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

During the day, she attends high-pressure classes in St. Paul's, and also learns computer skills, math olympiad, dance, and swimming. On Sundays, she goes to Causeway Bay to tutor the Su family to earn money. At night, she has to stay up late doing her homework.

Now, they're even going to skip a grade again.

He Dazhu sighed deeply: "How can Hong Kong's education system be so abnormal?"

Lin Qian nodded vigorously beside him: "Old Dou! I think so too! It's too twisted!"

Lin Lanying glared at her, "Don't you dare try to slack off like this!"

He Dazhu put the application form back on the table and looked at Lin Ying: "Little sister, your father doesn't understand your schooling. But he said that if you want to study, he will do everything he can to support you. You just have to promise him that you'll tell him when you're tired, and you can't force yourself to keep going."

Lin Ying nodded emphatically: "I know."

Lin Lanying picked up the pen on the table and handed it to He Dazhu: "Alright, then sign it."

He Dazhu gripped the pen and carefully wrote his name in the "Parent's Signature" section. After finishing, he pressed his thumb firmly against the edge of the paper: "Old Dou agrees."

Lin Qian eagerly reached out his hand: "Shall I press one too?"

Lin Lanying slapped his hand away: "What are you pressing? Memorize those math formulas first!"

Lin Qian withdrew his hand, feeling wronged.

Lin Ying took the pen and wrote her name in the "Student Confirmation" column.

Lin Ying

That night, after finishing all her homework, she went to bed half an hour earlier than usual. She knew that starting next Monday when she would be entering the fifth grade, she would have to work hard to keep up with the pace.

------

Sunday morning at nine o'clock.

In the living room of the Su family home in Causeway Bay.

Su Zhihao wasn't home today. There were three chairs in the middle of the living room: Su Cheng, Su Jun, and Su Zhi, who had been forcibly brought over to be scolded together. The three of them sat in a row with their shoulders hunched.

The three of them have been having a tough time lately; ever since that absurd birth control pill incident, Su Zhihao has given them even more homework.

As soon as Su Zhi saw Lin Ying walk in with her schoolbag, he immediately whispered to her, "Lin Ying, don't make things too difficult today. My mommy scolded me again yesterday."

Lin Ying put her schoolbag on the coffee table: "It depends on how you behave."

Su Jun slumped over the table, sighed, and asked, "Teacher Lin, should we start with math today, or that damn common sense thing you're talking about?"

Lin Ying didn't rush to take out her exercise book, but looked at the three boys in front of her.

"Let me tell you something first."

Su Cheng sensed something was wrong: "What's wrong?"

"Today is the last regular Sunday make-up class in a while. I won't be coming on Sundays for the next few months. At least not until after summer vacation, when my schedule is rescheduled."

Su Jun asked, puzzled, "Why?!"

Su Zhi panicked: "If you don't come to tutoring, won't my mommy have to personally supervise my homework? She'll beat me to death!"

Su Cheng, quick-witted, asked, "Does the film company have a new script to write?"

Lin Ying announced directly: "No, I want to skip a grade."

Su Jun stammered, "You...you're only in fourth grade, aren't you?"

Lin Ying sighed and said, "The principal has spoken with me. I'll be going to the fifth grade class one for a trial period next week. If my final exam results meet the requirements, I'll go directly to sixth grade when school starts in September."

Su Jun stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

The pen that Su Zhi was holding fell to the wooden floor with a "thud".

After a long pause, Su Cheng finally managed to stammer, "You're only ten years old, ten years old! You're going straight to sixth grade this fall?"

"To be precise, it's the graduating class of elementary school," Lin Ying corrected.

"Ahhh! This is insane!!" Su Jun clutched his head and let out a wail. "I'm still getting utterly crushed by fourth-grade multiplication and division, and you're about to graduate from elementary school? Am I even human?!"

Su Zhi muttered to himself, "Back then, I didn't even pass the São Paulo exam, and now... I can't even see you skipping grades anymore. What did you eat to grow up like this?"

Su Cheng looked down at the English vocabulary book in his hand, half of which was marked with red crosses, his face turning pale. Faced with such a huge gap in grades, he felt his scalp tingling.

"So..." Su Cheng gritted his teeth, "you won't have time to force us to tutor anymore?"

Lin Ying glanced at him, took out three blank schedules from her bag, and handed one to each of them.

"So, starting today, you all need to learn to write your own plans." Lin Ying tapped the table, making a crisp tapping sound. "Without me here hitting you with a board, you'll have to plan and record everything yourself: what homework you do each day, how you correct your mistakes, how many times you memorize English words."

Su Jun yelled at the top of his lungs, "You're not even coming, and you still want to control things?!"

"Of course." Lin Ying smiled slightly. "My absence doesn't mean you can back down. I've already spoken to my second uncle; I'll be checking your grades before summer vacation. If they've dropped..."

Su Zhi raised his hand: "Then can we even save on tutoring fees?"

Lin Ying rolled her eyes: "Dream on. We'll accept it today."

Su Jun: "..."

Su Cheng: "..."

Su Zhi: "..."

Lin Ying picked up her pen and wrote the first line of large characters at the very top of the white paper: [Summer Vacation Self-Study Intensive Plan].

Lin Ying slammed her pen on the table. "Stop daydreaming. You three, write down your goals first."

Su Jun cautiously raised his head and tentatively asked, "Can the target be written as 'alive'?"

Lin Ying looked at him and said, "Okay. Add one more thing: Stay alive and get into the top twenty of your class."

------

Around lunchtime, Su Zhihao returned home and, upon hearing that Lin Ying was skipping a grade, exclaimed, "Ying, are you rushing to take the college entrance exam?"

Lin Ying said, "It's just to save time in elementary school."

Su Zhihao glanced at his two sons, then at Su Zhi, and sighed, "They're both kids, how come there's such a big difference?"

Su Jun immediately retorted, "Old Dou, don't compare me to her, it'll hurt our feelings."

Su Zhihao sneered: "You still have feelings for me that you can hurt?"