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

It was almost noon when we came out of the hillside apartment.

"Ah Ying, are you going to that professor's class again soon? You won't miss a single day?" Lin Lanying thought that she would feel at ease if her daughter went too.

"No, we shouldn't go now. Although the school's elimination exams are over, winter break hasn't officially started yet. We still have to go back to school for classes until February 15th."

Lin Lanying calculated the days: "That means there's about a month left?"

"Okay." Lin Ying nodded. "I have to follow the school's schedule for the next month; the second semester of Form Three is very important, and I need to solidify my foundation in physics, chemistry, and math. As for Professor Smith, I'll officially start teaching at Mid-Levels after the winter break and the Lunar New Year."

Lin Lanying is currently hoping that her daughter will secure a place at Cambridge, but she is also worried that she might overwork herself and not be able to handle it.

Back on the nineteenth floor of Taikoo Shing, He Dazhu was wearing an apron and stewing soup in the kitchen, the rich aroma of meat filling the living room;

Lin Qian hadn't finished school yet, and Lin Yue was doing her homework in her bedroom. Hearing the noise, she immediately ran out: "Big sister, what did the professor say?"

Lin Ying changed into slippers: "They said if my grades are good enough, I can go directly to Cambridge after Form Six and won't have to study Form Seven."

Lin Yue's eyes were filled with longing: "Cambridge?! We're going early?!"

Lin Lanying put the brown paper bag away: "Yes, but we still need 10,000 pounds as a reserve fund."

"Ten thousand... pounds?" Lin Yue quickly did the exchange rate conversion in her mind: 130,000!!!

"So, you need to study hard." Lin Ying walked back to her room. "You'll realize later that there are many doors in this world that you can't just knock on and open."

Lin Yue muttered softly, "So, big sister, you've already knocked on the door?"

"I just saw the door number; I haven't actually gone inside yet."

For the rest of the month, Lin Ying got up on time every day to go to school, sat in the classroom of Boya Academy to listen to lectures, complete exercises and hand in her homework on time.

The workload in Form 3 was much heavier than in Form 2; the physics teacher started to talk at length about mechanics, the chemistry teacher turned around and wrote element symbols and reaction formulas all over the blackboard, and the math problems were also more difficult.

On February 15th, Boya College finally officially started its winter break, and the next day Lin Ying went to the Mid-Levels apartment in Central to report for duty.

When Professor Smith saw her, his first words were: "Lynn, now that you've decided to take this shorter route, we need to significantly accelerate our pace starting today."

Lin Ying readily took out her notebook: "I know."

Throughout the winter break, Lin Ying went to class at Mid-Levels every morning, returned to Taikoo Shing in the afternoon to organize her notes and digest the algorithms, and spent half an hour at night supervising Lin Qian and Lin Yue's homework.

Around the Lunar New Year, the 19th Floor of Taikoo Shing was unusually lively for a few days; my grandparents and my uncle's family all came from Mong Kok and the New Territories to have a reunion dinner at the 19th Floor.

The living room was packed with people, and the 16-inch color TV kept playing trailers for the Lunar New Year movies, with "The New Territories Riches" appearing frequently.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, "The New Territories Rich" was officially released.

At first, the villagers were more nervous than anyone else; at eight o'clock on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Uncle Lin, along with Lin Jianying and several other clan leaders, personally went to the entrance of a large theater on Hong Kong Island to check the queuing situation.

As soon as they reached the street where the theater was located, everyone stopped in their tracks upon seeing the massive crowd in front of them.

At the ticket window, female factory workers on holiday, young couples, and families with children lined up in long queues.

"I heard this movie is about how housewives in the New Territories made a fortune; it's hilarious!"

"My aunt came back from watching a midnight movie yesterday and said that the future woman was really giving those spineless men a good dressing down!"

"Hurry up and go line up, there are almost no good tickets left for the afternoon show!"

Despite the Lunar New Year holiday, the popularity of "New Territories Rich" has only increased. This film lacks the high-end overseas special effects of "Magic Academy Exchange Student" and abandons the melodramatic love story of "Heart Exchange," but it has truly touched the hearts of ordinary local Hong Kong audiences.

Lin Ying didn't go to the premiere. Her schedule was packed during the short winter break, and as soon as the holiday ended, she packed her bag and went back to Boya College to continue her classes.

In April, Boya College began accepting applications for secondary school admissions in Form 4.

In Hong Kong's education system, the transition from Form 3 to Form 4 is a streaming line; different combinations such as science, arts, and business determine the paths students can take later in life.

Tang Xueqi clutched the form, pulling at her hair. "Fifteen choices! Why do I have to fill in so many? I can't even decide what I want to eat for lunch tomorrow, how can I decide my entire life?"

Lin Ying picked up her pen and wrote in the first choice column: Boya College, Form 4 Science Class. For her second and third choices, she filled in the same science combination.

Zhou Yawen walked to her desk, glanced at her spreadsheet, and asked, "Still going all in on science?"

"Um."

"Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry—choose all three major core subjects?"

"Choose both."

As Zhou Yawen expected: "Fill it in."

In June, the final exams at school arrived as scheduled.

Lin Qian was in the grueling final exam period at Wan Chai Boys' School, and Lin Yue, a Form 1 student, was equally burdened with homework. Every night, the three children could be seen sitting at different desks doing their homework.

