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

For the next month, Lin Ying didn't go anywhere.

She completely immersed herself at home, waking up every morning to the sound of Lin Lanying making breakfast, then spending her porridge and fried dough sticks in the living room looking through documents; in the afternoon, she would accompany Lin Yue to the supermarket downstairs to buy groceries, and in the evening, she would explain two legal case analysis questions to Lin Qian.

Lin Qian's face turned green every time she forced him to write case analyses.

"Sister, I studied common law. The analytical framework you're using is mathematical logic! That's not how you apply it in law!"

Lin Ying flipped through his textbook: "Don't you think the foundation of law is logic? You can't even use syllogisms properly, won't you get beaten up in court?"

Lin Qian slammed the book on the table: "I'm going to be a solicitor! I won't go to court!"

"Then you need to be good at writing; you need to write logical documents so that people can sign them."

Lin Qian realized he couldn't refute it at all, so he buried his face in his textbook and pretended to be dead.

Lin Yue, who was lying on the sofa next to him looking at her lesson plan, looked up when she heard the voice: "Big sister, don't pressure him. If you keep pushing him, he'll call Ah Gong tonight to complain again."

"Fine, I'll sue then." Lin Ying picked up a red pen and circled Lin Qian's case analysis. "Grandpa will only say one thing after listening: Your sister is right."

Lin Qian........

Hong Kong in August is so hot it makes you dizzy.

He Dazhu goes to work in Yau Ma Tei every day, while Lin Lanying runs a newly opened handmade custom clothing shop in Taikoo Shing. When Lin Ying has free time, she goes to the shop with her mother to sit and help sort the fabrics.

One afternoon, Lin Lanying stopped sewing and asked her daughter, "Little sister, what are you going to do in Beijing this winter? It's freezing there in December."

"The school has heating."

"What is heating?"

"There's a hot water pipe in the house, so the whole room is warm."

Lin Lanying was skeptical: "Is there really such a good thing?"

"Yes," Lin Ying said, neatly folding the cut strips of cloth. "It's just that the air is so dry my throat hurts, so I need to drink more water."

"Then I'll bring you a humidifier."

"Mommy, you can buy it over there."

"I'm worried. What if you get busy and forget to buy it?"

Lin Ying knew she couldn't persuade her, so she simply stopped trying.

On August 20th, the whole family had a reunion dinner at Taikoo Shing.

Lin Ying sat on the balcony, looking at the city lights in the distance, with laughter and the clatter of dishes echoing behind her.

"Sister, come in and eat!" He Dazhu called from inside.

"They're here."

She stood up, took one last look at the night view outside the window, and turned to go back into the house.

She cherished these days.

Five days later, on August 25th.

Two suitcases were placed by the door. One contained clothes and daily necessities, while the other was filled with food that Lin Lanying had packed in: sausages, dried shrimp, scallops, tea, soy sauce, and Cantonese cured pork that she didn't know where she had bought it from.

"Mommy, I'm going to study, not to open a grocery store."

Lin Lanying squatted on the ground, forcefully pressing down on the zipper of the suitcase: "What do you know? The food there is different from ours. What if you don't like it? What if you go hungry?"

He Dazhu sat on the box to help tamp it down, saying, "Your mommy packed all the good stuff for you, don't waste it."

Lin Ying pointed to the bulging suitcase: "If this is overweight at the airport, you'll have to pay the fine."

"Go ahead and go!" Lin Lanying's zipper got stuck halfway through, and she pounded on the suitcase in frustration.

He Dazhu quickly changed his sitting angle and pressed down hard; after five minutes of struggling, the zipper was finally closed.

Lin Lanying stood up and wiped her sweat: "It's done!"

Watching this scene from the side, Lin Qian shook his head and said, "Big sister, after you left, the focus of the family has shifted entirely to me, and I'm under a lot of pressure."

Lin Ying looked at him: "Are you under a lot of pressure?"

"right."

"Then go finish Chapter 3 of the legal case analysis to distract yourself."

Lin Qian: "...I regret speaking up."

This family has experienced the scene of saying goodbye at the airport many times before.

This time, Lin Lanying didn't cry. She just wrapped Lin Ying's scarf around her neck again and again, but didn't say anything more.

Lin Ying pushed her luggage through the security checkpoint, took a few steps, and looked back. The two people were still standing there, and Lin Lanying was waving at her.

She waved and turned to walk inside.

The plane landed in Beijing at 3 p.m.

Compared to the dry heat of July, Beijing at the end of August already had a hint of autumn; the wind was no longer stuffy, and the sky seemed higher.

Lin Ying hailed a taxi and headed straight to the school.

At the entrance of the university, there was a makeshift registration point with two tables side by side and handwritten signs on them. A female teacher saw Lin Ying dragging her suitcase over and asked, "Which department?"

"Industrial Automation, Postgraduate Student"

The female teacher flipped through the roster, found the name, and handed over a registration form: "First, go to the administration building to submit your materials, then go to the finance office to confirm, and then go to the dormitory management office to pick up your keys."

Lin Ying took the form and looked at it; it was filled with seven or eight stamps.

"Can everything be completed today?"

"If we run fast, we should be able to make it before six o'clock."

Lin Ying folded the form and put it in her bag, then took her luggage to the security office for safekeeping.

The administration building is located in the northwest corner of the campus. When Lin Ying arrived, there were already several freshmen lining up in the corridor, all of whom looked like graduate students.

Lin Ying waited in line for twenty minutes. When it was her turn, the teacher at the window glanced at her name and paused for a moment.

"You're Lin Ying?"

"Yes."

The teacher pulled out a separate file folder and handed it over: "Your materials have already been submitted, so you don't need to fill out the form again; just let me verify the original documents."

Lin Ying handed in her return permit, ID card, graduation certificate, and transcript one by one; the teacher compared the materials item by item, and then stamped the process sheet.

"Next stop: Finance Department, second floor, turn left, third room."

The finance department was faster because her tuition was paid through a special program and did not require on-site payment; the female teacher in the finance department checked the records in the system, confirmed that everything was correct, and then directly signed and stamped the document.

"Lin Ying, your accommodation will not be assigned through the normal process; the dormitory management office will make separate arrangements for you."

"What arrangements?"

"A private room."

Lin Ying was a little surprised; graduate student dormitories are usually double or quadruple rooms, so the single room was definitely a different experience.

After completing the procedures, Lin Ying went to the security office to pick up her luggage. The dormitory management office was located in the living area, so she had to walk a bit.

Upon arriving at the dormitory, the lady at the window handed Lin Ying a key and explained, "Building 3, Room 501; the innermost room on the fifth floor, facing south, with a balcony; the communal kitchen is on the first floor, and the washing machine is at the end of the corridor on the third floor."

"Thanks."

Hot water is available twice a day, from 6 to 8 a.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m. Don't miss it, or you'll only have cold water.

Lin Ying took the key and her accommodation card and dragged her luggage up to the fifth floor.

She pushed open the door to room 501. The room wasn't big, but it was better than she had imagined: a single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a window that opened to reveal the school playground.

She put the suitcase down and opened the window to ventilate the room.

It was evening outside, and in the distance, people were running on the playground, their footsteps echoing in the distance. She stood by the window for a while, then bent down and opened the suitcase that was crammed so tightly it looked like it was about to burst.

It was already 7:30 pm when she finished packing. She went downstairs to the cafeteria, ate a bowl of noodles, took a shower, changed her clothes, and went to the gatehouse to call home.