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

The next day, Taikoo Shing New House.

Lin Qian got up on her own to wash up and do her homework, while He Dazhu went to Yau Ma Tei early to learn jade carving. Lin Ying sat alone at her desk, not in a hurry to start writing.

Either of those two themes could have created a box office frenzy in Hong Kong right now; but what Boss Peng said last night was also a warning to her.

Su Zhihao and Boss Peng won't cheat her now; Su Zhihao needs her to turn his life around, and Boss Peng needs her brains to earn US dollars from foreigners. Their current interests are tied together. But Lin Ying knows that once the profits of tens of millions are piled up at the card table, the verbal brotherhood is just a joke.

She was writing the outline of a character's biography when the bedroom door was pushed open a crack.

Lin Lanying, carrying a box of cookies, said, "Sister, I'm going to knock on the door across the street."

Lin Ying put down her pen: "Shall we go now?"

"Noon is just right. I just moved to a new place, and it's perfectly natural for neighbors to exchange a box of cookies and chat casually."

Lin Ying nodded: "Mommy, don't go straight to the contract; first find out what kind of cases Mr. Shen is handling."

"I know." Lin Lanying rolled her eyes at her. "What kind of people haven't I dealt with? Don't worry about writing."

Lin Lanying turned and went out the door.

The apartment across the street was very close; after the doorbell rang, the sound of slippers walking inside quickly followed. The door opened, and Mrs. Shen was visibly taken aback when she saw Lin Lanying.

"Mrs. Lin?" Mrs. Shen smiled quickly.

"Mrs. Shen, I apologize for bothering you at noon." Lin Lanying handed over the box of cookies with a friendly smile. "I just moved in a few days ago, and the house is a mess. I haven't had a chance to properly greet the neighbors. Here, take this box of cookies; the kids can have something new to eat."

Mrs. Shen quickly reached out to take it: "You're too kind. My husband said the New Territories handmade shrimp paste you brought last time smelled delicious. Please come in and sit down."

Lin Lanying entered the room and sat down on the fabric sofa in the living room. The Shen family's decor was more scholarly than the Lin family's, with a row of tall solid wood bookshelves along the wall and thick stacks of English financial newspapers and legal journals on the coffee table.

Mrs. Shen brought over a cup of hot tea: "Mrs. Lin, are you settling in well at Taikoo Shing?"

"It's a good habit, much quieter than the old building we used to live in." Lin Lanying smiled as she took the teacup. "It's just that we had to buy everything from scratch, keeping us incredibly busy."

After exchanging a few pleasantries about vegetable prices and property management in Taikoo Shing, Lin Lanying casually turned her head and her gaze fell on the row of English periodicals.

"Mrs. Shen, last time you mentioned that Mr. Shen is a lawyer in Central?"

"Yes," Mrs. Shen smiled. "He's been in this line of work for thirteen years now."

"Thirteen years? That's a lot of experience in the industry." Lin Lanying continued, "What kind of cases do you mainly handle? We ordinary people don't really know, we just know there are many types of lawyers."

Mrs. Shen didn't hide anything, displaying a hint of middle-class pride: "He mainly deals with intellectual property rights, as well as some commercial contract cases for large companies and some labor disputes. In the Central area, although he may not be the top-tier lawyer, he still has a good reputation in this area."

Lin Lanying immediately calculated that the intellectual property rights and commercial contracts were all based on the demands Lin Ying had raised the previous night.

"Mrs. Shen, we're neighbors, so I won't beat around the bush. I've come here today because I really have something I'd like you to help me with." Lin Lanying put down her teacup, her smile fading slightly.

Seeing her like this, Mrs. Shen sat up straight as well: "Go ahead and speak."

"My daughter, Lin Ying, writes screenplays. The movie that was quite popular recently, 'Death by Light,' was written by her."

Mrs. Shen was genuinely shocked this time: "That screenwriter, is she your daughter?"

