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

The next day, Lin Ying still couldn't escape. She originally thought buying shoes would be simple: the size should be right, they shouldn't rub her feet when walking, the price shouldn't be too outrageous, and she could just pack them up and take them away in five minutes.

As it turns out, she was too naive when it came to women shopping.

After walking around all morning, Lin Ying tried on various shoes and finally bought six pairs.

By the time she finally got into the car to head back, she was completely drained and didn't want to say a word; she had been measuring data in the lab for three consecutive days without feeling this tired.

Lin Lanying put the shoebox in the trunk with satisfaction: "That's right! Now I can finally show my face to people during the New Year."

Back at the Kadoorie Hill villa, as soon as the car came to a stop, He Dazhu heard the commotion and ran out to help move things.

He opened the trunk, looked at the shoe boxes inside, and asked Lin Ying, "Yesterday you bought clothes, today you bought shoes... Sister, what are you planning to buy tomorrow?"

Lin Yue immediately chimed in: "Bao! Tomorrow's main battleground is Bao!"

He Dazhu looked at Lin Ying with sympathy: "Little sister, you've worked hard; your father knows that shopping with your mother and the others is the most tiring thing."

Lin Ying.......

A few people were talking in the yard when the phone rang in the living room.

After answering the phone, Lin Qian shouted towards the door, "Sis! Claire wants to see you!"

Lin Ying breathed a sigh of relief: "I'll answer the phone."

Picking up the phone, Claire's English came through: "Lynn! Thank goodness, you're finally back in Hong Kong, you busy lady?"

"I just got back two days ago." Lin Ying sat down on the sofa.

"The timing is perfect; our company is having an end-of-year banquet at the end of the month, would you like to come?"

"What kind of banquet is it?"

"It was a client annual meeting, not a large event, but all the attendees were important clients; as you know, our company distributes a lot of products for Global Fund, and this time we invited big names from the core circle."

Lin Ying considered the time and said, "Okay."

On the other end of the phone, Claire sounded somewhat surprised: "It's rare for you to agree so quickly!"

Lin Ying: "Is that strange?"

"Of course it's strange! Lynn, when I asked you to attend these kinds of dinners or parties before, your standard answer was always: no time, won't go, a waste of time... Has the sun risen in the west today?"

Lin Ying saw Lin Qian and Lin Yue carrying the pile of shoe boxes inside and said, "The situation is different now."

Claire laughed: "Oh? How is it different?"

"In the past, I only had overseas securities accounts, and I was a pure investor; I didn't need to show my face for many things, and I could handle them by just looking at the market data over a phone line; now, I have a large home appliance industrial park, and how can I open up channels without making friends? Now I need friends from all walks of life."

After listening, Claire exclaimed, "Lynn, you've stepped out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight."

Lin Ying: "Go with the flow."

"Your judgment is very wise; let me give you a heads-up, the threshold for this year's annual meeting is very high; it's basically all top-tier clients with assets of over 100 million."

"Hong Kong dollars?"

Claire laughed on the other end of the phone and said, "Lynn, who are you looking down on? Dollars."

Lin Ying: "US dollars? That's definitely not an ordinary business dinner."

"Of course! More importantly: you, Lin Ying, will be the youngest woman at this annual meeting to independently hold assets of this level, without exception!"

Lin Ying: "Claire, you don't need to exaggerate your introduction like that."

"That's true! You're only twenty-five! You earned the money yourself, and you manage your assets yourself. You didn't inherit any property, and it's not held by a family on your behalf! Those people will definitely be extremely interested in you."

Lin Ying: "Coincidentally, I'm also very interested in the resources they have."

Claire was very satisfied: "Excellent, just the right amount of presence! I'll have your personal customer service representative deliver the formal invitation to your home in the next few days."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Lanying casually asked, "Who was it? We talked for so long."

"Claire, her company is having a year-end banquet for high-net-worth clients at the end of the month, and she invited me to attend."

Lin Lanying asked curiously, "A banquet? The formal kind?"

"Very formal."

How many people participated?

"I'm not sure, but they should all be high-net-worth clients."

Hearing this, Lin Lanying immediately perked up: "Starting today, you are absolutely not allowed to stay up late for the next few days!"

Lin Ying was both amused and exasperated: "Mommy, I'm just going to a business banquet to discuss distribution channels, not a beauty pageant. Is it really necessary?"

Lin Lanying glared at her. "Look at your face! It looks worse than when your father came back from a whole day of carpentry work!"

He Dazhu was innocently dragged into the fray: "Back then... I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Lin Yue leaned over and started planning like a professional image consultant: "Sister, this is a big event; we'll buy two more haute couture dresses tomorrow; leave the makeup and hair to me, I'll bring the store's top technicians to do it; the jewelry can't be too extravagant, but it also has to be presentable enough to make the occasion stand out."

She suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, business cards! Do you have any formal personal business cards? What if someone hands you their business card and you're just writing your phone number on a piece of paper?"

Lin Ying said, "In the past, it was always others who tried to get to know me, or when we went out to do business, it was always Attorney Shen who handed out business cards and documents. I've never printed any."

That afternoon, Lin Ying went directly to a nearby high-end custom shop and expedited the order of two hundred business cards.

The information on the business card given by Lin Ying was extremely simple.

[Lin Ying, Shenzhen Yingchuang Technology Holdings, private investor.]

Below, only Hong Kong's mobile phone number and Kadoorie Hill Bookstore's fax number are listed.

The business card shop clerk enthusiastically promoted their product: "Ms. Lin, how about we add some gold foil stamping? Or an embossed pattern? We have a special paper with a pearlescent sheen, it really makes you look sophisticated!"