At the end of June, as Lin Ying received her report card after the final exams, the final profit-sharing settlement for Uncle Lin's "New Territories Wealth Creation Story" was also officially finalized.

When the call reached the 19th floor of Taikoo Shing, Lin Lanying was washing vegetables in the kitchen.

Lin Ying answered the phone, and it was the first time she'd heard Uncle Lin so excited: "Ying! Ying! The final accounts are out!"

"Uncle, how much is the net profit?" Lin Ying knew from the voice that it wouldn't be bad.

"Eighty million! A net profit of a full eighty million Hong Kong dollars!"

Eighty million? That's several times higher than her initial estimate of twenty to thirty million. It turns out that audience resonance has immense power.

"According to the contract we signed before, you're the core screenwriter and main creator, so you get 20% of the net profit, which is 16 million Hong Kong dollars. The rest of the money will be distributed to the village according to everyone's investment ratio; Ah Ying, our Lin Family Village has truly made a fortune this time!"

The initial investment of two million had yielded tens of millions. Generations of the Lin family finally realized that they, as country folk, could also earn a substantial share of the profits in the Hong Kong film industry by leveraging the wealth and land accumulated by their clan.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Lanying stood beside her and asked, "Aying... sixteen million?"

"Um."

Lin Lanying clicked her tongue in amazement: "Your great-uncle is probably going to be so excited tonight that he'll have a stroke and won't be able to sleep."

And that was indeed the case; that very evening, the ancestral hall in Lam Family Village, New Territories, was opened again.

Those who initially invested 10,000 have now received several times that amount. Those who invested 50,000 or even hundreds of thousands are now shouting at the top of their lungs that they've made a fortune.

Li Yuzhen held her husband's hand and said, "Yaoying, this time, you've really struck gold with Aying."

Before the excitement of splitting the money had even died down, Uncle Lin struck while the iron was hot, immediately starting on the second thing: "The Qin Pass!"

This time, there was no need for any mobilization; every household was eager to pay, and almost everyone pledged to invest around 100,000 yuan!

Lin Chongying shouted from the back row of the ancestral hall, "Last time we bet on our last savings, this time we're betting on our fortunes to rise above our social class! What are you afraid of? Bet!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Uncle Lin knew in his heart that "Qin Pass" was a heavy industrial production, requiring a large amount of money to set up special effects, sets, and extras. This was the second step for the Lin family village to climb up the social ladder in Hong Kong.

After everyone in the village tasted the joy of making money, their net worth increased, and no one wanted to go back to the old ways.

When the news reached Taikoo City, Lin Ying only responded with a single word. She did not interfere with anything, whether it was the second round of fundraising for "Qin Pass," the profit sharing from Linjia Village, or the subsequent recruitment of the production team.

She defined her boundaries by the script, copyright control, and profit-sharing contracts. Subsequent filming coordination and external negotiations were handled by Uncle Lin and his team.

In July, Boya College officially announced its Form 4 admission results.

Lin Ying was admitted to the Boya Secondary 4 Science program without any doubt. Tang Xueqi's score was a close call, barely making it into Boya, where she chose the Arts and Commerce track.

On the day the results were released, Tang Xueqi held the admission notice and said to Lin Ying with a wry smile, "Ying, I think the bravest and wisest thing I've ever done in my life is not to impulsively choose science with you."

Lin Ying carefully put away her acceptance letter: "It was definitely a wise decision."

"Can't you at least offer me a token word of comfort?"

"You successfully avoided the advanced torment of physics and chemistry, which is equivalent to saving your life for the rest of your life." Lin Ying raised an eyebrow.

Tang Xueqi: "That's a very pleasant sentence; it's comforting."

After summer vacation officially began, Lin Qian and Lin Yue were unsurprisingly assigned to a summer study plan. Lin Lanying went to the bank every day to handle funds, while He Dazhu brought home the jade carving work he had taken on and took care of the three children at home.

In the afternoon, Lin Ying sat alone in the study, with an account book spread out on the table.

She wrote down the data for various projects, including cash, real estate, and projected future dividends.

From the early investment returns to the accounts of the three recent films, after deducting the millions spent on buying and renovating the building, daily expenses, taxes, and the reserved special funds for education,

Lin Ying added up the numbers, and the net cash she can now readily access has reached HK$60 million.

In terms of real estate, in addition to the large apartment where her family currently lives, she owns eight properties that generate monthly rent, including the rental properties she previously owned and the 15th-floor apartment she recently rented out.

Not only did the rental income continue to come in, but the rising property market in Hong Kong also caused the assets to appreciate in value.

Lin Ying looked at the numbers on the paper; the initial funding pool for the first phase had finally been finalized.

If "Qin Pass" becomes a big hit, "Preference" will be able to capitalize on the previous female market.

Her cash reserves are likely to exceed 100 million within the next year.

This 100 million yuan is merely the minimum capital she needs to accumulate to complete the first phase.

Going to Cambridge wasn't just about accessing the academic truths Professor Smith spoke of; the British financial market, which connects London and Cambridge, was also her goal.

She accumulated this cash to enter that trading market with no capital cap. She wanted to go there and, through the stock market and capital operations, turn her HK$100 million into £100 million.