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

Su Zhihao first opened the first three chapters of the manuscript and read them for a full fifteen minutes before putting the document down. He then opened the second file folder, "The Thirteenth Letter."

The book opens with a bang: the protagonist receives twelve anonymous letters, each accurately predicting a strange event that will soon occur around her. When the thirteenth letter arrives, it contains only one sentence: "Tomorrow night at ten o'clock, you will kill someone."

After finishing this book, the last one will be "The Silent Witness".

Su Zhihao pulled out the document; the first page contained only a few short sentences summarizing the main points.

A girl born mute witnesses a brutal murder in a dark alley.

The killer assumed she was a mute and therefore wouldn't provide any potentially fatal testimony to the police.

But the girl remembers everything except the sound.

[And those eyes of that man, before he left, stopped at the alley entrance and looked back for three seconds.]

Su Zhihao read through the list of characters in this document, which was thicker than the previous two combined. The main case was a series of murders, while the subplots directly involved missing persons from decades ago, a huge and secretive family business, confidential hospital medical records that were pulled from the system, and a batch of key testimonies within the police station that had been deliberately altered.

This is no ordinary suspenseful detective case; the people and events involved are enough to turn Hong Kong's upper echelons upside down. This "silent witness," who cannot speak, possesses far superior observational skills than the average person, piecing together the truth that everyone wants to conceal in a silent world.

After sitting there for a long time, Su Zhihao finally closed the document and rearranged the three documents on the coffee table.

"Ms. Zhou, let me be frank. All three of these scripts can be filmed."

Zhou Yawen: "And then?"

"The sound of rain in the old building has a very solid foundation. It is all set indoors, so the cost is easy to control. If it is filmed well, it could become a dark horse in terms of word-of-mouth.

"The Thirteenth Letter is fast-paced, full of conflict, and every segment has a hook. It would be best to use it to exchange for prime-time advertising fees from TV stations."

At this point, Su Zhihao pointed to the cover of "The Silent Witness": "As for this one... it has a large volume of scenes and is the most expensive."

Zhou Yawen stared at him defiantly: "So, which book does Boss Su actually want?"

Su Zhihao laughed: "Business is business. Businessmen don't make choices. Of course I want them all."

Zhou Yawen laughed along: "Since you want them all, then Boss Su should understand that this isn't just the price of buying one book."

The two looked at each other across the coffee table.

Su Zhihao shifted to a more comfortable sitting position: "Ms. Zhou, now that we've come this far, I'll be frank. If you only want a quick payment of around ten thousand yuan per book, I can make the decision right now, and we can have Lawyer Zhang come over today to draft the contract and sign it."

Zhou Yawen's smile faded: "Boss Su, I already said at the beginning that you shouldn't try to fob me off with another 150,000."

"I heard you, but don't rush me." Su Zhihao waved his hand. "That's why I'm suggesting the second option. Since you want a price higher than the market rate, I, Su Zhihao, can't just sit here and throw money around. TV dramas aren't movies; they involve TV stations paying for them, vying for airtime slots, coordinating with big-name actors, and a long production cycle."

"You want 200,000, 300,000, or even more, we can sit down and talk. But the premise is that I need to know for sure whether what you've written is worth that much money."

Zhou Yawen paused for a moment, then asked, "How do you want to confirm this?"

"I want to take these three documents with me and give them to our company's professional team for in-depth evaluation."

Lin Ying, who had been pretending not to hear, was puzzled when she heard this. The company's evaluation team? When did those gangsters and assistant directors under Uncle Su's command start knowing how to do script evaluation?

Su Zhihao solemnly counted on his fingers: "First, we need to see if the story can last for thirty episodes, if the character lines are rich enough, if the audience likes this genre, if the cost of art direction and set construction can be kept within budget, and if we can make money by selling videotapes and distributing them overseas. We need to calculate all of these carefully."

Zhou Yawen frowned: "How long will this assessment take?"

"One week."

"I can't have any data out of my sight for too long; that's my bottom line."

"Don't worry about that. I can sign a receipt in my own handwriting." Su Zhihao acted as if he were following the rules. "If Miss Zhou is not comfortable with this today, she can take the outline and the draft. But I need to make sure I'm on the right track. When it comes to negotiating a higher price, I'll bring a lawyer, we'll sign a formal confidentiality agreement, and then I'll review the complete draft."

Zhou Yawen quickly calculated in her mind; if she didn't let him take a closer look, she definitely wouldn't be able to get the money out of him at a high price.

"Okay." Zhou Yawen finally nodded. "You can take these three outlines and the first three chapters for a week. But you must give me a written receipt on the spot, stating that it is only for your company's internal project evaluation and must not be copied, distributed, or given to any third party for individual reading."

Upon hearing this, Su Zhihao couldn't help but sigh, "Miss Zhou, your methods of guarding against people are becoming more and more like those of a seasoned businesswoman."

Zhou Yawen picked up her teacup and replied, "It's all thanks to you unscrupulous colleagues who have made me stand out all along."

