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

On the third day after Lin Ying returned to Cambridge, just as she was adjusting to the time difference, the living room phone rang.

She was organizing the reading list her tutor Scott had just sent when she heard the phone ring. Her first reaction wasn't to answer it, but to glance at the clock on the wall.

4:20 PM.

At this time, they won't call from Hong Kong, and Professor Smith and his wife won't call even if they're still in Hong Kong.

Lin Ying picked up the microphone: "Hello."

Claire's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Lynn, are you sitting down right now?"

Lin Ying instantly had a bad feeling: "If you're going to tell me some bad news, I suggest you just say it directly."

After a moment of silence, Claire said, "Thanks to my tireless efforts over this period, your account is currently showing a paper loss of £100,000."

Lin Ying: "..."

She glanced down at her reading list, then at the phone line.

Good, the phone line wasn't broken, and what she heard wasn't a hallucination.

"Claire! Say it again, how much did you lose?"

"One hundred thousand pounds."

"How long have I been away from Cambridge?"

"Strictly speaking, less than a month."

"I've been back for less than three days!"

"The market won't be any kinder just because you've just gotten off the plane."

Lin Ying closed her eyes: "Fax the specific positions and transaction details to my apartment within ten minutes!"

Claire readily agreed: "Sure."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ying stood there, heartbroken. 100,000 pounds!!

Just as Matthew came over to borrow some tea, he saw Lin Ying holding a microphone, her face even uglier than the potatoes in the Cambridge cafeteria.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Ying put the phone back: "I lost £100,000."

Matthew dropped the tea canister he was holding: "How much?"

"One hundred thousand."

Matthew quickly picked it up: "Would you like to sit down?"

"No need." Lin Ying walked to the fax machine. "I'm perfectly sober right now! So sober I want to pin Claire down in front of the stock exchange and make her explain every single number to me."

Matthew silently put the tea canister back in the cabinet: "I'm going to boil some water. When you're losing money, people need hot drinks."

Ten minutes later, the fax machine in the first-floor paging room started printing paper—one sheet, two sheets, three sheets…

Lin Ying picked up the paper and returned to her apartment on the third floor. The more she looked at it, the more heartbroken she became. Claire hadn't lied; of the three stocks she had specified, two continued to decline along with the market. The portion that Claire had allocated herself wasn't much better either. Although she hadn't used high leverage, she couldn't withstand the market's erratic behavior.

Lin Ying circled several prices with a red pen and then pulled out her previously written financial plan.

Matthew brought over some hot tea. Seeing that she wasn't yelling, he was a little worried. "Lynn, you're scarier than when you're angry."

Lin Ying looked at the paper: "I know too little about the London financial market. After last year's big crash, the recovery here is not what I expected."

"so what?"

"So you can't just go for it recklessly." Lin Ying put down the paper. "I made money in Hong Kong before because I was lucky. I thought I would be just as lucky here, so I took the money and entered a market that I didn't understand. It's no wonder I lost 100,000."

Matthew said in surprise, "How can you be so calm?"

"If I don't stay calm, the £100,000 won't just walk back on its own."

Matthew nodded: "That makes a lot of sense, but it also sounds cruel."

Lin Ying picked up the phone and redialed Claire.

After the call connected, she said directly, "Come to Trinity Garden Apartments at 7 PM tonight; bring the official contract, the latest net worth, the currency exchange documents, and any information you can find about trading channels in the US market."

Claire: "You want to change markets?"

"right."

"Lynn, cross-market configuration is not like ordering food at a different restaurant."

Lin Ying looked at the fax on the table: "I know, that's why I asked you to bring the contract."

At 7:05 p.m., Claire entered Lin Ying's apartment on the third floor in high heels; she was carrying a briefcase, looked unwell, and her coat was still wet from the rain.

Matthew poured her tea: "Welcome to the loss-making meeting."

Claire glanced at him: "Matthew, if you say another word, I'll tell Father that you used his treasured black tea to boil milk."

Matthew...shut up.

Lin Ying laid out the fax papers in a row: "First, explain the reasons for the losses."

Claire sat down and opened the file: "The market continues to be weak, trading volume is insufficient, and institutions are all holding back; the fundamentals of the stocks you specified are not bad, but the market is not talking about fundamentals now, only fear."

"What's your configuration?"

"I admit, I was too confident in the speed of the recovery." Claire didn't shift the blame. "I thought there would be a wave of funds coming back in January, but it didn't. Of the 100,000 you lost, 40% came from my portfolio."

Lin Ying nodded: "Okay, the accounts are settled."

Claire was taken aback: "You're not going to yell at me?"

"Will you get a refund of your commission if I insult you?"