Lin Ying felt it was unnecessary: ​​"No need. Use thicker paper, make sure the text is printed clearly, the layout is clean, and don't make it too fancy."

Shop assistant: "Ms. Lin... are you sure you don't want something with a more sophisticated design?"

"Sure."

--------

Two days later, the exquisite invitation was delivered to Kadoorie Hill by Zhao Qing, a private customer service representative from Global Funds.

"Miss Lin, this is the official invitation and schedule for next week's banquet." Zhao Qing handed over a black envelope with gold trim. "On the day of the banquet, a car will pick you up from your residence; your seat has been arranged at a central table in front of the main stage."

Lin Ying took the invitation, opened it, and looked at the agenda: "The agenda is quite long. Do I need to prepare a speech?"

"Absolutely not necessary," Zhao Qing explained with a smile. "There will be an hour and a half of free time before the dinner, during which many clients will take the opportunity to exchange business cards and catch up. Just think of it as a relaxing afternoon tea."

As soon as Zhao Qing left, Lin Lanying immediately took the invitation, carefully checked the date, and then...

"Eight days left! Lin Ying, listen up! Starting today, for the next eight days, you must be in bed before 10 PM every night! You must eat breakfast on time every morning, and absolutely no coffee!"

Lin Ying: "I never drink coffee, I drink tea."

"You can't just drink tea!" Lin Lan refused to budge.

Lin Yue started checking the equipment: "Besides the spare dress, we need to start using face masks tonight."

------

Eight days later, on the day of the banquet.

At six o'clock in the evening, a black Rolls-Royce pulled up right on time at the entrance of the Kadoorie Hill villa.

When Lin Ying came downstairs, she was wearing an extremely flowing dark green velvet dress, perfectly tailored to fit her figure, with a white coat over it, and her makeup was very light.

When Lin Ying arrived at the hotel, a line of luxury cars had already gathered. As soon as Lin Ying got out of the car, Zhao Qing, who had been waiting at the entrance, immediately came to greet her: "Miss Lin, this way please."

The banquet hall was already quite full.

Some people were talking in English, others in Cantonese... Glasses clinked, the atmosphere was lively but not noisy, filled with the scent of money and power.

Lin Ying was guided by Zhao Qing and seated at the front table, a central seat.

Most of the people at the table had arrived, and they were generally older, all looking to be seasoned businessmen over fifty. Only to Lin Ying's right sat a relatively young-looking Asian-mixed-race man.

As soon as Lin Ying sat down, Zhao Qing introduced her to the whole table: "Excuse me, everyone; this is Ms. Lin Ying, the actual controller and investor of Shenzhen Yingchuang Technology Holdings, and also an important client of our Global Fund."

Upon hearing this, several bigwigs who were chatting at the table all turned to look.

Someone asked, "Miss Lin looks so young. May I ask how old you are?"

Lin Ying took out a business card from her handbag and handed it over with both hands: "Twenty-five years old."

A gray-haired man laughed and said, "To have achieved this scale at twenty-five, Miss Lin is truly young and accomplished."

Lin Ying smiled and said, "I was just lucky. I saw the right direction a few years ago and made a few suitable investments. I caught a good time."

The mixed-race man next to her also offered a business card, and after glancing at it, he asked, "Yingchuang Technology? The electronics factory in Shenzhen, are you currently making TV terminals?"

Lin Ying looked at him: "Yes, currently we mainly focus on mass production of color TVs, and will gradually expand to other home appliance categories in the future; does this gentleman know anything about home appliances?"

He pointed to his business card: "My family mainly deals with distribution channels in North America and Europe; I've heard that the manufacturing industry in mainland China is currently a blue ocean market, and I've always wanted to find an opportunity to learn more about it."

Lin Ying glanced at his business card: Zhang Henian, and promptly extended an olive branch: "That's quite a coincidence. I happen to need a friend like you who understands distribution channels. If there's a chance, perhaps we can have a cup of tea and discuss overseas distribution channels."

Zhang Henian raised his glass: "Of course, it's my honor."

Five minutes before the banquet began, Claire, who had been incredibly busy, finally appeared; she was wearing a silver-gray fitted dress and carrying a thick stack of client lists; upon seeing Lin Ying, she strode over: "Lynn, you look absolutely stunning tonight!"

Lin Ying raised her water glass and clinked it against her champagne glass: "Thank you, this is the culmination of eight days of not letting me touch my work, thanks to my mom and sister."

Claire looked down and immediately saw Lin Ying's business card holder on the table. She exclaimed dramatically, "God, you finally have business cards! I'm so moved I could cry!"

Lin Ying: "Claire, please don't act like I've finally learned to write in my entire life."

Claire laughed heartily, then leaned down and whispered a brief introduction to the backgrounds of the other hidden bigwigs at the table to Lin Ying.

Once the banquet officially began, Lin Ying kept the conversation flowing almost non-stop; when others talked about finance, she could chime in; when they talked about manufacturing, she could chime in even better; she never interrupted or stole the conversation, and she was very good at providing emotional value to people.

When the two-hour banquet ended, most people had already left; Zhao Qing thoughtfully helped Lin Ying organize the business card holder she had received that evening and put it into Lin Ying's small bag.

Lin Ying knew in her heart that there were around fifty or sixty business cards.

This wallet contains representatives from Europe's largest retailers, logistics tycoons who control several core shipping routes in Southeast Asia, top executives from multinational banks, real estate developers, and other high-quality resources from all walks of life.

Claire personally escorted her to her car at the hotel entrance: "How was it? I didn't lie to you, tonight was worth it."

Lin Ying: "It was worth the trip. This is an asset that cannot be measured in money."