Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 158: Brother from heaven

Liu Yu smiled, holding the notebook with the recorded data, and returned to the tailoring room.

Ever since she got the idea of mass-producing ready-made garments, she had spent quite a bit of time and thought on it. She had a method in mind, but it still needed to be tested. Now, with dozens of sets of data laid out before her, after a careful comparison, Liu Yu had a rough idea of how to proceed.

Instead of working with high-priced garments, she chose a newly cut outfit made from fine fabric. She adjusted several measurements by one inch each, creating three different sizes, and handed them over to three seamstresses to replicate.

Madam Zhang, who had already finished setting up the displays, had returned to the cutting room and had been watching for a while. At first, she was puzzled to see Liu Yu cutting three identical outfits. But then, when she noticed Liu Yu increasing certain measurements on the original fabric pieces, she found it intriguing.

These were new designs that hadn’t been released yet, and there were no custom orders. So, why make three different sizes?

Madam Zhang wasn’t slow-witted. After thinking for a moment, she figured out what was going on, though she hadn’t realized Liu Yu’s ambition was so broad.

“Are you trying to save time on future custom orders, Boss?” Madam Zhang asked.

Liu Yu nodded.

Madam Zhang hesitated, then said, “But experimenting like this won’t be as precise as making clothes after taking exact measurements. It also runs the risk of creating excess inventory.”

Liu Yu laughed and said, “That’s exactly the point, to make it easier to manage inventory. But, of course, it’s not us who will be holding the stock.”

Madam Zhang was confused by Liu Yu’s explanation.

At this point, Liu Yu didn’t hide her intentions any longer and said, “I’m planning to experiment with mass-producing ready-made garments and then supplying them to embroidery shops in town or in neighboring counties. So, I’m making different sizes to see if they can fit most people. If it works, then this plan is feasible.”

This was the first time Madam Zhang had heard of an embroidery shop supplying its own garments to other shops. Isn’t that something cloth shops do?

“Will this work?” she asked, uncertain.

Liu Yu smiled and replied, “There’s no harm in trying. Once those three outfits are finished, I’ll find people to test them. If they’re fine, you can also pick a few relatively low-priced garments to try. Increase the measurements for the chest, length of the garment, skirt, and sleeves by one inch. For narrow sleeves, increase the cuff measurements by a quarter inch.”

“One inch per measurement?” Madam Zhang asked, still processing the idea.

Madam Zhang took the notebook with the data that Wei Shi had recorded and looked at it for a long time. Finally, she realized that even though increasing measurements by an inch wouldn’t be absolutely precise, the margin of error would be minimal. It was unlikely that the clothes wouldn’t fit.

But if ready-made garments could indeed be mass-produced and supplied to other shops, then… Madam Zhang swallowed nervously. If this plan succeeded, the business at Ruyi Embroidery House would undoubtedly take a huge leap forward. Shops like An Ji that rely on copying designs would lose their advantage, and it might even be far more efficient for them to buy ready-made garments directly from Ruyi Embroidery House rather than going through the trouble of copying.

Copying designs also requires capital. It’s not profitable to copy just a few pieces, and if they do copy several pieces, how many designs can a shop like An Ji sustain? Over time, as old designs pile up, there’s little benefit to be gained.

The more Madam Zhang thought about it, the brighter her eyes became. She no longer hesitated, even forgetting that she had already agreed with Liu Yu, and ended up agreeing again and again.

Her mind was now entirely occupied with seeing how those three outfits would turn out when they were tested on real people, to see if the plan could really work. If she wasn’t getting paid by Liu Yu and didn’t want to appear idle, she would have rushed over to the next room to see, or even help out, so those outfits could be finished faster.

As the two of them were talking, Lu Shuang returned.

Liu Yu smiled when she saw her and asked, “Did you manage to return the clothes smoothly?”

Lu Shuang, still preoccupied with what had happened outside, took a moment to respond to Liu Yu’s greeting. She nodded, “Yes, it went smoothly. I’ve returned the clothes to An Ji.”

