Soul Returns to Hong Kong: From Tailor Shop to Richest Woman

Time flies, and the calendar turned to January 1984.

The final exams for the first semester of Form 2 at Boya College have just ended. A cold wind is blowing through Hong Kong Island, and everyone on the streets of Hong Kong is wearing thick coats. Today is the official start of the winter break for school.

At home in Taikoo Shing, Lin Ying had just taken a thick stack of original English math books out of her bag when the landline in the living room rang.

Lin Lanying walked over and answered the phone. After listening for a couple of sentences, she covered the receiver and shouted to Lin Ying, "Ying! It's your aunt calling! Great news, come and answer it!"

Lin Ying walked over and took the microphone: "Auntie."

"Ah Ying! Your uncle has found you a tutor!" Chen Meishan exclaimed excitedly on the other end of the phone. "Didn't you say you couldn't find a suitable math tutor when you borrowed notes from Ah Zhe? Your uncle took that to heart. He's been searching all over Central for you these past few months, and this time he's really struck gold!"

"What teacher?" Lin Ying asked.

"A proper retired professor of mathematics from Cambridge University!" Chen Meishan spoke quickly. "This professor's surname is Smith, and he's a genuine British old man. He's retired and has nothing to do, and his son happens to be a senior manager at a foreign bank in Central, working at the same level as your uncle! The old man originally came to Hong Kong for a vacation, to see his son, and to spend the winter."

Lin Ying asked curiously, "If a retired professor comes on vacation, would he be willing to take on students?"

"He was definitely unwilling at first!" Chen Meishan chuckled. "These foreign professors are so eccentric. They say they're retired and will never touch lesson plans, let alone tutor secondary school students. But this old man has a fatal weakness: he absolutely loves Hong Kong cuisine!"

"Shrimp dumplings, siu mai, char siu buns, roast suckling pig... This old man ate so much he didn't want to go back to England, and he settled down in Hong Kong." Chen Meishan continued, "Your uncle is quick-witted. He chatted with his colleague every day and found an opportunity to mention that there was a thirteen-year-old genius girl in the family who would only study mathematics at Cambridge University, and that her talent was ridiculously high. The old man was extremely bored, and when he heard this boast, his curiosity was piqued. He insisted on seeing what kind of genius dared to make such a bold claim."

Lin Ying was touched. She knew very well how much persuasion her uncle, Su Zhiming, would have to go to in a place like Central, where foreign banks were concentrated and foreigners were rampant, to help his niece establish this connection. The Su family's eldest branch had done a very generous favor.

"Thank you, Uncle and Aunt." Lin Ying said earnestly, "When will we meet?"

"It's this Sunday morning at nine o'clock! Luk Yu Tea House in Central, your uncle has booked the best private room," Chen Meishan instructed. "You'd better dress smartly. Your uncle and I will take you there. You'd better bring out all your cleverness; if you can get on good terms with this teacher, it'll be like having an extra pass to Cambridge!"

"Okay, I understand."

------

Sunday morning, Luk Yu Tea House, Central.

This time-honored teahouse is decorated in an antique style, with mahogany tables and chairs and colorful stained glass windows. The lobby is full of well-dressed tea drinkers.

Lin Ying and Lin Lanying followed Su Zhiming and Chen Meishan to the private room on the second floor.

As soon as the door to the private room was pushed open, a foreigner with gray hair and wearing an English suit was already sitting at the round table; he was holding a pair of clumsy chopsticks and staring with great interest at a crystal-clear shrimp dumpling in the steamer in front of him.

Su Zhiming's foreign colleague was sitting next to him. When he saw Su Zhiming come in, he immediately stood up to greet him.

"Professor Smith," Su Zhiming stepped forward and introduced in fluent English, "this is the child I mentioned to you, Lin Ying."

Professor Smith put down his chopsticks and looked Lin Ying up and down.

Before Su Zhiming could even arrange for Lin Ying to sit down, Professor Smith asked directly in English, "I heard you want to apply to Cambridge's mathematics department? Little girl, do you know how high the requirements are for Cambridge? Getting a few perfect scores in Hong Kong doesn't mean you understand real mathematics."

He spoke very quickly, even Su Zhiming next to him was stunned for a moment, just as he was about to help Lin Ying translate.

Lin Ying remained calm and responded in fluent English, "Professor, the exam score only proves that I have mastered the basics, and the reason I want to go to Cambridge is because I know that my current knowledge is far from enough. I have great awe for real mathematics, which is why I am sitting here."

"Your spoken English is good." The professor gestured for the student to sit down.

The group took their seats; the waiter brought out tea and baskets of exquisite pastries.

Professor Smith picked up his teacup and looked at Lin Ying, still asking in English, "Then tell me your motivation. Lin Ying, why do you want to study mathematics at Cambridge? Is it to get a respectable, high-paying job in the future? Is it to work in finance on Wall Street? Or is it to satisfy your parents' demands?"

