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

Winter break went by quickly.

Aside from meeting with the Su family once, Lin Ying spent most of her time at home in Taikoo Shing, reviewing her dissertations. Occasionally, she would call Professor Smith to meet, and the two would drink English tea in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel, discussing several intractable theoretical bottlenecks in digital signal processing.

Although the old professor has retired, his mind is still sharp; he can deduce a three-page formula from beginning to end after finishing a cup of tea.

The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, Lin Lanying started packing her luggage to return to the New Territories early in the morning; He Dazhu stacked two large suitcases in the living room, stuffing them with New Year's goods, ingredients, and new quilts for his grandparents.

"Qian! Can you please not take that box of law books back with you? It's so heavy!" Lin Lanying shouted from the bedroom.

"Those are my study materials!" Lin Qian poked his head out of the room. "My paper is due when school starts!"

"You're going back to the countryside to write your thesis? You're kidding me! Did you even read a single page when you went back last year?"

Lin Qian guiltily shrank back.

They left home at 10 a.m., the whole family carrying bags and packages downstairs; there was no need to wait for Uncle Lin Yaoying this year, as Deng Hui had already taken Lin Yue back to the New Territories yesterday.

My uncle's barbershop has grown bigger and bigger in the past two years. The one in Mong Kok was no longer enough, so he opened a branch in Tsim Sha Tsui and hired seven or eight people. He no longer needs to work overtime every day as the boss.

As the car entered the New Territories, Lin Ying looked out the window; the village looked different from when she last came back.

Previously, there were many old brick and tile houses and tin-roofed bungalows in the village, but now every household has built a three-story cement building; the exterior walls are covered with tiles of different colors, some gray, some white and some light yellow, and clothes are hanging on the balconies.

"Our village is completely different now compared to five years ago," He Dazhu said, looking out the window.

Lin Lanying chimed in, "That's right, they make all their money from making movies and TV shows; my uncle said at the beginning of the year that more than 30 out of 50 households have renovated their houses, and the remaining households are queuing up to start construction next year."

Lin Ying went through the events in her mind. From "The New Territories' Riches" to "Qin Guan," the film and television projects invested in by the clan in recent years had indeed yielded considerable returns. When the villagers had more money, the first thing they did was build houses—it's the same in any era.

The taxi stopped at the village entrance. Lin Fu stood under the big banyan tree, leaning on his cane, with Deng Hui and Lin Yue, who had arrived earlier, beside him.

"Grandpa!" Lin Qian was the first to jump out of the car and rush over.

Lin Fu chuckled and pulled his eldest grandson back: "Slow down, you're twenty years old, why are you running?"

Lin Ying walked over carrying her schoolbag: "Grandpa, Happy New Year."

"Okay." Lin Fu looked her up and down. "You've lost some weight. Was the food in Beijing not good?"

"The food was good, but I had too many classes."

The family entered the new house and went back to their rooms to put their things away. Lin Ying went up to her suite on the third floor, opened the door, and found that the desk was spotless, the bedding had been changed, and there was a pot of spider plant grown by Li Yuzhen on the windowsill.

Every time I come back here, I feel completely relaxed.

The reunion dinner on New Year's Eve was incredibly lively; Li Yuzhen, Lin Lanying, and Deng Hui worked together to prepare a huge table of dishes, and He Dazhu and his uncle also helped out.

New Year's Eve passed just like that; after setting off firecrackers and staying up all night, Lin Ying read a book on the third floor for a while before going to sleep.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Uncle Lin brought his whole family to visit relatives; Lin Jianying, Lin Jingying, and Lin Jieying all came, and even several cousins ​​came along, filling the living room to capacity.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the red envelopes were handed out, and two rounds of tea were served.

Uncle Lin put down his teacup and looked at Lin Ying sitting next to him.

"Ah Ying."

"Uncle."

"I have a few words to say to you today," Uncle Lin said slowly. "You're twenty-one now, an adult. Whether you're out there making your way in the world or studying, I've watched you grow step by step, and I'm at ease."

Lin Ying sensed a hidden meaning in his words.

"But," Uncle Lin looked at her, "you must remember, there aren't many people in the Lin family."

The laughter and chatter in the room subsided, and Lin Jianying and the others all understood what their father wanted to say.

"I won't say anything more," Uncle Lin said, turning to Lin Fu, who was sitting in the main seat. "Fu, you can tell your granddaughter this."

Lin Fu responded and then called out to the younger children, "Aying, Yue, and Qian, the three of you come upstairs. Grandpa has something to say."

Lin Qian was playing cards when he heard his grandfather calling for someone. He put down his cards and stood up; Lin Yue also put down the oranges she was holding and followed him.

The three followed Lin Fu up to the small bedroom on the second floor; the door closed, and the noise downstairs faded away considerably.