Speaking of returning the clothes, Lu Shuang recalled the person who helped her at An Ji’s door. Her face warmed up, and her thoughts drifted far away, leaving her a bit distracted.

Liu Yu glanced at Lu Shuang and noticed her slightly flushed face. Curious, she asked, “What’s wrong with your face? It looks a bit red.”

Lu Shuang’s face grew even hotter, but not wanting Liu Yu to guess her thoughts, she half-joked, “I ran into a very unreasonable old lady at An Ji. We argued a bit, and it made me angry.”

Liu Yu’s expression immediately turned serious. “Was it the owner of An Ji?”

Lu Shuang quickly shook her head. For some reason, perhaps wanting to keep what had just happened to herself, she instinctively decided not to tell Liu Yu the truth and said, “It was an old lady who came to buy clothes. We bumped into each other and exchanged a few words, but I didn’t suffer any losses.”

Liu Yu believed her and, after making sure that Lu Shuang wasn’t hurt, relaxed and smiled, asking whether Lu Shuang wanted autumn clothes or if she preferred a set of winter clothes.

Lu Shuang had already bought several sets of autumn clothes from Ruyi Embroidery House, and since her mind was elsewhere, she chose to take the winter clothes as her reward.

Liu Yu was busy, so the matter was quickly set aside. However, for Lu Shuang, the encounter had left a deep impression on her, one she couldn’t easily forget.

It turned out that Lu Shuang had arrived at An Ji at an unfortunate time. Not only was the shopkeeper’s wife present, but her mother-in-law was also there.

Lu Shuang’s reason for returning the clothes was simple: she claimed that after buying the outfit, her friends mocked her, saying it was a knockoff of Ruyi Embroidery House’s design, which made it too cheap, and she didn’t want it anymore.

Lu Shuang had only bought the clothes less than half an hour ago, so there was no legitimate reason to refuse her return.

Moreover, since An Ji’s designs were indeed copied, they were on shaky ground. Even though they marketed their clothes as similar to Ruyi Embroidery House’s but cheaper, customers didn’t know that the designs were originally from Ruyi.

But Lu Shuang outright called them knockoffs, cheap and embarrassing, which made the shopkeeper’s wife eager to refund her and get her out of the store before any regular customers showed up and heard the exchange.

However, while the shopkeeper’s wife was thinking this, the old lady from the An family had a different mindset. Was there any reason to return money that had already gone into her cash register?

No way!

A scene ensued.

Lu Shuang, a fifteen-year-old girl, had never dealt with such a rude and overbearing old lady before. She was pushed and shoved out of the shop, while the old lady spewed insults that were anything but pleasant.

Lu Shuang, like her mother Chen Shi, was not one to take such treatment lying down. Initially, she was so shocked that she let the old lady push her out, but once she snapped out of it, she wasn’t about to take it quietly.

She immediately fired back.

But she didn’t realize that the old lady from the An family had been known for her rude and unreasonable behavior since she was young. She was the type who would resort to any dirty tactic, shouting and cursing without restraint.

Lu Shuang had no chance against someone like that. She couldn’t even get a word in, as the old lady’s vile words drowned her out, drawing a crowd of eight or nine onlookers.

It was a stroke of luck that Wang Mingyun happened to be nearby, just coming out of a men’s clothing store next door where he had been ordering winter clothes with his servant, when he witnessed the scene.

Wang Mingyun didn’t recognize Lu Shuang, even though he had stayed at the Lu house for a few days. The Lu family had kept to the inner courtyard and had no contact with Wang Mingyun or Yang Cunxu in the outer courtyard.

However, while Wang Mingyun didn’t know Lu Shuang, the servant who often ran errands to the Lu house did, and he whispered to Wang Mingyun that this was Lu Chengxiao’s younger sister.

