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

The next morning at 8:30, the entrance to the ancestral hall was crowded with people.

The ancestral hall in Huangpu Ancient Village was newly renovated last year. It features blue bricks and gray tiles, with two red pillars at the entrance and the four gilded characters "Lin Clan Ancestral Hall" hanging on it. Twenty or thirty long benches were temporarily set up in the open space in front of the gate. Some people were sitting, some were standing, cracking melon seeds, smoking, and chatting, making it as noisy as a market.

At nine o'clock sharp, Lin Zong walked out of the back door of the ancestral hall, followed by Uncle Lin, Lin Fu, Lin Jianying, and Lin Ying.

"Quiet down, everyone." Lin Zong stood on the steps.

The voices quieted down, and everyone looked over.

"I've called everyone together today during the Lunar New Year because I have something important to tell you. Our relatives in Hong Kong have given us an opportunity."

Lin Zong pointed to Lin Ying behind him: "This is Ah Ying from the Lin family in the New Territories. She is twenty-three years old this year. She graduated from Cambridge University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and is very good at doing business in Hong Kong."

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Someone craned their neck to look at Lin Ying and whispered to the person next to them, "That girl?"

Lin Zong continued, "Ah Ying is planning to invest in a business here, and she'll put up five million RMB in the first year."

"Five million?"

"Did I hear that right?"

"Really? Where would a young girl like her get so much money?"

"They're from Hong Kong. Don't you know Hong Kong people are rich?"

"Having money is one thing, but why should they invest in our village?"

Lin Zong slammed his hand on the table: "What's all the noise about? Let me finish what I have to say."

The area quieted down a bit, but the whispering continued.

"Ah Ying said she'd invest in specific projects. Anyone with a good idea should come up with a plan and we'll invest if it's feasible. If it succeeds, we'll share the profits. That's why I called you all here today to ask, who has any ideas?"

No one spoke up then.

After a while, still no one spoke.

Lin Jianying, standing to the side, shouted, "You guys always brag about starting your own businesses, but now that the money's in, you're all silent?"

Someone chuckled twice: "That was just a joke..."

After a moment of silence, a young man in the back row stood up.

He looked to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and had a rather loud voice: "Uncle, I have an idea."

Lin Zong looked over and said, "Weiqiang, you speak."

The young man named Lin Weiqiang said loudly, "I've been working in Shenzhen for the past few years, running around department store wholesale markets. I've noticed that children's toys are selling particularly well right now."

"Parents in the city are increasingly willing to spend money on their children. But the broken plastic dolls and building blocks on the market are hardly anything new or decent."

He got more and more excited as he spoke: "We can open a toy factory, invest three or four million to set up a production line to specialize in new types of children's toys. These things have low costs and high profits, and if they sell well, we can even export them."

The people below started talking again.

"A toy factory?"

"Can this make money?"

"I think it's a good idea. With the one-child policy now in place, families with only a few children are really willing to spend money on them."

Lin Ying sat in the back without saying a word, and when she heard about the toy factory, she decided to go for it.

In 1994, the mainland Chinese toy market was virtually nonexistent. Imported toys were too expensive, and there were few decent domestic brands. In a few years, the industry would experience explosive growth. Furthermore, the toy category had low technological barriers, making it suitable for initial investment, and it also allowed for foreign trade.

The toy markets in Southeast Asia and Europe and America are worth tens of billions of US dollars a year.

Twist cars and scooters, Rubik's Cubes and Rubik's Rulers, plus early education playhouses... No one in China makes these things, so once the costs are reduced, the profit margin is huge.

"Ah Ying, what do you think?" Uncle Lin asked, turning to the side.

Lin Ying stood up and walked to the front: "I've chosen this project."

Lin Weiqiang was a little confused: "Really?"

"Really." Lin Ying looked at him. "Just saying you can make money is useless. You need to write out the project proposal for me later. Write down the factory area, what equipment is needed, how many workers you need, and what product category you plan to make for the first batch."

Lin Weiqiang nodded repeatedly: "I'll write it, I'll write it tonight."

"Don't get excited," Lin Ying added. "If I'm not satisfied with what you've written, you have to revise it until I approve."

Lin Weiqiang patted his chest and assured him, "No problem, don't worry."

That afternoon, Lin Weiqiang submitted a three-page proposal that was written in a crooked hand; the content was rough but the basic idea was correct; Lin Ying marked more than a dozen places to be changed with a red pen and asked him to resubmit it the next day.

On the third day, Lin Weiqiang submitted the second version.

Day 4, Third Edition.

On the fifth day, Lin Ying nodded: "It's okay, let's get started."

