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

In mid-October, Lin Ying sat in her study on Kadoorie Hill. A sheet of paper lay open in front of her, listing more than twenty tasks.

The toy factory needs to produce, European orders need to be coordinated with logistics, and certifications in the US need to be followed up. There are also department store channels in three domestic cities to maintain; mobile phone profit sharing needs to be accounted for financially; and new projects are being prepared for next year… There's a lot to do.

She used to be able to handle things on her own, thanks to her good memory and sharp mind. But now that the business has expanded, relying solely on phone calls and faxes will inevitably lead to trouble sooner or later.

She needs a core team of her own to oversee daily affairs, manage financial risks, handle legal documents, and most importantly, to have someone speak for her when there are things she can't say herself.

In the afternoon, Lin Ying went to the law firm where Shen Yanwen worked in Central.

Shen Yanwen went downstairs to meet her: "Miss Lin, it's been a long time."

After exchanging pleasantries with him, Lin Ying followed him into his office: "Attorney Shen, starting today, I would like to formally hire you as my full-time private legal counsel."

Shen Yanwen was taken aback: "Full-time? You mean I'm not taking other clients anymore?"

"That's not the case, it's just that I can't take on too many. My work has the highest priority, I'm available on call, and the annual fee is HK$500,000, with additional fees for holidays."

Shen Yanwen thought for a moment: "Five hundred thousand...that's fine! But let me make it clear, any litigation-related fees will be charged separately, but they won't be too high."

"no problem."

They settled the matter after only a few minutes of discussion; Shen Yanwen took out a contract template to revise, and after finishing, asked, "You're hiring me full-time, is there something big going on?"

"Yes." Lin Ying didn't hide anything. "I have more and more things to do now, and I need a professional manager to help me manage the daily operations. Do you have any suitable people to recommend?"

Shen Yanwen thought for a moment: "Professional manager? What kind do you want?"

"Around forty years old, with business management experience, preferably in import/export or manufacturing. Emotional intelligence shouldn't be too low; good at interpersonal communication."

Shen Yanwen pondered, "There's a guy named Chen Guodong who used to be the deputy general manager of Yongfeng Trading. After Yongfeng was acquired, he left and stayed home for more than half a year. I heard he's looking for new opportunities."

"Yongfeng Trading? What does that do?"

"The electronics exports mainly go to Southeast Asia and Europe. Chen Guodong managed the operations for seven years, handling factory coordination, channel maintenance, and financial approvals. He's forty years old and graduated from the HKU Business School."

Lin Ying wrote down the name: "Could you help me arrange a meeting with him? I want to see him."

"Okay, I'll call him tomorrow."

Three days later, Lin Ying met Chen Guodong in the villa's living room. The man was of medium height, with a dignified appearance, wearing a gray suit, and his hair was neatly combed.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down in the living room, and Lin Ying said, "Attorney Shen should have told you the general situation."

"She said some things," Chen Guodong said, looking at her. "I'd like to hear what Miss Lin has to say herself."

Lin Ying described her current business operations: a toy factory, two distribution channels in Europe and America, and domestic retail channels. She didn't mention anything about profit sharing from mobile phones.

"I need someone to help me manage these daily tasks. I'll make the decisions myself; you'll be responsible for execution and coordination, monitoring progress, and handling unexpected situations."

After listening, Chen Guodong asked several questions; they were all professional questions about how to solve the production capacity bottleneck, how to control the payment terms of overseas channels, and which regions the brand registration covered.

Lin Ying answered him, while she was also observing Chen Guodong.

After chatting for another half hour, Lin Ying felt it was about time and said, "Mr. Chen, let's stop here for today. I will give you an answer within a week."

Chen Guodong stood up and nodded: "Okay, I'll wait for your news."

After seeing the person off, Lin Ying returned to her study, flipped through a couple of pages of her phone book, and dialed a number.

"Hey? Global Investigations? I'm the one who called before; yes, I want to commission a background check."

After hanging up, she dialed another number.

"Wanda Information Services Company? Yes, I need to find someone surnamed Chen, named Chen Guodong..."

Hiring two detective agencies to investigate the same person simultaneously allows for cross-verification.

A week later, two reports were presented to Lin Ying.

Chen Guodong is 40 years old and married; his wife is a secondary school teacher, and they have a 13-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son; his parents are both alive and living in public housing in Tsuen Wan, and are in good health.