"It's her." Lin Lanying nodded. "She's young, but she's about to start a new project, two big films in a row. The film industry is a deep and murky place, and there are a lot of foreign language contracts. I don't want her to rely on the investor's lawyer for everything. I want to find a lawyer who really understands copyright and commercial contracts to handle everything for her alone."

Mrs. Shen took a closer look at the ordinary-looking woman in front of her; able to buy a house in Taikoo Shing in one go and talk about "personal exclusive copyright lawyer", this new neighbor was definitely not an ordinary person who only knew how to bargain at the market.

"I can inquire about this for you," Mrs. Shen said readily. "My husband gets home from get off work around seven o'clock tonight. If it's convenient for you, we can come over for a chat around seven. Is your daughter here?"

"Yes," Lin Lanying replied immediately. "She'll handle this herself."

Mrs. Shen smiled: "That would be best. My husband is most afraid of being relayed by middlemen. When the person in charge is present, the requirements can be stated most clearly."

Lin Lanying stood up to thank them and prepared to leave: "Then I'll have to trouble you."

"No need to be so polite." Mrs. Shen saw her to the door and added softly, "But Mrs. Lin, let me make this clear first; my husband's fees in this line of work are not low."

Lin Lanying: "Professionals should, of course, be paid professionally."

The doorbell rang precisely at 7 p.m. Lin Ying put down the documents in her hand and went to open the door herself.

Mrs. Shen stood outside the door, accompanied by a man in his forties; the man was wearing a light gray suit and carrying a black leather briefcase.

"Hello, Editor Lin." The man extended his hand. "Shen Yanwen."

"Attorney Shen, please come in." Lin Ying shook hands with him and led the two inside.

Shen Yanwen entered the house, his gaze habitually sweeping across the entire space: a modern leather sofa, a large solid wood coffee table, a round dining table... and the latest 14-inch color television...

The person who could afford to buy such a 1,000-square-foot penthouse this year and decorate their home so lavishly is definitely not the kind of nouveau riche who "made a fortune by relying on their child's good luck" as rumored.

Lin Lanying brought out freshly brewed tea: "Attorney Shen, Mrs. Shen, please have a seat."

Lin Ying sat down on the small stool opposite Shen Yanwen. On the coffee table were several sheets of paper, a pen, and a list of requirements that she had prepared in advance.

After Shen Yanwen sat down, he did not treat the person sitting opposite him as a ten-year-old child casually.

"Ms. Lin, my wife told me you need a personal lawyer," Shen Yanwen said, adjusting his glasses. "To be precise, it's about copyright and film/television contracts."

"Yes." Lin Ying pushed the list over directly. "Not only now, but in the future, all my scripts, story outlines, character settings, profit-sharing agreements, authorship rights, and even the issuance of overseas derivative documents will need an expert to help me plug the loopholes."

Shen Yanwen took the paper; the list contained several lines of text arranged clearly:

First, the right to be credited for a script is absolutely non-transferable and cannot be shared.

Second, profit sharing must be clearly defined as "net profit", and the scope of deduction for publicity and miscellaneous expenses must be locked in the contract.

Third, overseas videotape copyrights, overseas remake rights, television broadcasting rights, and related derivative works must be listed separately and cannot be packaged together at once.

Fourth, a confidentiality agreement and liability clauses must be signed before the script outline is leaked to any third party.

Shen Yanwen raised his eyes: "Did you come up with these terms yourself?"

"Yes." Lin Ying looked at him.

"Didn't anyone teach you?"

"A person who has suffered a loss once will naturally go back to the books to learn from it," Lin Ying said with a smile. "I was lucky that time with 'Death by Light,' the boss was kind. But I don't want to gamble my profits forever on other people's kindness."

Shen Yanwen suddenly laughed. "Ms. Lin, you are more clear-headed than many of the adult clients I've met."

He opened his briefcase, took out a notebook and a pen. "I need to understand your workload first; how many scripts do you publish in a year?"

Lin Ying thought for a moment: "I'm not sure, maybe five at most; or maybe none at all. I'm still studying in São Paulo, so my energy is limited."