"Haha," Lin Ying, who had been drinking tea with her head down, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Su Zhihao wasn't annoyed: "Fine! I'll write it!"

Lin Ying immediately brought over some stationery and a pen from her study. Su Zhihao leaned over the coffee table and quickly wrote a very formal receipt, signed his name, and pressed his fingerprint on it.

Zhou Yawen took the document and read it word by word. After confirming that there were no legal loopholes, she carefully folded the document and put it into her bag, then pushed the three documents on the table over to her.

"Boss Su, take your things. I'll wait for your evaluation results in a week."

"No problem, wait for my message." Su Zhihao quickly stuffed the documents into his briefcase, patted the leather cover, and stood up to leave.

Zhou Yawen also stood up.

Hearing the commotion in the kitchen, Lin Lanying quickly came out to see the guests off: "Have you finished your business? Won't you stay for a bowl of soup?"

"Let's get to the general direction first. Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Lin. I apologize for disturbing you today," Zhou Yawen replied politely.

"Not at all, Ah Ying is very grateful for your care at school. Teacher Zhou, please come visit often when you have time."

The door clicked shut, and Zhou Yawen went downstairs with her handbag.

Su Zhihao didn't leave immediately. He tossed the briefcase, which he had just filled with documents, back onto the coffee table, turned around, plopped back down on the sofa, and looked at Lin Ying: "Ying..."

Lin Ying didn't even sit down: "Second Uncle, didn't you just say you needed to take it back quickly for your company's professional team to do an in-depth evaluation?"

"Yes." Su Zhihao nodded.

"Then why don't you go? When did your company start having a team of evaluators who understand television stations, screenwriting, and production?"

Su Zhihao patted his briefcase confidently: "Isn't it available now!"

Lin Ying understood what he was up to; this so-called top-notch evaluation team that understood business operations and subsequent distribution... it turned out to be all her!

Lin Ying rolled her eyes and said, "Second Uncle, I've told you more than once that I've officially stopped writing for a year to focus on my studies!"

"Uncle understands! Of course Uncle remembers!" Su Zhihao hurriedly said, "Uncle will never let you stay up all night writing a single word of the script, nor will you help me revise the script! Just think of it as reading extracurricular books, help Uncle scan them; of these three scripts, which one has the most potential to be a commercial hit? What's the highest price she can extort from me? Which one is suitable to test the waters first, and which one is suitable to save for later?"

Lin Ying looked at him speechlessly: "You just used a mix of foreign and technical terms, calling this a comprehensive project evaluation?"

"Yeah!" Su Zhihao nodded. "Didn't you hear it too? How professional I sounded when I was bluffing her."

Lin Ying stopped wasting time arguing with him: "How does Mr. Su plan to calculate the appraisal fee?"

Su Zhihao's fawning smile vanished instantly.

Lin Ying sat back on the sofa: "Second Uncle, it's not easy for Teacher Zhou to write books. If you want to use business as an excuse to pressure her on copyright fees, that's your adult game, and I don't care. But don't think you can take away my knowledge and business judgment for nothing."

Su Zhihao exaggeratedly clutched his left chest: "Aying, the way you're calculating things now, you're becoming more and more like your mother! The first thing you talk about is money, it's so hurtful!"

Lin Ying snorted: "I've only achieved this because of the contrast with unscrupulous competitors like Boss Su."

Su Zhihao rolled his eyes, speechless. "Fine! You're something else! I'll pay you the assessment fee separately! Two thousand Hong Kong dollars! Three documents, and you can draft a detailed written opinion on how to avoid potential landmines."

Lin Ying shook her head directly: "Five thousand."

"Why don't you just rob HSBC?!" Su Zhihao shouted.

"Second Uncle, if you think it's too expensive, you can read it yourself." Lin Ying didn't back down at all. "If you really had that amazing evaluation team, you could just hire three people outside who understand TV station scheduling, ratings curves, and art direction to break down these three books overnight. Their overtime pay for a week would definitely be more than five thousand."

Su Zhihao tentatively asked, "Three thousand!"

"Five thousand."

"Four thousand! That's the most I can ask for!"

"Five thousand." Lin Ying stood firm, clearly stating her responsibilities. "And this five thousand is only for providing sufficiently objective written advice and guidance. I will absolutely not participate in any subsequent price negotiations between you two, much less try to negotiate down Teacher Zhou's bottom line. The money is only for the direction in my mind."

Su Zhihao was in excruciating pain: "You little money-grubber, you'd even skin your own uncle alive?"

Lin Ying didn't waste any words: "You think it's too expensive? Then Second Uncle can take all the information back and decide to throw in a few million on a whim."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Su Zhihao immediately shouted, "Deal! Five thousand it is! You win!"

Lin Ying nodded in satisfaction: "Same as always, bring me the cash in an envelope tomorrow."

As Su Zhihao walked towards the door, he shouted, "I'll bring it over when you've finished. It took me an hour to run from Kowloon to Taikoo Shing; you bunch of bookworms with pens really... you've all learned how to skin me, Su Zhihao, alive!"