He had no gambling record, no bad habits, and his bank account showed no unusually large inflows or outflows. He had no complaints during his seven years at Yung Fung Trading, and the reason for his departure was indeed the company's restructuring after its acquisition.

People who have concerns will have principles when they act.

Lin Ying closed the report and picked up the phone: "Mr. Chen? It's me, Lin Ying. Come sign the contract tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, thank you, Ms. Lin."

With the staff recruited, the next step is finance.

Lin Ying originally wanted to hire an accountant directly, but after thinking about it for a few days, she felt it was inappropriate.

With a large amount of funds on hand, diverse in type, spanning three currencies—Hong Kong dollars, US dollars, and RMB—as well as overseas investments and dividends in mainland China, ordinary accountants cannot handle this; a professional accounting firm is needed.

Lin Ying asked Shen Yanwen to inquire around and found a chain accounting firm called Xinda Yongdao; this firm has a headquarters in Hong Kong and a branch in Shenzhen, and has done accounting audits for many cross-border companies.

The partner at Cinda Yongdao, surnamed Wu, was in his early forties and dressed quite formally: "Ms. Lin, for cases like yours, involving multi-currency and multi-regional asset management and tax planning, our annual service fee starts at HKD 600,000."

Lin Ying didn't haggle: "Okay, but I have two requirements."

"Please speak."

"First, all financial information related to me must be kept confidential by no more than three people, and a confidentiality agreement must be signed with a penalty of five million US dollars for breach of contract."

Partner Wu hesitated for a moment: "Ms. Lin, the five million US dollar penalty for breach of contract..."

"Too high?"

"I mainly wanted to confirm that you are serious."

"I'm not joking."

"That's no problem."

"Secondly, the liaisons in Hong Kong and Shenzhen must be coordinated by the same person in charge. We can't keep changing people; I don't want to have to explain my situation again every time."

Partner Wu noted it down: "It can be arranged. I will assign a senior manager to work directly with you."

The cooperation agreement was signed on the same day;

Three days later, Lin Ying invited Chen Guodong, Shen Yanwen, and Wu Yongyuan from Xinda Yongdao to the study of the villa, where the four of them signed a confidentiality agreement.

After the confidentiality agreement was signed, Lin Ying handed over a handwritten asset list: "Now I'm going to tell you everything."

Chen Guodong took it and looked at the first line: "US stock account...one hundred million US dollars?"

Wu Yongyuan also went over to take a look.

"Claire is managing it for me. If you need to verify the specific holdings and profits later, just contact her directly. I'll give you the contact information."

Chen Guodong continued reading: "Thirty percent of the toy factory's profits are distributed as dividends..."

"Yes, this is the first year, and the settlement will be at the end of the year; the specific figures will be determined after the December financial statements are released. Chen Guodong, you contact Director Zhou in Guangzhou and check their accounts."

"it is good."

After everyone had read through it, Lin Ying said the last item: "There is also a dividend from a technology company; it's not convenient to tell you too many details for now, but in short, the amount is not small. I will report to you once the money is in my account; you only need to handle the accounting and tax processing in Hong Kong for this part."

Wu Yongyuan nodded: "We will help you complete the tax processing in a timely manner."

Lin Ying handed Wu Yongyuan a copy of the list and account information: "Okay."

She looked at Chen Guodong: "Mr. Chen, there's something else I need you to do right now."

"Miss Lin, please speak."

"Next year I plan to open a TV factory in Shenzhen or Guangzhou."

Chen Guodong took out a pen to write: "A television?"

"Yes, the domestic TV market is booming right now, but there are very few good domestic brands. There's a shortage of both technical and management talent. I want to start doing market research now, figure out the ins and outs of this industry, and then poach talent from several well-known TV companies."

Chen Guodong thought for a moment and said, "It's easy to poach people from management, but difficult to poach key technical personnel, because they have non-compete agreements."

"Could you first give me a list of reputable television manufacturers, including their CTOs and production managers, their backgrounds and experience, and which universities they recruit from?"

Chen Guodong wrote these down: "This will take time, at least two months."

"No rush, a thorough investigation is more important than a fast one."

"clear."

After seeing the group off, Lin Ying felt much more relaxed. In the past, she had to handle everything herself, including negotiating contracts, checking accounts, and finding distribution channels. Now that the business is bigger, she can't manage it all by herself and has to learn to delegate.