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

When He Dazhu came out of St. Paul's Private Elementary School, his steps were much lighter.

"Hurry up. Go to the street corner and catch the 3:30 minibus, which goes directly to the New Territories," Lin Lanying urged without turning her head.

"Going to the New Territories? Not going back to Yu Fat Shop?" He Dazhu had originally planned to rush back to the construction site in the afternoon to do some work.

"What are you doing! Your parents are anxiously waiting for news in the countryside! You can't just say 'You passed the exam' over the phone and be done with it! You have to say it in person!" Lin Lanying quickened her pace. "My younger brother Yaoying is working in Mong Kok today and can't make it, but his wife Lin Qian and Yueyue are there, so we can all be happy."

He Dazhu slapped his forehead, chuckled twice, and hurried after him.

The red-topped minibus swayed along the road towards the New Territories; the windows were half-open, and the sweltering July wind blew in, mixed with exhaust fumes from the road and the aromas of roadside food stalls, but to He Dazhu, the air was sweeter than honey.

Lin Ying sat by the window, watching the densely packed high-rise buildings outside gradually become sparse.

He Dazhu sat beside her, muttering to himself, "100 in math, 100 in general knowledge, 99 in Chinese... two A's in the interview. My daughter scored 299!"

"Keep your voice down!" Lin Lanying turned her head from the front row and glared at him quietly. "Everyone on the bus heard you! Don't flaunt your wealth, and don't embarrass yourself by showing off your good grades!"

He Dazhu awkwardly fell silent.

When the minibus stopped at the village entrance, we could see two figures standing under the old banyan tree in the distance.

Li Yuzhen leaned on a broom and peered out from under the shade of a tree, while Lin Qian squatted on a stone stool beside her, swinging a blade of grass back and forth in his hand.

As soon as Lin Ying got out of the car, Lin Qian, with his sharp eyes, rushed over: "Sister! How did the exam go!"

"You passed the exam," Lin Ying said, looking at his sweat-drenched face.

"Really?!" Lin Qian jumped for joy, turned and ran towards the village, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Grandma! Grandpa! My sister passed the exam!"

Li Yuzhen came running over with quick, light steps, "You really passed the exam?"

"You passed the exam, Mom." Lin Lanying nodded. "100 in math, 100 in general knowledge, and 99 in Chinese. The interview officer gave me two A's. You'll be starting fourth grade in September."

Li Yuzhen grabbed Lin Ying's hand and examined it from all angles, her rough fingers tracing the lines on Lin Ying's palm.

"Thank God! My darling!" The old lady pulled Lin Ying into the yard. "Come inside quickly, Grandma has stewed pig's feet with ginger! You have to eat three bowls of rice today!"

As soon as Lin Ying entered the courtyard, Lin Yue was squatting by the patio, poking ants with a twig. Upon seeing Lin Ying, she immediately threw down the twig and rushed over: "Big sister! Did you get first place? Lin Qian shouted it over there, and the whole village heard it!"

"She was the only transfer student in the fourth grade; there was no first or second place," Lin Lanying added.

"That's first place!" Lin Yue said confidently, puffing out her chest.

Aunt Deng Hui came out of the west wing; after resting for the past few days, her complexion was much better than last week, and her face had regained some color.

"Congratulations, elder sister, your younger sister is truly remarkable," Deng Hui said softly.

"Thank you, Auntie," Lin Ying replied.

In the main room, Lin Fu sat in the main seat; on the octagonal table in front of him was a well-worn purple clay teapot, with wisps of white steam rising from its spout.

The first thing Lin Lanying said when she entered the room was to announce her grades.

After hearing this, the old man didn't burst into tears like Li Yuzhen, nor did he speak immediately. He picked up his teacup, slowly poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then asked, "How many points?"

"100 in math, 100 in general knowledge, and 99 in Chinese literature," Lin Lanying repeated the numbers.

Lin Fu didn't ask anything else: "Okay." He glanced at Lin Ying standing at the door and nodded slightly.

"Go wash your hands and get ready to eat," Lin Fu said.

Dinner was much more lavish than usual: pig's feet with ginger, poached chicken, steamed fish, stir-fried bok choy, and a plate of Li Yuzhen's specialty, Hakka stuffed tofu.

Lin Qian and Lin Yue sat together, vying to stuff chicken legs into their mouths. Lin Lanying glared at them both, and they behaved for two seconds before going back to eating their rice in silence.

He Dazhu was especially happy today. He usually didn't dare breathe too loudly in front of his father-in-law, but today he mustered his courage and secretly took a bottle of beer from under the stove. He grabbed a glass, filled it, and raised it to his lips…

"Put it down," Lin Fu said calmly, without even raising his head.

He Dazhu's hand froze in mid-air.

"Stay after you finish eating, I have something to tell you."

After saying that, He Dazhu stopped touching his glass to his lips. He quietly poured the beer back into the bottle; he mechanically shoveled the remaining half bowl of rice into his mouth, his eyes occasionally stealing glances at his father-in-law, who sat silently in the main seat.

Lin Lanying glanced at her husband, then at her father, and silently lowered her head to eat.

After dinner, Li Yuzhen and Deng Hui were cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen; Lin Lanying took a kettle to the yard to boil water for the whole family to wash up. Lin Qian and Lin Yue were chasing fireflies in the corner, their laughter faintly drifting in.

There were only three people left in the main room.

Lin Fu sat at the head of the octagonal table, with a teapot in front of him that was already more than half full.

He Dazhu sat nervously on the bench at the lower end of the table, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Lin Ying sat quietly at a small square table in the corner, with an exercise book open in front of her, a pencil in her hand, and writing with her head down.

"Dazhu," Lin Fu said.

"Hey! Here!" He Dazhu straightened his back and responded reflexively.

Lin Fu didn't rush to get to the point. He opened the tea canister next to him, pinched a pinch of Tieguanyin tea leaves into the pot, added boiling water, and put the lid on to steep.

"Tell me the truth," Lin Fu looked up at him, "You're working as a carpenter for a contractor in the Western District. How much do you earn in a month?"

Upon hearing this topic, He Dazhu lowered his head and honestly calculated, saying, "On a good day, I can earn around seven hundred yuan with full attendance. On a bad day, it's only four or five hundred. If it rains or the project is suspended, it's even less. Last month was alright; I took on two small jobs making wardrobes and earned six hundred and eighty yuan."

Lin Fu hummed in agreement and tapped the lid of the teapot twice with his fingers.

"Six hundred and eighty," Lin Fu repeated the number. "How many years have you been doing this?"

"Including the days I spent doing odd jobs back in my hometown, it's been seventeen years," He Dazhu answered truthfully.

"Seventeen years." Lin Fu nodded. "Seventeen years as a carpenter, you've honed your skills and toughened your body; but you know in your heart that in Hong Kong, this is the limit for carpentry. When you're fifty or sixty, you can't do it anymore, and you can't come up with anything new."

He Dazhu lowered his head even further, not daring to reply; his father-in-law was speaking the absolute truth, the kind that cuts right to the bone. He was a useless son-in-law who had married into his wife's family, only able to earn a living through physical labor.

"Let me ask you, back in your hometown in G province, who taught you your craft?" Lin Fu changed the subject.