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

Lin Ying sat by the window thinking about Su Zhe for a while, when suddenly another person popped into her mind.

Zhou Yawen.

She was my homeroom teacher for three years, from Form 1 to Form 3. She was the ruthless "Zhou Bapi" who always managed her students. Later, she married Su Zhihao and went from being a teacher to becoming the mistress of the second branch of the Su family. I haven't seen her yet on my recent trips back to Hong Kong.

Lin Ying picked up the phone, flipped through her contacts, and dialed Su Zhihao's number.

"Hello! Who is this?" Su Zhihao's booming voice came through the receiver.

"Uncle Su, it's me, Lin Ying."

"Oh! Ying! When did you get back? Why didn't you tell your second uncle?"

"I just got back two days ago and haven't had a chance to let you know yet; Second Uncle, how have you and Teacher Zhou been lately?"

"Great! Very good!" Su Zhihao chuckled a few times on the other end of the phone. "It's just that Ya Wen controls my diet every day and won't let me drink alcohol."

Lin Ying laughed: "Teacher Zhou has been managing students for over ten years, so managing you should be a piece of cake for him."

"You're still laughing?! Okay, your second uncle will treat you to lunch tomorrow! I'll invite your teacher Zhou, Su Cheng, and Su Jun too, and we'll have a proper get-together!"

"Okay."

"Is your mommy home? Let's come together!"

"Let me ask her." Lin Ying moved the microphone to the side and called out, "Mommy! We're going to Uncle Su's for dinner tomorrow, are you coming?"

Lin Lanying's voice came from downstairs: "Go! When?"

"Second Uncle, my mommy is going too."

"Okay, okay! Tomorrow at noon, at 'Shun Fung Court' in Causeway Bay, I've booked a private room. When you arrive, just go straight to the third floor."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ying was in a good mood. Over the years, the relationship between the second branch of the Su family and them had remained stable. When Su Zhihao and she collaborated on their first film, she was only a little over ten years old. Now she was twenty-five, had opened a factory and become a boss, but in front of Su Zhihao, she was still "Ah Ying".

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At 11:30 a.m. the next day, Lin Ying and Lin Lanying went out.

Lin Lanying wore a newly made cheongsam jacket today, her hair was neatly styled, and she was carrying a box of egg yolk pastries she had made herself.

"Mommy, why did you bring this? They've already booked a restaurant."

"What kind of talk is it to show up empty-handed when you go to someone's house for a meal?" Lin Lanying glared at her. "Ya Wen loves my egg yolk pastries."

Lin Ying didn't say anything more and drove towards Causeway Bay.

When we arrived at the private room on the third floor of Shunfeng Pavilion, the door opened and there were already four people sitting inside.

Su Zhihao sat in the main seat, and it was rare to see him not wearing a floral shirt, but a dark blue polo shirt, though he still wore the gold chain around his neck; next to him sat Zhou Yawen, whose temperament had not changed, except that her hair had turned a bit whiter and she was without makeup.

Su Cheng and Su Jun sat on opposite sides; Su Cheng seemed much more composed than before, wearing a gray casual suit and looking quite energetic. Su Jun was still the same Su Jun, in a T-shirt and jeans, his hair sticking up, playing with his chopsticks by tapping the edge of his bowl.

"Coming, coming!" Su Zhihao stood up, waving his hand, "Please sit down, please sit down!"

"Hello, Uncle Su." Lin Ying greeted Su Zhihao first as she entered, then turned to Zhou Yawen, "Hello, Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Yawen looked up at her and smiled, "Sit down, no need to be so polite."

Lin Lanying handed the egg yolk pastry to Zhou Yawen: "Yawen, you said you liked it last time, so I made some new ones."

Zhou Yawen took it: "Sister Lanying is very skilled, she always remembers me."

After everyone was seated, the waiters began to serve the dishes; Su Zhihao ordered a table full of hearty dishes, including lobster, pigeon, and typhoon shelter-style stir-fried crab, with the same grandeur as before.

Su Jun was the first to pick up his chopsticks, taking a piece of crab claw and asking, "Sister Ying! How long are you staying this time?"

"Not necessarily, there's a lot going on at the end of the year; I came back mainly to attend Su Zhe's wedding."

The atmosphere at the table became awkward for a moment after he said that. Su Zhihao didn't reply and instead took a sip of soup.

Zhou Yawen picked up her teacup: "I guessed it, Su Zhe will definitely invite you to his wedding; he sent out the invitations very early."

Su Zhihao finally spoke, his tone tinged with emotion: "Aying, you probably don't know, but thankfully Yawen has been there for our family all these years; she keeps Su Cheng and Su Jun in check. Otherwise, if they had continued down the same path as Su Zhe, my hair would have turned completely white."

Lin Ying turned to look at Su Cheng: "What about Zhe-ge's side now...?"

Su Cheng put down his chopsticks: "Aying, Zhe and I have broken up."

He said this calmly, without resentment or regret.

"Zhecheng Film Industry now belongs to Brother Zhe alone; all the shares and investments went to him. I'm back now, and I'm helping my parents with their work."

Lin Ying was somewhat surprised to hear the word "Mommy"; something must have happened afterward, otherwise Su Cheng wouldn't have changed his address.

Su Jun nodded in agreement: "It was Mom who noticed something was wrong with Zhe Ge's side; at that time, Zhe Ge lost money on two projects in a row, and Su Zhi's agent was also burning through money. Mom knew it wouldn't work after doing the math."

"She directly pulled me and Cheng Ge aside and talked for an entire afternoon, laying out all the accounts on the table for us to see; the next day, she forced us to return from Zhecheng Film Studio, cutting off all our share investments and giving them all to Su Zhe."

