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

Twenty-four days later, in a bedroom on the fifteenth floor of Taikoo Shing.

He finally understood that favoritism wasn't about possession, but about giving her the freedom to choose again.

The script for "Favoritism" is finalized. Lin Ying reached up and rubbed her aching neck, then pressed the print button.

The next morning, Lin Ying knocked on the door of Attorney Shen across the street with a brown paper bag.

Shen Yanwen took the paper bag, pulled out a few pages, and glanced at the titles and summaries: "Is it Xu Yue's alternate account?"

"Yes." Lin Ying sat down on the sofa. "For the next twenty-four days, I'll only be responsible for writing the story. The copyright registration and core idea preservation will be handled by Attorney Shen, as usual."

Shen Yanwen put the script back and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, if Boss Peng wants to get the script later, I'll handle the contract with him on your behalf; with a reputation worth 180 million, it's worth it even if he offers 30% net profit."

"I'm leaving all of this to you, Attorney Shen." Lin Ying stood up. "School is about to start, and I'm going into my final year of high school this semester. I'll be busy, so I won't be involved in any of the script negotiations."

"Just focus on your book; leave the business battles outside to me, the one who takes your legal fees."

In early September, as the summer vacation came to an end, Boya Academy welcomed the start of the new school year.

Lin Yue, dressed in the Boya Academy school uniform and carrying a backpack, stood nervously in the entryway: "Big sister, is my bow tie tied correctly? Does it look strange?"

Lin Ying slung her backpack over her shoulder: "All the girls in school are wearing this bow tie, what's so strange about that? Let's go."

"Oh." Lin Yue quickly followed.

From that day on, the two sisters took the minibus to school together every morning; Lin Yue entered Form 1 and Lin Ying entered Form 3. Although they were both at Boya, their schedules and pressures were quite different.

In contrast, Lin Qian's life was much harder. He was admitted to an all-English boys' school in Wan Chai. The school was far from home, so he had to get up half an hour earlier than Lin Ying. Every morning at 6:30, Lin Qian's wails would be heard from his apartment on the fifteenth floor of Taikoo Shing.

"Big sister! Have you seen my English textbook? The school bus is almost here!" Lin Qian rushed out of the house with messy hair.

Lin Ying picked up a book from the dining table and slapped it on his chest: "I told you to put it in your bag last night, but you insisted on leaving it outside to read! From now on, you must be in bed by 10:30 every night. If you can't get up, go to Wan Chai yourself."

Lin Qian, with a piece of bread in his mouth and his schoolbag on his back, rushed out the door.

The curriculum at Boya College becomes more challenging after students enter Form 3; subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology are gradually introduced, and the depth of mathematical knowledge is also significantly increased.

The bell rang at 3:30 PM, signaling the end of get out of class.

Lin Yue waited at the school gate for ten minutes but didn't see Lin Ying, so she had to take the bus back to Taikoo Shing by herself. In Form 3, Lin Ying's dismissal time was delayed until 5 pm.

Because two main subjects were added in Form 3, all extracurricular activities were suspended across the entire grade.

School ends at 5:30 pm every day, and by the time Lin Ying gets home it's almost 6 pm. She finds that she really doesn't have the energy to take care of her two children's homework as she used to.

Lin Qian attends all classes in English at Wan Chai Boys' School every day, which takes a lot of effort to adapt to, and he gets home late every day; Lin Yue gets home at 3:30 and obediently does her homework in the living room.

To keep the house from becoming chaotic, Lin Ying simply wrote out a detailed points plan and posted it on the living room wall.

"I won't check homework every day anymore." Lin Ying called the two of them over. "Complete the homework according to the schedule every day, and I'll check it on weekends; whoever has the most wrong answers this week is responsible for washing the dishes and mopping the floor on the weekend; if there are any questions you don't know, mark them down, and I'll explain them to you for half an hour after dinner. Don't knock on my door at other times."

Lin Qian and Lin Yue looked at the rules on the wall and nodded in unison; in this family, the eldest sister's words carried more weight than those of the adults.

One evening at the end of September.

Lin Ying had just returned from school when Lin Lanying greeted her excitedly: "Ying, Designer Liang just called! The renovations on those two large apartments on the nineteenth floor are all done! Shall we go up and take a look?"

"it is good."

The family responded in unison and took the elevator to the nineteenth floor.

After combining the two prime apartments, the resulting 170-square-meter flat would be considered a top-tier residence in Hong Kong at any time. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panoramic view of the expansive sea east of Hong Kong Island.

The layout of the five bedrooms and four bathrooms was very well planned by designer Liang.

Lin Yue pushed open the door to a secondary bedroom, where there was a brand-new single bed and a large wardrobe next to it; a large solid wood desk was placed by the window, and a row of bookshelves was built on the wall above the desk.

"Big sister, is this my room?" Lin Yue asked in disbelief.

"It's yours. From now on, you can do your homework in your own room. The living room is for Dad and Mom to watch TV."

Lin Qian excitedly rushed into his room: "Wow! I have a desk too! Such a big drawer, this is awesome!"

Lin Ying added quietly, "The drawer is quite large, so I've already ordered a batch of math, physics, and chemistry workbooks from Wan Chai Boys' School. I'll fill them in in a few days."

Lin Qian clutched his chest and collapsed onto the bed.

Lin Lanying and He Dazhu stared at the spacious and bright master bedroom with its ensuite bathroom, and stood at the door for a long time without going in.

"Mommy, we've seen it today, but we can't move it yet." Lin Ying suppressed the impulse of her whole family.

