Zhang Qingqing. Given Su Min’s close relationship with her, and her cooperation with William, harming Su Min’s interests wouldn’t benefit them. Zhang Qingqing was honest, William was shrewd—they would never take such a petty risk.

It couldn’t be Grandma Zhang either. She no longer managed the company’s affairs, and was only thinking about retirement.

Zhaodi… impossible. She had just started working with Liao Laidi, with great prospects ahead. Plus, Su Min trusted her character.

Eliminating each possibility one by one only made Su Min more restless.

Since Su Min was returning, Liao Zhaodi had already arranged for a driver to pick her up at the airport.

Standing at the arrivals gate, Zhaodi looked tense and anxious, but finally sighed with relief when she saw Su Min.

Once they got into the car, Zhaodi quickly explained the situation.

Xiuse’s clothes were usually pre-ordered months in advance. Clients would select designs, and then Jinxiu would begin production.

But this time, just as pre-orders began, another company—Xiumei Clothing Factory—had already launched its winter collection. In other words, Xiuse’s exclusive custom designs had already become common on the streets.

“Have you checked who’s suspicious these past few days?” Su Min rubbed her temples.

Zhaodi looked at her and said, “Without you here, no one dared to handle it rashly. After all… everyone is a suspect.”

She herself felt uneasy, afraid of being doubted. She didn’t want something like this to damage her relationship with Su Min.

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Su Min patted her arm. “I know it’s not you. Between us, there’s no need to keep things bottled up. Forget it, let’s not discuss it now. We’ll talk more once we’re back.”

When Su Min and Liao Zhaodi returned to the company, the atmosphere in the office felt a little strange. Everyone seemed dispirited, some even wore expressions full of worry.

Sun Yanyan had also returned from the shop. The moment she saw Su Min, she hurried over.  “Minzi, thank goodness you’re back. What should we do about the company now?”

Su Min waved her hand, signaling her not to bring it up yet. She first put her luggage down in the office, asked the secretary to pour her a cup of tea, and sat quietly in her chair with her eyes closed to rest.

Liao Zhaodi came in but didn’t disturb her.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Su Min opened her eyes, took a sip of water, and said,  “Gather everyone. We’ll have a meeting in five minutes.”

Liao Zhaodi quickly stood up and went outside to deliver the notice.

In the meantime, Li Weisi also heard she was back and called her.

“This matter should technically be handled by the group. But if you have the confidence, I can refrain from interfering. However, afterward, Xiuse must give the group a proper explanation. Otherwise, it’ll be hard to get approval from the board. You should know how serious the impact of this incident is on Xiuse.”

Su Min drew in a deep breath. “Director Li, I’m sorry. This was my oversight. I’ve already started handling it now. Please rest assured, I’ll definitely give a clear answer.”

Li Weisi didn’t pressure her further and hung up.

Su Min stood up and looked out the window at the bustling street, her heart growing more and more restless. Finding out who was behind this incident wasn’t impossible—only the truth might be hard to accept.

Among those who had once shared hardships with her, who was it that betrayed her?

The conference room was heavy with tension. Su Min sat in her chair, uncharacteristically silent, sweeping her gaze across the restless faces around the table.

“These documents,” Su Min said at last, “after I prepared them, I handed them over to Zhaodi.” She turned to look at her. “Zhaodi, report your side.”

“Alright.” Liao Zhaodi nodded calmly. She hadn’t done anything wrong, so she felt no guilt. Standing up, she said, “Once I received the drafts, I passed them on to the production department.”

Hearing this, Zhang Qingqing looked nervous. When Su Min’s eyes landed on her, she quickly spoke up too. “After I got the drawings, I assigned them to the staff for production. Each person only handled a portion of the design.”

At Xiuse, the design drafts were usually split up like this. They weren’t kept secret, but no one ever saw the full design except at higher levels. So once Zhang Qingqing had passed them on, the embroiderers and tailors would never have seen the complete picture.

That meant the leak must have happened at Zhang Qingqing’s level—or above.

Su Min folded her fingers together on the table, her eyes filled with weariness. She looked at the people seated there. These were all people who had been with her along the way. But clearly, the traitor was among them.