Zhou Yawen put down her teacup and sighed, "If you two keep messing around with Su Zhe, it won't be as simple as just losing some money."

She looked at Lin Ying and said, "Su Zhe acts entirely on instinct. He's smart but indecisive! These two will learn nothing from following him, and if they get involved in debt disputes, the entire second branch of the family's fortune will be dragged down."

Lin Ying understood. Zhou Yawen had considered everything very thoroughly and genuinely cared for these two "sons".

Su Zhihao said from the side, "Now Su Cheng is working with me as a producer, and Su Jun is in charge of distribution; the two of them have been working diligently for more than half a year, which is much less troublesome than before."

Su Jun pouted: "Old Dou, don't make it sound like we used to be such a troublemaker."

Su Zhihao glanced at him: "You weren't just a troublemaker before, you were a death sentence."

Su Jun instinctively shrank his neck.

Lin Ying laughed. This scene was exactly the same as when she was in middle school. Su Jun was always switching between being stubborn and admitting defeat.

Zhou Yawen looked at Su Cheng and said, "By the way, Aying, there's something else I need to tell you; Su Cheng is getting married in January."

Lin Ying put down her chopsticks and looked at Su Cheng: "Really? Congratulations, Brother Cheng."

Su Cheng rarely smiled: "Thank you, Aying."

"What does your partner do?" Lin Ying asked curiously.

Su Cheng said, "She's a computer engineer named Tang Shiya."

Lin Ying was stunned. Tang Shiya, she knew those three words all too well.

"Tang Shiya?" Lin Ying repeated.

"Yes." Su Cheng nodded. "She works as a developer at a software company. She's very smart, beautiful, and hardworking."

Lin Ying turned to Zhou Yawen: "Teacher Zhou, my memory might be a little fuzzy; wasn't there a Tang Shiya in our class back then?"

Zhou Yawen thought for a moment: "Where? We have Tang Xueqi in our class, my English class representative, the one who sits in front of you! Tang Shiya? We didn't have that name in our class during those years at Boya Academy."

Lin Ying remained silent for a few seconds, her mind quickly searching through her memories.

Tang Shiya, St. Paul's Primary School, Grade 4, Class 1... Sitting next to her; the girl who always kept her head down, was ostracized by several girls, and was too soft-hearted to fight back.

"Su Cheng," Lin Ying looked at him, "isn't she from St. Paul's Elementary School?"

Su Cheng was a little surprised: "Yes, she went to elementary school in St. Paul's. How did you know?"

Lin Ying: "She was my classmate in elementary school."

Su Cheng paused for two seconds, then asked, "What?"

Su Jun dropped his chopsticks: "Wait, wait, wait! Sister Ying, you said Tang Shiya is your classmate?"

"She was in Class 1, Grade 4, sitting next to me," Lin Ying said. "After I transferred to Boya College, I lost contact with her. Later, when I went to different secondary schools, I heard nothing from her at all."

Su Zhihao reacted quickly: "Hahahaha! What a small world! We've circled around and it's all our own people!"

Su Cheng became a little nervous: "Ah Ying, what was your relationship with Shi Ya like before?"

Lin Ying found his expression amusing: "What? Are you afraid I won't give you face now because I had a fight with her before?"

Su Chengqian laughed: "No, no, I was just asking."

"Don't worry." Lin Ying picked up her teacup. "Tang Shiya was my deskmate back then, and I have a pretty good impression of her."

Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Jun slapped his thigh beside him: "This is outrageous! Cheng-ge, your girlfriend of almost two years is actually Ying-jie's elementary school classmate! Why didn't you say so sooner!"

Su Cheng rolled his eyes at him: "How would I know? Shi Ya has never mentioned who she was in the same class with in elementary school. She just said that she used to study in St. Paul's."

Lin Ying thought for a moment: "That's normal. Everyone was young back then. Later, we all went our separate ways. Who remembers whom?"

Zhou Yawen chimed in from the side, "Next time you meet, you can catch up; are you coming to the wedding in January?"

Lin Ying looked at Su Cheng: "Have you sent out the invitations?"

Su Cheng quickly said, "Not yet! I originally planned to post it after Brother Zhe's wedding, but I thought I'd tell you in person today. Ah Ying, you absolutely have to come on January 18th!"

"Two weddings in two months, the Su family is quite busy," Lin Ying nodded with a smile.

Su Zhihao placed a piece of lobster meat on Lin Ying's plate: "It's better to do good things than bad things."

After saying that, he glanced at Su Jun again: "You're the only one left. When are you going to get married?"

Su Jun shouted, "Old Dou! I'm only twenty-six! What's the rush!"

Zhou Yawen remained calm: "It's fine if we're not in a rush to get married, but you haven't submitted this month's financial statements yet. Put them on my desk before noon tomorrow."

Su Jun's arrogance vanished instantly: "Okay, Mommy."

Watching the family interact, Lin Lanying whispered to Lin Ying, "Ya Wen really manages to keep them in line."

Lin Ying nodded.

Towards the end of the meal, Su Zhihao took out a bottle of red wine to open, but Zhou Yawen stopped him with a look: "Everyone drove here today, so no one should drink."

Su Zhihao put the bottle back: "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."

Watching this scene, Lin Ying sighed that the second branch of the Su family had changed a lot over the years, but the core had not changed; Su Zhihao was still the loud-voiced second son, Su Cheng and Su Jun were still well-behaved, and Zhou Yawen sat steadily in her position, holding her own direction.

As for Tang Shiya, that girl who used to cower in the corner and dare not speak has now become a computer engineer and is getting married.

Life is a journey that sometimes goes around in circles, and you'll eventually meet again at some crossroads.

Lin Ying picked up her teacup and took a sip. She was already looking forward to seeing Tang Shiya. She wanted to see what that quiet little girl from back then had become.