Why study mathematics at Cambridge?

Lin Ying's answer was crystal clear: for the future, for learning the world's most advanced academic knowledge, and for returning to the mainland to start a technology company, to create chips and machine brains that belong to the Chinese people. In this era where core technologies can be held hostage at any time, mathematics is the cornerstone of all high-tech innovations.

She couldn't say these words aloud: "Because I love math."

Smith didn't like the answer, "Just like it?"

Lin Ying carefully considered her words before answering: "In this world, people lie, emotions change, and rules are broken and altered for the sake of interests. Everything is full of gray areas and uncertainties... but mathematics is not."

Lin Ying looked at the professor sincerely: "Mathematics is the purest thing; in the world of mathematics, right is right, and wrong is wrong. It does not tolerate compromise, cannot deceive, and has no hypocrisy. I am fascinated by the process of proving the only truth with rigorous logic, which is why I want to go to Cambridge."

Su Zhiming couldn't understand such profound English expressions, so he could only turn to look at his colleague. His foreign colleague was also staring at the thirteen-year-old girl with astonishment.

Professor Smith's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.

These few words struck the deepest, most secret, and proudest corner of an old-school mathematician's soul.

"Right is right, and wrong is wrong..." Professor Smith repeated the sentence, praising loudly in English, "Uncompromising truth! My God, this is the first time I've heard a young person describe mathematics in such captivating language!"

"But pretty words alone are not enough." Professor Smith took out a pen and a notebook from the inside pocket of his suit.

He turned to a new page, pulled out his pen, and began to write swiftly on the paper.

I wrote down three questions in one go.

Then he shoved the notebook directly in front of Lin Ying: "Language can deceive, but your math ability cannot. I don't need you to solve all three problems. As long as you can solve the first one, I'll acknowledge that you're qualified to attend my class."

Su Zhiming glanced at the symbols on the paper; densely packed letters, integral signs, matrices... This was something a junior high school student couldn't possibly understand!

"Professor, isn't this too difficult? She's only thirteen years old," Su Zhiming couldn't help but remind her in English.

"If she talks about age in the face of mathematics, then she doesn't deserve to say she likes the truth!" The professor stubbornly refused to back down.

Lin Ying didn't say much. She took the pen from the professor and moved the notebook to the front of her.

The first question is a variant proof about the distribution of prime numbers in number theory; the second question involves basic differentiation and limit problems in calculus; the third question is a basic geometric topology problem with a logical trap.

It is indeed completely beyond the curriculum of Xiangjiang Middle School, and even beyond the scope of ordinary high schools.

But for Lin Ying, all the profound books she had used to alleviate her pain during the countless days and nights she spent confined to her hospital bed in her previous life were now awakening in her mind.

Lin Ying began to write, and line after line of rigorous and neat derivation formulas slowly filled the paper. She didn't need many calculation drafts at all; the logical loop of each step was already constructed in her mind beforehand.

ten minutes.

After proving the first problem, Lin Ying didn't stop writing and immediately started on the second one.

Twenty minutes later, the second calculus limit problem was solved.

In the thirtieth minute, Lin Ying wrote down the final conclusion for the third question.

She gently capped the pen and handed the notebook to Professor Smith: "Professor, I'm done."

Professor Smith took the notebook and examined it step by step; there were no loopholes, no flaws.

"Perfect," Professor Smith concluded. "You're not lying to me. You not only love math, you're a natural at it! I'm very satisfied. I really like bright students!"

Upon hearing this, Su Zhiming and Chen Meishan finally breathed a sigh of relief; Lin Lanying was overjoyed, this connection had been established!

"But Professor." Just when everyone thought things were over, Lin Ying suddenly took out a notebook from her handbag.

She opened the notebook and handed it to Professor Smith. It was filled with notes detailing a series of logical dead ends she had encountered while previewing advanced calculus, dead ends that couldn't be closed with simple logic.

"I've been stuck on these extended derivations involving the extrema of multivariable functions for over half a month. No matter how I construct the model, I always end up missing the closure of one variable," Lin Ying earnestly asked in English. "Since you've decided to teach me, may I start asking you questions now?"

Smith taught at Cambridge his whole life and saw countless geniuses who were complacent after getting perfect scores, but he had never seen anyone like Lin Ying who, after just going through a high-pressure exam, not only showed no pride but also immediately wanted to study.

"Great! Great! Great!" Old Man Smith excitedly began to explain, "Look here, you've gotten stuck in conventional one-dimensional thinking. You need to introduce partial derivatives..."

The two, one old and one young, engaged in a heated mathematical discussion right there on the snack table, oblivious to everyone else around them.

Chen Meishan and Lin Lanying sat next to each other and smiled; the money spent on this morning tea was well worth it.