"cannot."

"Let's get down to business first. What will you do if this market continues like this?"

Claire sighed and rubbed her temples. "To be honest, if the City of London continues to be this awful, I'm thinking of quitting. Every day when I walk into the office, everyone looks like they've just been chased by bills."

"Then let's go to the US market."

Claire looked up: "Are you serious?"

"Seriously." Lin Ying pushed the paper she had written over. "We have six million pounds in funds. Withdraw a portion of it first and exchange it for US dollars at the exchange rate. Don't exchange it all at once; do it in three batches to avoid a bad exchange rate."

Claire picked up the paper: "Sweetwater, LA sneakers, chip technology, Walmart... You want to buy these?"

"right."

"Did you designate all of these?"

"All of them."

Claire put down the paper: "Lynn, I must remind you that Sweetwater is a mature consumer stock, and its growth is slow; LA sports shoes have been very popular in recent years, but they are highly volatile; chip technology is very capital-intensive; and Walmart is still expanding, so there is considerable pressure on its profits."

Lin Ying looked at her: "I didn't come here to listen to your advice to buy something else."

Claire: "You're making me feel superfluous."

"No." Lin Ying pointed to the contract. "You'll be responsible for execution, risk control, channels, exchange rates, compliance, and weekly reports; you're very important, but you'll have to listen to me when it comes to stock selection."

Matthew chuckled: "Claire, congratulations, you've gone from queen to high-class errand girl."

Claire: "Matthew."

Matthew immediately lowered his head and picked up the glass.

Claire looked at Lin Ying again: "What's the reason? At least give me a reason that can be written into the internal records."

"Sweetwater, its products can be sold all over the world, and ordinary people buy them every day; LA sports shoes, young people are willing to pay for the brand. Chip technology, all machines in the future will be inseparable from computing power. Walmart, low prices and scale will eat up many small retailers."

Claire didn't immediately refute him after hearing this.

Lin Ying continued, "I don't touch financial derivatives that I don't understand, I don't touch high leverage, and I don't touch short-term speculation; I buy things that people will still need in the next ten years."

Claire flipped through the documents: "For someone your age to use a word like 'ten years' is really infuriating."

"I've already lost 100,000, I can be a little more mature now."

Matthew couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Claire smiled, but quickly returned to work: "Okay, the agreement needs to be renegotiated. The original contract only covered the European market; now we need to add trading rights for the US market, foreign exchange authorization, cross-border settlement, and tax disclosure."

Lin Ying handed over Vanessa's lawyer's number: "I've already left her a message; she'll be there in half an hour."

Claire asked, puzzled, "When did you leave this?"

"Before you came."

"You had already made up your mind?"

"I made the decision after seeing the fax."

Claire sighed: "I'm starting to understand why Father likes you; you don't cry when you lose money, your first reaction is to rewrite the contract."

"Crying is too expensive, paper is cheap."

Half an hour later, Vanessa arrived with her briefcase; her first words upon entering were, "Ms. Lin, if you make me work overtime again tonight, I'm raising the service fee."

Lin Ying handed over the tea: "Okay, write it in the account."

Vanessa sat down: "Your willingness to agree makes me a little uneasy."

Claire handed over the documents: "She's going to switch to the American market."

Vanessa flipped through a couple of pages, then looked up at Lin Ying: "You lost money?"

"One hundred thousand pounds."

Vanessa nodded: "No wonder, humans usually become more proactive after losing money."

Matthew sighed from the side, "Tonight, I'm the only one in this house who has no money to lose. I'm so lucky."

Lin Ying looked at him: "You have money to lose?"

Matthew's expression changed: "Please don't talk about such terrifying things."

The contract was discussed until 10:30 p.m.

The currency exchange was to be conducted in batches. Claire was responsible for opening the US market account, and Vanessa reviewed all the documents. The four stocks designated by Lin Ying had to be purchased in batches according to the price range she provided, and any temporary changes had to be confirmed by phone.

After Claire finished signing, she closed her pen and said, "I'll ask you one last time, are you really not going to accept my suggestions for adjustment?"

"I don't accept it."

Even if I think two of them will continue to fall in the short term?

"Buy in batches when prices drop."

"You're a really difficult customer to serve."

Lin Ying put away the copy: "But I paid on time."

Claire stood up, picked up her briefcase, and said, "This is fascinating; okay, I'll buy it; if I make money later, you'll treat me to a trip to Hong Kong."

"Can."

"What if we lose money again?"

Lin Ying glanced at the stack of fax papers on the table: "Then I'll never touch the stock market again in my life."

In 1988, £100,000 was spent to learn a lesson—an exorbitant price! But thankfully, the person is still alive!