Shen Yanwen made a note: "Are there any new projects that are currently under discussion?"

Lin Ying did not reveal the plot, only the framework: "There are two contracts, one is a local commercial film, and the other is a large-scale film directly targeting the European and American markets, with foreign companies involved in distribution and location shooting; the second contract will be extremely complicated."

"If that's the case, you definitely need a protective barrier." Shen Yanwen stopped writing and looked at her. "For something like a script, the point of protection is definitely not after it's finished. From the day you finalize the outline and character biographies, you must establish a copyright record."

"That's why I invited you to sit here tonight." Lin Ying nodded.

Shen Yanwen closed the notebook and said in a very professional manner, "Since the output is not fixed and you still need to study, I don't recommend that you hire me on an annual basis, that's not cost-effective."

Lin Lanying, listening from the side, was quite satisfied with the lawyer's candor: "Then, Attorney Shen, what do you think is the most reasonable fee?"

"It's a pay-per-service arrangement." Shen Yanwen looked at Lin Ying and quoted a price. "Each individual project counts as one complete service; including preliminary copyright notarization advice, drafting of confidentiality agreements, review of the main contract, risk assessment, and up to two rounds of on-site negotiation. For a normal commercial order, this workload will not be less than HK$12,000."

Lin Qian was pretending to do division while lying on the dining table when he heard the words "twelve thousand". The pencil in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

Twelve thousand! That's enough for him to eat roast goose for ages!

Shen Yanwen added, "However, we are neighbors, and Mrs. Lin was very sincere at noon; for our first collaboration, I'll offer a neighborly price: HK$8,000."

This was a huge sum of money. In Hong Kong in the early 1980s, an average wage earner might not be able to save eight thousand dollars a year.

Before Lin Lanying could even begin to formulate her plans, Lin Ying had already nodded, "Okay."

Shen Yanwen was taken aback for a moment: "You're not going to bargain?"

Lin Ying stated definitively, "I didn't buy these few pages of worthless paper. With Attorney Shen's expertise, he can help me avoid a lot of trouble; moreover, I think Attorney Shen is worth the eight thousand yuan."

Looking at the elementary school student in front of him, Shen Yanwen realized he had underestimated her; her words were truly impressive.

He worked as a business lawyer in Central for thirteen years and saw too many so-called shrewd businessmen who would skimp on legal fees by hundreds or thousands, only to be devoured by the capitalists in contracts riddled with loopholes. This kind of strategy of using small amounts of money to cover huge losses actually happened to a child.

Seeing that her daughter had made the decision, Lin Lanying immediately stood up: "Attorney Shen, the basic service is eight thousand, excluding overseas lawyers, right? Write it in the contract. We're not afraid of paying, we're afraid of getting confused about the accounts."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Lin, all the terms and conditions will be clearly stated." Shen Yanwen pulled a blank lawyer's engagement agreement template from his bag. "Let's sign the basic consultant agreement tonight. We'll sign a separate project confirmation form for each new script we develop."

Lin Ying took the agreement and read it word by word, while Lin Lanying sat beside her watching. Whenever there was English, she had Shen Yanwen translate it for her. Shen Yanwen was extremely patient and explained the "confidentiality obligations" and "scope of services" clearly, one by one.

Pointing to the fifth clause, "Avoidance of Interest," Shen Yanwen specifically looked at Lin Ying: "I've underlined this one in red. If anyone comes to me with money in the future, asking me to represent the project, I must refuse. Unless you agree in writing."

Lin Ying took the pen and signed her name directly on the last page of the agreement.

Lin Lanying, as the guardian, immediately signed her name, then took out a checkbook from her purse, filled out a cash check for eight thousand yuan on the spot, and pushed it over.

"It's a pleasure working with you, Editor Lin." Shen Yanwen put the check and one of the agreements into his briefcase.

"It's a pleasure working with you, Attorney Shen." Lin Ying put away her copy of the agreement.