Lin Fu sat in the chair in front of his desk, looking at the three children standing in front of him. When he laid out the rules and regulations, these three kids were just little radishes. Now, Lin Ying is twenty-one, and Lin Qian and Lin Yue are nineteen. They have all grown up.

"Ah Ying, Ah Yue," Lin Fu called out the two girls' names, "Do you remember what Grandpa said back then?"

Lin Yue blurted out, "Raise the girl like a boy."

"It's good that you remember." Lin Fu turned to Lin Ying: "Ying, you're capable; you haven't used much of the family's resources. You were able to earn your own money starting from your second year at St. Paul's; later, you went to Cambridge and then to Beijing for graduate studies—all of that was a path you earned yourself."

Lin Fu softened his tone: "So Grandpa gives you the freedom; whether you marry or have someone marry into your family is entirely up to you; Grandpa won't force you."

After saying that, he looked at Lin Yue and said, "Yue, you're different."

Lin Yue straightened up.

"From childhood to adulthood, you've been the only daughter of your parents; they've supported your education and poured all their energy into you! You've had access to far more resources than Ah Ying!"

Lin Yue spoke directly: "Grandpa, Dad and Mom only have me, I absolutely cannot get married! I know that, if I'm going to find someone in the future, I'll find someone who will marry into the family!"

Lin Fu hummed in agreement: "You're sensible."

Lin Qian raised his hand from the side: "Grandpa, what about me?"

"You're a boy, so you'd better study hard and earn money to support your family in the future! Don't cause your sister any more trouble!"

"Received!" Lin Qian nodded.

Lin Fu looked at Lin Ying again: "Ying, what are you thinking? You're getting on in years, and you've heard what your uncle meant."

Lin Ying thought for a moment and said, "Grandpa, as you know, my assets are growing more and more."

Lin Fu remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I look up to the wealthy families, but I can't stand all that messy stuff; the feuds between the first, second, and third wives, the backstabbing between sisters-in-law—just thinking about it gives me a headache! I don't have the energy or the inclination to follow other people's rules."

Lin Qian muttered under his breath, "With your temper, if you married into a wealthy family, you'd probably overturn their ancestral tablets the very next day."

Lin Ying glanced at him and continued, "If we keep looking, I'm afraid we'll find a venomous snake. I have money and a career, and everything is out in the open. What if someone with bad intentions comes along, pretending to be nice to me but secretly plotting against my assets and the people around me? That risk is too great."

"So, Grandpa, to be honest," Lin Ying looked at her grandfather, "I want to have my own children in the future. I love the warmth of family, and my children can inherit my career; but I'm not considering marriage."

Lin Yue asked in bewilderment, "How can we have children if we don't get married?"

Lin Ying: "You're already nineteen years old, do I still need to teach you this?"

Lin Yue blushed instantly: "That's not what I'm asking! I'm asking what to do about the child's father?"

"Children can have a father, but I will not use a marriage certificate to tie my assets to another person."

Lin Fu thought for a moment: "Aying, is this idea a spur-of-the-moment decision, or have you been thinking about it for a long time?"

"I've thought about this for a long time, ever since I started earning money in my teens; I've seen too many people ruin their lives because of marriage; capable people who get married either become a burden or have their assets divided... I don't want to go down that path."

Lin Fu sighed: "I really don't know where you got your personality from; fine, you can make your own decisions; don't rush, you're only twenty-one, finish your studies first, then stabilize your career; we can talk about these things later."

Uncle Lin's voice came from the first floor: "Are you done talking? Those kids downstairs are going to steal all the radish cakes!"

Lin Fuchong shouted from outside the door, "What's the rush!"

Uncle Lin replied from outside, "I knew you wouldn't be able to explain it clearly no matter how long you talked!"

Lin Fu opened the door: "Come in and talk if you dare!"

"I won't tell anyone; offending people is Grandpa's responsibility."

Lin Ying stood up: "Grandpa, let's go downstairs first; my matter isn't urgent. When I really meet the right person, I will definitely bring him back for you to see."

Lin Fu snorted: "Let's make this clear first, good looks alone are useless."

Lin Qian added from behind, "They also have to be able to withstand investigations into their ancestors for three generations."

Lin Yue nodded: "Most importantly, we mustn't covet our older sister's money."

Lin Ying looked at the three men and said, "By your standards, I think I should just find a partner in the lab; at least their resumes are real and their salaries are verifiable."

Lin Fu stopped in his tracks: "Are there any suitable ones in the lab?"

"no."

"What's the point of mentioning it if you're not here?"

Lin Ying...

When the three of them came downstairs, a large round table had already been set up in the living room; Li Yuzhen was inviting everyone to sit down, and the dishes on the table were steaming hot, filling the whole house with the aroma of food.

Uncle Lin, sitting at the main table, glanced at Lin Fu as they came down; Lin Fu nodded, the two old brothers needing no further explanation.