Things progressed faster than Lin Ying had anticipated.

The village has 120 households and 600 people, including more than 200 young laborers. The whole village was excited when they heard that a factory was going to be built.

The task of finding a site fell to Lin Zhiying; he spent five days running around the provincial capital and finally found a bankrupt machinery factory in an industrial park on the outskirts of the city; besides a four-story office building and two factory buildings, there was also more than 700 square meters of vacant land. The annual rent was 120,000 yuan, and it was located next to a provincial highway, making transportation convenient. Lin Ying decided to rent it for five years and pay it all at once.

Lin Jianying was in charge of coordinating the equipment; he had friends in Hong Kong who were in the trade business and helped him get two second-hand injection molding machines and one blow molding machine. Including the mold packaging machine and conveyor belt, the whole set cost 1.2 million yuan and was delivered to the site within 20 days.

Lin Zong personally handled the business license and various certificates. He had been in this area for decades and was known to people in the town and district. The legal representative was Lin Zong, and the business scope was the production and sale of children's toys.

Lin Ying stayed in Guangzhou to focus on product development.

She spent three whole days drawing blueprints in the rented office; the first batch of products consisted of five categories: scooters and electric bikes, Rubik's Cubes and rulers, and early education playhouses.

The core product is the scooter, which comes in six designs: fire truck, police car, animal, airplane, cartoon, and classic. Each design has different color schemes and details.

The Rubik's Cube comes in two sizes, 3x3 and 4x4, and the Rubik's Cube comes with an instruction manual to teach children how to assemble different shapes.

The early education playhouse is a large item suitable for children aged three to six; there are no similar products in China, making it unique.

Once the drawings were completed, Lin Ying applied for a patent and sent them to have the molds made. Lin Weiqiang took two craftsmen to Dongguan to find a mold factory, making three trips back and forth, and finally finalized the first batch of molds.

Recruiting is also underway.

All ordinary workers were recruited from the village; men and women aged 18 to 45 were welcome, and they would be trained for a week before starting work. Lin Ying offered a monthly salary of 200 yuan plus piece-rate commission, which was twice as high as what villagers earned working in the city. Within a day, two lines of people had signed up.

For the three key positions of finance, human resources, and factory manager, Lin Ying had Lin Jianying recruit three experienced managers from the provincial capital's talent market. The factory manager, surnamed Zhou, had worked in a state-owned toy factory for eight years before the age of 11. The finance manager was a 35-year-old female certified public accountant, and the human resources manager was 29 years old and had managed a factory with more than 100 employees.

The combined monthly salary of the three people was nearly 10,000 yuan, which was considered a high salary in Guangzhou in 1994.

Lin Weiqiang felt a pang of heartache: "Sister Ying, why hire someone so expensive?"

Lin Ying glanced at him: "Do you know how to prepare financial statements?"

"Won't."

"Can you handle labor disputes?"

"Won't."

"Then stop talking nonsense. Leave the professional work to the professionals. You are responsible for learning management from Director Zhou for three years and mastering the skills. After that, this factory will be yours."

Lin Weiqiang fell silent and lowered his head to move the boxes.

Within two months, the site renovation was completed, the equipment was debugged, the first batch of raw materials were put into storage, and fifty-three workers were trained and put to work.

In early April, the first scooter rolled off the production line, and everyone in the factory gathered around to see it.

Designed like a red fire truck, with four smooth-turning wheels, a thick seat, and a steering wheel that can be turned left and right, Lin Weiqiang had a four-year-old child from the village try riding it. The little guy rode it for a couple of turns and then refused to get off.

Lin Ying stood beside her and laughed.

Lin Zong walked out of his office, looked at the scooter and nodded: "This is a good thing, kids will definitely like it."

"Fifth Uncle," Lin Ying turned around, "when will the first batch of goods be shipped?"

"Factory Director Zhou said that based on the current production capacity, we can produce 2,000 scooters and 1,000 skateboards by the end of the month. The Rubik's Cube and Rubik's Ruler molds are still being adjusted and mass production will not begin until mid-May."

Lin Ying nodded: "Then let's start by selling the balance bikes and scooters at the provincial capital's department store. The balance bikes will retail for 120 yuan each and wholesale for 85 yuan. The scooters will retail for 90 yuan each and wholesale for 60 yuan."

Lin Weiqiang calculated the costs: "Sister Ying, what about the profit..."

"Stop yelling," Lin Ying interrupted him. "The high profits are because we have no competitors right now. By the time others realize what's happening and start copying us, our brand and distribution channels will already be established."

She looked at the busy production line, her mind racing with plans for export orders, brand registration, packaging design, and distributors in Europe and America…