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

Cambridge in June was finally no longer cold and gloomy; several consecutive sunny days made the whole town much more relaxed.

From June 19th to 26th, it was the first-year final exam week; a maximum of two exams a day, but most of the time only one exam a day. This was Lin Ying's first major exam since coming to Cambridge, and all 240 students in the mathematics department were buried in the library and study rooms, studying desperately.

Even Lucas was quiet. Before the exam week, he unusually sat quietly in a corner of the library with his workbook, writing for an entire afternoon.

Qiao An happened to pass by and saw him like this, and said to Lin Ying, "If he were always this hardworking, I would want to take him as my role model."

Lin Ying felt that the days leading up to the exams were actually quite peaceful; everyone in the school was busy studying, no one had time to cause trouble, no one had the inclination to strike up conversations in the corridors, and no one had the time to ponder those messy hierarchical social classes.

The good times didn't last long.

On June 18th, the day before the exam, Lin Ying finished reviewing the key points one last time before the exam and walked from school to her apartment. Just as she reached the third floor, she heard voices coming from Matthew's room.

The door wasn't closed properly.

Lin Ying initially didn't intend to pay any attention, but then she heard Professor Smith's voice; what was the old man doing here at this hour? Didn't Matthew return to the lab in April?

She went over and knocked on the door, and Matthew opened it; his hair was disheveled, and he looked like he had been called back from the lab again.

In the living room, Professor Smith sat on the sofa.

"Professor?" Lin Ying walked in. "What brings you here?"

Instead of offering her any praise as usual, or asking how her revision was going, Smith simply said, "Lynn, go book your plane tickets now."

"On the day the exam is over, the 26th, book the earliest flight back to Hong Kong; I asked Claire to go with you, she also happens to be going to Asia on a business trip."

"What happened, Professor?" Lin Ying had a bad feeling instantly.

Smith told Matthew to lock the door and then whispered, "There's a group of students who are really bothered by Cambridge admitting female students; they already held a protest once, you may have heard about it."

Lin Ying nodded. There was indeed one last semester, but it was small in scale and concentrated in the School of Arts and the Department of History.

"They'll continue to cause trouble after the exams," Smith said, "and it will only get worse."

"Were people from the mathematics department involved?"

"Mathematics students are used to high pressure. They're already exhausted from exams and coursework, so they basically don't have time for this. But it's different for other departments." Smith took off his glasses and wiped them. "Once they relax after the exams, all the resentment they've accumulated over the past year will come out."

Matthew then chimed in, "Last year, a girl was cornered in the dorm hallway by a group of people who splashed ink on her door and stuffed dirty things under it."

"What about the school?" Lin Ying asked.

"Do you think the school really cares?" Matthew asked in a hostile tone. "Many of those troublemakers have families that have donated a lot of money. The school turns a blind eye, and in the end, nothing gets done."

Lin Ying suddenly remembered what Granny Wu had said.

"On this journey westward, you will encounter petty people; you will face two life-threatening situations, which you cannot avoid. You will be able to escape the first danger."

If this is the prelude to her first death, then all she can do now is leave before it arrives.

"I understand." Lin Ying stood up, walked to the phone, and picked up the receiver.

Smith looked at her: "Who did you call?"

"Airline, tickets for the afternoon of the 26th, the sooner the better."

Five minutes later, the two tickets were booked; June 26th, 3 pm flight, London to Hong Kong.

Smith patted Lin Ying on the shoulder: "Leave as soon as you finish the exam, don't stay even a day longer; stay in the apartment to study during this time, don't wander around, don't go to any parties or cocktail parties, and even go to the cafeteria as little as possible."

"Professor, I've bought the food supplies." Lin Ying pointed towards her room.

Smith paused for a moment: "Those sausages your mom sent?"

"There's also shrimp porridge and tea."

"Okay, then you'll have to rely on sausages to get through this week."

After seeing Professor Smith off, Lin Ying returned to her apartment and locked the door.