She didn’t name anyone, just said, “I think everyone understands how serious this incident is for Jinxiu. To put it bluntly, the designs we promised our clients as ‘unique’ are now everywhere. And the worst part is, they only copied part of our work—we can’t even sue them. We’re left swallowing this bitter pill in silence. And this isn’t over yet. When delivery time comes and we can’t meet the deadline, compensation will be the least of our problems. These clients are all influential figures. If they’re dissatisfied, it’ll ripple through the entire upper circle. Tell me, how should we resolve this?”

“It… it can’t be that serious, right?” Sun Yanyan, who had been silent until now, finally couldn’t help speaking up.

Su Min gave a cold laugh. “What I’ve said is already the lighter version. If I’m more blunt—Xiuse is still in its growth stage. An incident like this could derail our future entirely. These high-society figures are rich and powerful. They won’t care what excuses we give. And the truth is, this was our failure. In this industry, once our reputation and credibility are gone, do you think clients will still come to us? You all know how fierce the competition is. With so many foreign haute couture houses out there, we fought tooth and nail to get where we are today. And now, because of someone’s selfishness, Xiuse is being dragged into such a state. I’ve always treated everyone here well—our salaries and benefits are among the highest in the industry. You’ve all had lives others would envy. So I really don’t understand: whoever betrayed us, just how much benefit did they gain to do something like this?”

She finished speaking and looked around. Some lowered their heads, some looked furious, and some were deeply anxious.

This meeting was just her way of giving everyone a warning—and perhaps flushing out the traitor a little. She hadn’t expected to identify the culprit right away. So after saying her piece, she dismissed everyone.

When the others had left, she kept only Zhaodi behind.

After closing the conference room door, Liao Zhaodi returned to the table and said worriedly,  “This matter… we need to deal with the clients first. These are the autumn-winter collections, and many are already nearing delivery.”

“I know.” Su Min rubbed her temples.

“But since we haven’t found the traitor, I can’t guarantee that a new plan won’t be leaked again. So for now, it’s just up to the two of us.”

“What do you plan to do?” Zhaodi looked at her firmly.

She knew this was the hardest time for Su Min—not just facing the blow of the leak, but also the pain of betrayal by someone she trusted.

Su Min sighed. “Sort out the list of clients. I’ll call them one by one to explain. But I can’t tell them the drafts were stolen—that would cast doubt on our company, and we don’t have evidence. We can’t leave them with an excuse to gossip. I’ll tell them that, in pursuit of uniqueness, we’re redesigning everything specially for them. And all costs this time—we’ll cover for free.”

“Su Min, isn’t that too much of a sacrifice? This isn’t just a few pieces—it’s nearly the whole collection. The cost will be enormous.”

Zhaodi looked at her with concern.

But Su Min only shook her head. “At a time like this, as long as we can resolve the crisis, no cost is too high. Zhaodi, we can’t afford to lose. If we falter now, Xiuse will really collapse.”

For the sake of secrecy, Su Min told no one else. Alone in her office, she began calling every client, including overseas ones.

Naturally, she faced harsh scolding from many of them. But Su Min endured it all, apologizing carefully. After hanging up, she thought back over her years of entrepreneurship. She realized that in all her business dealings, she had never been berated like this before, never suffered such grievances. It seemed Heaven was fair after all—there were no shortcuts in business. Even being reborn, she still had to endure the hardships meant for her.

When Shu Jing heard Su Min was back, she also called to ask about the situation. Lately, she had been extremely busy—helping Zhang Ning with the Yuehao Group, dealing with Xue Mian’s electronics factory, all while taking care of Zheng Kai and their son, Zheng Hao. She had only heard about this matter from her mother.

Having experienced the ups and downs of the business world herself, she knew exactly how severe this was for Xiuse.

“In the capital, I’ll help you explain to the clients. They’re all acquaintances of mine, so they’ll give me some face. Don’t worry too much. Right now, the most important thing is finding the person who leaked the designs. Otherwise, every step you take will be full of danger.”

Hearing Shu Jing’s concern, Su Min was deeply moved. On the other end of the phone, her eyes grew red. “Sister Shu Jing, thank you. I really don’t know how to repay you. I was just wondering how to resolve this.”

“What’s there to thank? You’re Ke Wan’s little sister, which makes you my little sister too. Before she went abroad, she asked me to look after you. I can’t cut corners—otherwise, when she comes back, she’ll have my head.”

Shu Jing deliberately spoke lightly, which lifted a great weight from Su Min’s heart. “I’ve already managed to reassure the overseas clients today. Now that I have you helping with the capital’s clients, I can finally free up some time to investigate who’s behind this betrayal.”