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

No one expected that He Dazhu, who used to be so weak and incompetent, would go to Hong Kong and now dare to point at his parents and overturn the table.

Lin Ying stood by the door, not turning around to leave immediately.

She glanced at He Linshi, who was still muttering to herself, and spoke in the G province dialect: "I only reluctantly stepped into this door today because of my father."

The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the room was stunned; they all stared in astonishment at this Hong Kong girl in a pretty little jacket who could actually speak the local dialect.

"My mommy and my grandparents are a thousand times better off than you are; my mommy runs her own tailor shop to earn money, and my grandma is the head of the household in the New Territories."

She looked directly at Mrs. He Lin: "Over in Hong Kong, women also go out to work and earn just as much as men! Great men have said that women hold up half the sky, but things are different here in your G province. Are you leading the way in perpetuating feudal remnants and discriminating against women?"

The two daughters-in-law nodded in agreement, but dared not utter a sound.

"I wonder if you have a Women's Federation around here?" Lin Ying had no intention of holding back. "If you do, I'd like to ask. You're so poor your whole family is starving, and you still have the nerve to talk about these ridiculous rules? The roast goose, preserved meat, and canned food on the table were all brought back from Hong Kong by my mother. You're eating what my mother brought, but you won't let my mother sit at the table. How dare you?"

This has torn away all the fig leaves of the He family.

Lin Qian stood to the side, and if the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he would have clapped and cheered.

He Zhong finally couldn't sit still any longer; he couldn't save face anymore, he glared at He Linshi, and then smiled and waved to Lin Ying.

"Alright, alright, Ying. We've just met, let's all have a proper meal together! Your grandma is getting old and her mind isn't clear, she might say something wrong, don't take it to heart, come and eat."

Lin Ying didn't move; she looked up at He Dazhu.

He Dazhu said guiltily, "Sister..."

Lin Ying glanced at Old Dou, sighed inwardly, and finally went back to the table and sat down. The meal was like chewing wax; the He family children's eyes lit up with longing for the roast goose, but no one dared to touch it; He Linshi sat in the corner, never daring to utter another word about "rules".

After dinner, it was completely dark.

As He Lin watched the group pack their things, she said, "We can squeeze in inside and sleep. There's enough room for two straw quilts in the east room..."

Upon hearing the word "straw," Lin Qian immediately shook his head; he truly couldn't bear to live there.

"No need," He Dazhu refused decisively, picking up his canvas bag. "Lanying and the child have been on the train for over thirty hours; they can't take it anymore. We'll stay at a hotel in town tonight, and I'll come back early tomorrow morning."

Before He Zhong could utter any more idle gossip, the family of four walked out of the village in the dark.

The town's inn was old and dilapidated, the bed boards were so hard they hurt, but at least it had a door and a lock. As soon as they entered the room, Lin Lanying bolted the door. Lin Qian lay sprawled on the bed, complaining, "Mommy, I'll never say that houses in Hong Kong are expensive again. I don't even dare to go to the toilet in this place."

Lin Ying sat on the edge of the bed, looking at He Dazhu, and suddenly spoke: "Dad."

He Dazhu felt a little nervous. Lin Ying usually called him Lao Dou, and only called him Dad when she was extremely serious.

"Don't agree to anything you want." Lin Ying looked at him. "I heard it at the dinner table, something about taking Uncle San and Uncle Si's sons to Hong Kong, something about helping them find jobs. We can't afford to support them, and we absolutely won't help them."

He Dazhu's expression changed: "Sister, you heard everything?"

Lin Lanying turned her head: "Is this what they're saying? I don't understand their dialect!"

Upon learning the truth, Lin Lanying's face darkened. She walked up to He Dazhu and said, "He Dazhu, let me make this clear! You can go back home and fulfill your filial duties, I don't care! If you really can't bear to leave, you can stay in G Province and don't need to come back with us! But we absolutely will not take any of their family members with us!"

He Dazhu waved his hands frantically, "I didn't agree! Lan Ying, I didn't agree to a single word! Hong Kong isn't a place where you can just go and pick up money. I almost died at sea back then, how could I bring such a disaster into my own home!"

"Old Dou, it's good that you know what's going on." Lin Ying's voice softened. "We're letting you meet your grandparents, not for you to come back and be a stepping stone for them."

The next morning, Lin Ying was reluctant to return to the village; Lin Lanying also suggested taking the children back to Guangzhou first, so that He Dazhu could fulfill his filial duties.

He panicked when he heard this, and pleaded with him, almost kneeling down to beg him to go for another day: "Just two days, I promise I'll keep an eye on them and make sure you don't suffer any injustice."

Seeing how pitiful he was, Lin Ying had no choice but to agree to stay for a maximum of two days.

When she returned to the He family home, the family members seemed like completely different people; He Lin forced a smile and even boiled the last of the eggs and gave them to Lin Ying; the brothers were also overly hospitable.

However, Lin Ying and Lin Qian both felt extremely disgusted by this feeling; they felt their intentions were too obvious!

Third Uncle kept asking if wages were high in Hong Kong, while Fourth Uncle surrounded Lin Qian, asking about theaters and cars, his eyes looking at him like they were looking at gold bars, not relatives.

During the two days there, Lin Ying couldn't take it anymore, and He Dazhu's fourteen-year-old filial piety filter was shattered into nothingness by this naked scheming. He understood.

On the morning of the third day.

He Dazhu called He Zhong and He Linshi into the main room and took out six hundred yuan from his pocket. In this village, six hundred yuan was a huge sum of money that could build a large brick house.

"Father, Mother; keep this money." He Dazhu put the money on the table. "I need to go back to learn jade carving to support my children. We're leaving tomorrow."

He Linshi grabbed the money and put it into her bosom.

He Zhong replied, "If you want to leave, take Xingguo and Xinghua with you!"

He Dazhu looked at his father, thinking he had misheard.

"You've made something of yourself in Hong Kong, so it's only right that you help your two nephews out!" He Zhong said matter-of-factly.

Hearing this, He Dazhu suddenly laughed in anger: "Fine. Tell them to pack their things and wait at home. I'll take Lan Ying and the children to the city tonight to buy you two some nice things; I'll pick them up tomorrow."

He Zhong immediately breathed a sigh of relief and beamed with joy.

Mrs. He immediately interjected, "Since they're coming to pick her up tomorrow, let Ah Ying stay here tonight! I also want to spend some quality time with my granddaughter; the little girl gets tired from running around!"

This is a blatant attempt to keep Lin Ying as a hostage! As long as Lin Ying is at the He family's house, He Dazhu must come back tomorrow to take her away.

"My daughter doesn't like living here!!" He Dazhu grabbed a canvas bag from the ground: "Lanying, Amei, Aqian! Let's go!"

He Zhong sensed something was wrong and chased after him, shouting, "Dazhu! What are you doing?"

"Let's go to town to buy things." He Dazhu didn't even turn his head, and quickly walked out of the yard with his wife and children.

Only after they had walked past the old camphor tree at the village entrance did Lin Lanying quietly ask, "Were you... just trying to fool them?"

"Um."

Lin Qian patted his chest in fright: "You scared me to death! I thought you were really going to take them away, Lao Dou."

He Dazhu didn't look back at his impoverished home, which was now nothing but scheming. That day, the family didn't go to any guesthouse at all, but instead bought train tickets back to Guangzhou overnight and fled from the place that He Dazhu had longed for for fourteen years.

On a green train.

He Dazhu held the crumpled train ticket in his hand the whole time. Only after the train had driven quite a distance did he say, "This is the last time I'll come back in my life."