Lin Lanying asked in bewilderment, "It's all set up, why aren't you moving in? We're still paying the property management fees here."

"After the house was newly renovated, both the solid wood furniture and the paint on the walls had a smell and formaldehyde. For the health of the whole family, the house needs to be ventilated for at least two months."

"Then... let it blow!" Lin Lanying knew her daughter was knowledgeable. "Anyway, the house is ours, it can't run away. Let it blow until it's completely soaked before we move in!"

This blowing continued until December.

December 18, 1984 is an auspicious day for moving.

The Lin family officially bid farewell to the fifteenth floor of Taikoo City and moved all their belongings into the large flat on the nineteenth floor.

After dinner, Lin Ying took her water glass back to her room.

This is a room with excellent orientation and layout throughout the house; designer Liang specially partitioned out a walk-in closet in the room according to her requirements, and connected it to a separate bathroom.

Lin Ying sat in the chair, watching the fishing lights twinkling on the sea outside the window; the pain and memories of her past life on her sickbed now seemed far away, separated by the flickering lamplight. In this era, she finally had a peaceful space of her own.

The days passed by in a regular rhythm, and before we knew it, it was January 1985.

The Form 3 elimination exams have ended; in the classrooms of Boya College, students stuffed their exam papers into their bags, planning to return to class after a three-day break.

Lin Ying took the bus back to her new apartment on the nineteenth floor. As soon as she opened the door, Lin Lanying came out and said, "Professor Smith called this morning; he's in Hong Kong. Call him back."

Lin Ying walked to the coffee table in the living room, picked up the phone, and dialed a number;

"Professor Smith?"

"Lynn, I am in Hong Kong." The old professor's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"You've come to Hong Kong for the winter?" Lin Ying asked, switching to fluent English.

"The damp, cold weather in London isn't good for my joints. I much prefer the sunshine and black tea here on the hillside." Professor Smith smiled. "Lynn, I'm not here just to escape the cold; I have a very important matter to discuss with you. Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, bring your mother and come to my apartment on the hillside."

Lin Ying keenly sensed that something important was going on: "Okay, Professor, we'll be there on time tomorrow."

The next morning, at the Mid-Levels Apartments in Central.

Lin Lanying sat in a corner of the sofa, watching her daughter and the professor converse fluently in English.

"Lynn, over the past six months, you've done an exceptionally good job with the algorithms and complex function derivations we've discussed in our communications." Smith looked intently at Lin Ying. "Staying in Hong Kong to study regular secondary school courses is a waste of your brain."

After saying this, Professor Smith took a sealed letter bearing the Cambridge University crest from a drawer in his desk and pushed it onto the table.

"This is a special referral spot I've secured for you using my academic reputation. As long as you achieve the required grades in your Form 5 exams, along with this letter of recommendation and internal review, you can go directly to Cambridge after Form 6 and enter the pathway to the Mathematics Department."

Lin Ying paused, then looked up at the professor: "Secondary 6 students go straight to Secondary 7? What about Secondary 7?"

In Hong Kong's education system, Form Six and Form Seven are collectively known as preparatory courses; only by completing Form Seven and passing the A-Level examinations can one apply to prestigious British universities.

“You don’t need to study Form 7 anymore,” Professor Smith said confidently. “This means you can skip Hong Kong’s foundation program a year earlier and directly meet Cambridge’s admission standards.”

By going to Cambridge a year earlier than originally planned, she entered the world's top academic circles a year earlier, and the year she saved allowed her to accomplish a great deal.

Lin Lanying noticed the change in her daughter's expression and asked softly in Cantonese, "Ah Ying, what did the professor say? What do you mean we don't have to study Form 7 anymore?"

Lin Ying explained to her mother, "Mommy, the professor secured a spot for me; if I can hold up well for the next few years, I can go directly to Cambridge after finishing Form 6, without having to endure Form 7 here."

Lin Lanying was also overjoyed: "Really? We don't have to study for another year? That's fantastic news! Did the professor tell you to take the exam now?"

Just as the mother and daughter were talking, Professor Smith continued:

"Lynn, don't get too excited. The academic world is never free."

"Skipping the regular Form 7 exams and taking this special pathway requires going through the school's internal assessment, bridging courses, and a series of cumbersome eligibility review procedures; in addition to the regular tuition and living expenses I calculated for you before, you will also need an additional guarantee fund."

Lin Ying quickly composed herself: "How much extra?"

"Ten thousand pounds."

Although Lin Lanying didn't understand English, upon hearing the pronunciation of "ten thousand," she immediately asked from the side, "Ten thousand? Ten thousand what? Hong Kong dollars? Ten thousand Hong Kong dollars isn't much..."

Lin Ying didn't look at her mother; her gaze remained fixed on the letter bearing the Cambridge emblem: "Mommy, it's not ten thousand Hong Kong dollars."

"That is?"

"It's pounds."

Lin Lanying gasped; at the exchange rate in early 1985, one pound sterling was worth more than ten Hong Kong dollars. Ten thousand pounds sterling was more than ten thousand Hong Kong dollars! And this was just the extra fee for obtaining early admission, not including tuition and living expenses there afterwards.

Professor Smith added, "This money isn't given to me; it goes into a specific account at Cambridge University. This is the only way to skip the queue and go straight through the foundation program; money is the minimum requirement for that."

Lin Ying translated the professor's words to Lin Lanying.

"Tell the professor," Lin Lanying smiled, "that as long as it saves you a year of wasting time, we'll go for it, even if it's just 100,000 pounds!"

Lin Ying bowed to Smith: "Thank you, Professor. I have accepted the letter; I will prepare the ten thousand pounds."