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

In October, Cambridge still often experiences light drizzle.

Lin Ying had already adapted to the rhythm here; she would leave home at eight in the morning, walk ten minutes to the mathematics department building, and sit in the large lecture hall that could hold more than two hundred people to listen to lectures. She would eat lunch in the cafeteria, and spend the afternoon in the library or back in her apartment doing practice problems. At seven-thirty in the evening, she would call Hong Kong to let them know she was safe, and then continue reading until eleven o'clock before turning off the lights and going to sleep.

It's so regular it couldn't be more regular.

The only thing that caused Lin Ying pain was the food in the cafeteria.

On Wednesday at noon, Lin Ying sat down in a corner of the cafeteria with her tray, staring blankly at the grayish-white food in front of her.

"What is this?"

Lucas walked over with the same plate and sat down opposite him.

He poked at the mushy mess on his plate with his fork. "Shepherd's Pie. At least that's what the menu says."

"It looks like it's been dead for a long time." Lin Ying picked it up with a fork, looked at it, and then put it back.

"The campus cafeteria food I ate at in Boston wasn't great either, but at least the burgers were hot, the fries were crispy, and the Coke was fizzy." Lucas took a bite, chewed a couple of times, and said, "This stuff is cold and has no flavor at all."

Lin Ying forced herself to eat half a plate.

She remembered the stir-fried beef noodles she ate at the tea restaurant downstairs in Taikoo Shing before she left, the slow-cooked soup that her father stewed, and the pineapple buns that cost three dollars each on the streets of Wan Chai.

"Now I finally understand why Professor Smith flies to Hong Kong every winter." Lin Ying put down her fork.

"Because of dim sum?"

"Because the food here would kill you."

Lucas burst out laughing.

And so, the two strangers quickly forged a revolutionary friendship in a corner of the canteen by constantly complaining about British food.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the 240 freshmen in the mathematics department were native-born British; the rest, from continental Europe, also formed their own groups.

Lin Ying is the only Asian face, and Lucas is one of the few Americans.

The two outsiders happened to be assigned to the same tutoring group, where they were scolded by their tutor Scott every day, struggled with those insane bonus questions together, and faced those hopeless British dishes in the canteen together.

If we don't stick together and help each other, are we just waiting to freeze to death by the arrogance of these British?

The two walked out of Scott's office after the tutoring session on Tuesday afternoon.

Today's class went fairly smoothly. Lin Ying's derivation process was praised as "acceptable" by Scott, which is considered a high compliment. Although Lucas was scolded for jumping around in logic too quickly, at least he wasn't punished by being made to stand.

"Do you think that old man is doing this on purpose?" Lucas walked along the cobblestone path, his bag slung over his shoulder. "Every time he assigns problems, they're three times harder than what he teaches in class. What is he trying to prove? That we're all idiots?"

"He wants to see how we handle problems that are beyond our comprehension," Lin Ying said.

"You always manage to come up with such a positive interpretation, is it because he never scolds you more than three times?"

"Maybe."

"I hate you." Lucas rolled his eyes.

The two walked to the lawn in front of the main building of the college and were about to go their separate ways when a blond boy suddenly ran out from the side corridor.

"Lucas!" the man called out with a smile. "I didn't finish copying the blackboard notes in class yesterday. Could I borrow your notes? I'll buy you a drink tonight!"

Lucas instantly looked utterly dejected: "Uh... my notes are very messy, you won't understand them."

"It's okay, I can take my time looking at it." The blond boy smiled brightly. "Or you can tell me for me, we can go to my room, it'll be quieter there."

"No, no, I have something to do tonight." Lucas took two steps back, pointed at Lin Ying, and said, "I've arranged to study with Lynn, right, Lynn?"

Seeing Lucas's pleading look, Lin Ying nodded: "Yes, we made plans."

The blond boy looked at Lin Ying, then at Lucas, and said with some regret, "Then next time."

After everyone had walked away, Lucas slumped weakly onto a nearby bench.

"here we go again."

"Which one is it?" Lin Ying couldn't help but laugh.

"This is the fourth one this week." Lucas covered his face in anguish. "I don't understand! I never wear a suit, and I speak quite loudly. How do I look like I'm interested in men?"

"Maybe you're just too good-looking," Lin Ying honestly replied.