As soon as he heard that she was Lu Chengxiao’s sister, Wang Mingyun knew he couldn’t just stand by and watch. He immediately led his servant over to help Lu Shuang.

By now, there wasn’t anyone in Anyi County who didn’t know Wang Mingyun, including the An Ji shopkeeper’s wife and the old lady.

Wang Mingyun stepped in, asking, “How did my sister offend you two?” This instantly silenced the old lady, and the shopkeeper’s wife started to panic, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Sister?

Did the Wang family have such a girl?

The two women from the An family thought hard, but since they weren’t familiar with the Wang family, they couldn’t be sure. After all, “sister” could also refer to a cousin, a maternal cousin, or a paternal cousin. The term could stretch quite far.

But it didn’t matter which sister Wang Mingyun was referring to; none of them were people that small merchants like them could afford to offend. Everyone knew that Wang Mingyun had recently passed the provincial examination, earning the title of a scholar. The An Ji shopkeeper’s wife quickly pulled the old lady to bow deeply and greet Wang Mingyun, repeatedly insisting that it was all a misunderstanding.

As for Lu Shuang, she was even more bewildered than the An family women by this sudden appearance of a “brother.”

Who was this person?

She didn’t recognize him.

She stared blankly at Wang Mingyun, not knowing what to say.

Wang Mingyun, having learned that she was Lu Chengxiao’s sister, was particularly concerned. Seeing Lu Shuang’s stunned expression, he couldn’t help but smile. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly before he quickly suppressed it, still waiting for the An family women to offer an explanation.

“Master Juren, it’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding,” the An Ji shopkeeper’s wife said hurriedly. Although she wasn’t sure who Lu Shuang was, she dared not offend the Wang family. She repeated that it was a misunderstanding, and stepping past her mother-in-law, who had shrunk back like a quail, she approached Lu Shuang to apologize. She took the bundle of clothes from her, saying, “Miss, it’s all a misunderstanding. I’ll help you return the clothes right away.”

The shopkeeper’s wife took the clothes and went inside to fetch the money, while Lu Shuang stood there, a bit dazed.

“Master Juren?” she asked, looking at Wang Mingyun. He seemed about the same age as her third brother. “Are you… the young master of the Wang family?”

Wang Mingyun smiled brightly, “Yes, please give my regards to your third brother.”

~

And that’s how Lu Shuang’s heart was lost.

Wang Mingyun—a name she had heard many times from her family. The first time she heard it was a few years ago.

Her third brother had mentioned a classmate whose family owned several shops in the county. The leases were about to expire, and they could be vacated. Her third brother said that this classmate could speak to his family and arrange to lease the shops to their family so that Lu Feng could expand to An Yi County.

Not long after that, their fabric shop did indeed open in An Yi County, renting one of the Wang family’s shops. At that time, from the conversations between her father, mother, and third brother, she learned that her third brother’s classmate was named Wang Mingyun.

This autumn, when Wang Mingyun passed the provincial examination, she had heard her parents and sister-in-law mention it again.

Even during her third brother’s wedding, Wang Mingyun, along with two other classmates, had come to help with the wedding procession and had stayed at their house for a few days.

However, they stayed in the outer courtyard, and Lu Shuang, knowing there were male guests at home, remained in the inner courtyard and never went out, so she didn’t recognize him.

Lu Shuang didn’t know how she managed to take back the money from the An Ji shopkeeper’s wife or how she parted ways with Wang Mingyun and returned to Ruyi Embroidery House.

She only knew that something was wrong with her. Her mind kept replaying thoughts of Wang Mingyun, making her heart race and her breathing short. She even subconsciously lied to her sister-in-law, not daring to mention Wang Mingyun’s name.

Liu Yu was busy, and Lu Shuang, unusually, didn’t stay at the embroidery house. Instead, she found an excuse to return to her own home.

Sitting in her room, Lu Shuang pressed her hand to her chest.

There was a strange feeling there, but she couldn’t quite put into words what exactly was strange about it.

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