She sat at her desk, looking at the exam schedule posted on the wall.

Six days. If she can just hold on for six days, she can fly back.

The next morning at nine o'clock, Lin Ying went to the mathematics department building as usual; the first exam was a basic mathematics paper with a time limit of three hours.

She had just found her seat number in the corridor when someone suddenly called her from behind.

"Forest."

Scott stood at the end of the corridor, holding his ever-flowing cup of black coffee; he waved to Lin Ying.

Lin Ying walked over.

Scott didn't mince words: "After you finish the last exam, you can go back. I can guarantee there won't be any problems with the math department, but the campus is a public space, and I can't control those crazy guys in other departments."

Lin Ying said, "Professor, I've already booked my plane ticket for the 26th."

"Very good." Scott took a sip of coffee. "We'll see how things go after school starts in October. If those people cause too much trouble, the school might announce the reopening date earlier."

He suddenly added, "Your grades won't be a problem."

Lin Ying replied, "Professor, I don't plan to get too high a score."

Scott sighed, didn't ask why, and only said two words: "Whatever."

Then he turned and left, spilling a few drops of black coffee on the ground, but he didn't care.

The exam has officially begun.

Lin Ying received the test paper, flipped through it, and had a general idea of ​​what to expect; there were eight major questions in total, and she had answered five and a half of them correctly, while getting the rest wrong.

This time, she timed it perfectly, waiting for the bell to ring before getting up to hand in her paper.

Lucas waited for her outside the door: "Why did you take so long to come out? You usually finish very quickly."

I've been thinking a lot today.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I want to go home and eat roast goose."

Lucas looked speechless: "Is your mind filled with nothing but math and food?"

Lin Ying didn't respond; she couldn't tell Lucas those things.

For the next few days of exams, Lin Ying maintained the same strategy; she calculated very clearly: passing every subject would not put her in the ranks of the excellent.

Ordinary, mediocre, and lacking presence—that's exactly what she wanted.

On June 25th, the penultimate exam ended.

That afternoon, the Department of Mathematics' administrative office sent a notification letter to each student's mailbox.

The message is brief: In light of the recent activity plans of some student groups on campus, the department recommends that all students leave campus and return home as soon as possible after the exams. Please pay attention to email notifications from the college during the summer vacation. The specific return date will be announced separately.

Lucas came to Lin Ying's apartment with the letter: "Did you see it? The department told us to leave after the exam? What's going on?"

Lin Ying is packing her suitcase.

Lucas froze when he saw that she had already folded the clothes and put them inside: "You knew all along?"

"I heard about it yesterday."

"What student group? What activities do they organize?"

"There's a group of people who oppose the school admitting female students, and they're going to cause trouble after the exams."

Lucas was furious: "What era are we living in?! Why are they still doing this?!"

"So you should book your ticket back to Boston as soon as possible."

Lucas looked at her: "And you? When are you leaving?"

"The exam is tomorrow, and my flight is at 3 PM."

"So soon?" Lucas stuffed the letter into his pocket. "I was planning to take you and Joanne to town for a nice meal after the exams."

"We'll talk about it next semester."

Lucas stood in her bedroom doorway, unusually serious: "Lynn, watch out."

"The same to you."

The last exam was on the morning of June 26th.

Lin Ying sat in the examination room. The test paper in front of her was quite difficult, but she still only did enough to pass. After finishing, she put down her pen and glanced at the more than two hundred people in the examination room who were still writing furiously.

The bell rang.

She was the first to get up, hand in her paper, and walk out of the teaching building with her backpack; downstairs in the apartment building, Claire was already standing there, a taxi parked next to her with its trunk open.

"Where's the luggage?" Claire glanced at her watch.

"Upstairs, two minutes."

Lin Ying went upstairs, pulled her suitcase down, and the security guard helped her carry the suitcase to the car.

Claire opened the car door and got in: "The plane boards at 2:45, we're on time."