Lucas was indeed good-looking; he was 1.85 meters tall, with curly brown hair, deep features, and a smile that gave him the air of a sunny American boy; in an environment where 95% of the population was male, and a large portion of them came from an all-boys boarding school, his popularity was unparalleled.

"Looks good? Does looking good mean I deserve to be treated like this?" Lucas was getting agitated. "Yesterday I went to the library to return something, and that Englishman in the front row actually asked me if I wanted to go boating this weekend! Boating! One of those small boats for two!"

"How romantic."

"roll!"

Days passed by like this.

Attending classes, eating, doing homework, getting scolded by Scott, and watching Lucas being chased.

By the end of October, Lin Ying had fully adapted to the academic intensity here; she could basically complete the bonus questions assigned by her tutor Scott independently within two days, and she could also keep up with the content that the professors wrote on the blackboard at great speed in the large lectures.

At lunchtime that day, Lin Ying, as usual, sat in her usual spot with a plate of half-dead fish and chips.

Lucas arrived ten minutes late, and his expression was particularly unpleasant when he walked in.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ying looked up.

Lucas put the plate back on the table, took an envelope out of his pocket, and slapped it down in front of Lin Ying.

"Look at this."

Lin Ying picked it up and flipped through it. The envelope was light blue, and inside was a handwritten card with neat, beautiful handwriting in cursive English. The gist of it was that Lucas's presentation in last week's group discussion was excellent, and he hoped to have coffee with her sometime. A small heart was drawn at the end.

"A love letter?!" Lin Ying handed it back after reading it.

"A love letter written by a man," Lucas emphasized.

"congratulations."

"Can you stop gloating!" Lucas snatched the envelope back and stuffed it into his pocket. "This is the third one this month! Three! I haven't even received a single one from a girl!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped and looked Lin Ying up and down: "Wait, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Have you ever received a love letter?" Lucas asked seriously. "Ninety-five percent of our department is male. Statistically speaking, even if someone were a block of wood sitting here, someone should have some interest in them, right?"

Lin Ying thought for a moment and said, "No."

Not a single one?

Not a single one.

Lucas's eyes widened: "Are you serious? A whole month? More than two hundred men? And not a single love letter to you?"

Lin Ying shrugged: "Maybe they don't dare, or maybe they're not interested."

Lucas looked at her still-childish face and said with sympathy, "Lynn, I finally understand."

"Understand what?"

"You wouldn't understand my pain." Lucas spread his hands. "Because you look like a child who's never grown up. How old are you again? Seventeen? Standing among these tall British guys who are over six feet tall, they probably all think you're some lost high school student."

"..."

"Seriously Lynn, in a school with so many guys, you can't even get a single love letter? That's such a failure! I'm ashamed for you."

Lin Ying poked at the fries on her plate with her fork: "Lucas, have you forgotten that all the love letters you receive are from men? Do you really think that's something to be proud of?"

Lucas shut his mouth.

"I hate this school."

"Me too." Lin Ying picked up her water glass and took a sip. "But what I hate most is the cafeteria."

After finishing lunch, the two walked out of the cafeteria.

It's raining outside again.

Lucas opened his umbrella, glanced at Lin Ying who didn't have one, hesitated for a moment, and then moved the umbrella towards her.

"Let's go, I'll take you to the library."

Thanks.

The two shared an umbrella as they walked on the wet cobblestone path. A few British boys in the distance saw this and whispered among themselves.

Lucas noticed the stares and instantly pulled the umbrella back towards himself: "They don't think I'm chasing you, do they?"

"Don't worry, they're more likely to think you're bullying me."

Why?

"Because you put the umbrella away, half of my shoulder is still getting wet."

Lucas quickly moved the umbrella over again.

"This is so hard for me." He looked up at the gray sky, his voice filled with accusation against fate. "I just wanted to study, why is it so complicated?"

Lin Ying didn't answer him; she was thinking about the paper she was going to look up at in the library that afternoon.

My first month in Cambridge has passed just like that.

There was no earth-shattering event as she had imagined, no table-flipping incident as Matthew had warned her about, and no first life-threatening ordeal as Wu Shipo had mentioned. All she had were repetitive classes every day, endless homework assignments, cafeteria food so bad it made her want to cry, and a tall American guy who would come to her every few days crying about being pursued by men again.