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

The next day at noon, Lin Ying arrived at Tai Cheong in Central ten minutes early. The store was crowded, and freshly baked egg tarts were displayed in the glass case. Lin Ying bought two, took her coffee, and sat down by the window.

At exactly twelve o'clock, Tang Shiya pushed open the door and came in; she immediately saw Lin Ying and walked over with a smile: "Lin Ying, the usual, egg tarts first?"

Lin Ying pushed the tray over: "I've already bought it."

Tang Shiya sat down, looked at the egg tarts in front of her, and the two of them exchanged a glance and smiled.

Having not seen each other for over a decade, one would expect awkwardness, but with an egg tart placed in the middle, that sense of unfamiliarity was actually suppressed.

Tang Shiya picked up a spoon and tapped the edge of the egg tart: "I used to think that someone like you wouldn't remember me."

Lin Ying picked up her coffee: "I have a good memory."

"I know that having a good memory doesn't mean I'll keep a primary school classmate in my heart."

Tang Shiya lowered her head and took a bite of the egg tart. After a while, she said, "Actually, I've always remembered you."

"Because I explained a problem to you?"

"Not only that, but you said something to me the day you left Class 1, Grade 4."

Lin Ying thought for a moment: "I've said a lot of things."

"You told me to be brave and not to always live in other people's eyes; I cried for a long time after you left that day."

Lin Ying looked at her: "And then?"

"Later, I was still ostracized by them for a while," Tang Shiya said bluntly. "After you left, they ignored me even more. Before, when you sat next to me, they didn't dare to go too far. After you left, they felt that I was easy to bully again."

Lin Ying put down her coffee cup: "Isn't the teacher going to do anything about it?"

"I'll manage a little, but not much." Tang Shiya smiled. "Those kinds of things between young girls are hard to manage. They don't hit me, they don't swear, they just don't include me in their games, they deliberately don't choose me for group assignments, and they don't invite me to their birthday parties."

As she said this, she sighed, "It seems so childish now, but it was really tough back then! I was just over ten years old, and the whole world was only the size of one class... So I did what you said."

"How do I do it?"

"I need to improve my grades first," Tang Shiya said. "My grades were average back then, and my family wasn't particularly wealthy, so I felt very insecure in St. Paul's. After you left, I stayed in the classroom every day after school to do practice problems."

Lin Ying was somewhat surprised: "You were slow at writing general knowledge papers back then."

"Yes, so I'll practice general knowledge first." Tang Shiya smiled. "You taught me to look at the point values, do the big questions first, and don't keep changing the multiple-choice questions."

Lin Ying laughed, "You've been using this trick for over ten years?"

"I used it; I used it for the high school exams, for university exams, and even now I use it to write programs and schedule tasks." Tang Shiya took a sip of her coffee. "Later, I got into a polytechnic and studied computer science. At that time, my family didn't understand. They thought, 'Why would a girl study this? It would be more stable to find a clerical job later.'"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I listened for three days, and on the fourth day I went to submit the form myself."

Lin Ying: "Sure, Engineer Tang."

Tang Shiya was amused by the address: "No, I'm not at the level where Boss Lin can call me Engineer Tang yet."

"Working as a developer at a software company?"

"Yes, I write enterprise systems and also some financial software modules," Tang Shiya said. "The work is annoying! But the money is okay, at least I don't have to ask my family for money."

Lin Ying nodded: "That's good."

Tang Shiya looked at her and asked, "What about you? The newspapers say you're very capable, but they love to write nonsense; have you really had such a smooth life these past few years?"

Lin Ying stirred her coffee with a spoon: "Not going well."

"I knew it! The newspapers portrayed you as some kind of genius, a female tycoon, an inventor! Even my mom said, 'Shiya, look at Lin Ying.'"

Lin Ying was speechless: "Your auntie is using me to lecture you?"

"Of course." Tang Shiya shrugged. "Parents all over Hong Kong use you to educate their children. I'm not the only victim."

Lin Ying was amused by her words: "Then I'll apologize to you."

"No, your apology won't help. My mom has already cut out your articles and put them in a book," Tang Shiya said, her expression serious. "But I know you must be tired."

Lin Ying looked out the window: "It's definitely tiring. Studying is tiring, making money is tiring, and running a factory is even more tiring."

"Is your factory very busy right now?"

"Busy! Orders are piling up, production capacity is being pushed, R&D is being pushed... Employees want me to pay them more, finance wants me to not spend money recklessly, sales wants to deliver goods quickly, and technology wants me to buy more equipment."

Tang Shiya chuckled, "Boss Lin sounds really pathetic."

"It's not that bad, it's just that I want to unplug the phone line every day."

"I understand," Tang Shiya said. "Our company's clients are like that too. Today they say there's no rush, tomorrow they ask if it can go live, and the day after they're yelling at you for not finishing it yet."

Lin Ying looked at her: "Are you going to yell back?"

"I didn't dare before."

"And now?"

"Now I would say that the contract states next month."

Lin Ying gave a thumbs up: "Great progress."

Tang Shiya smiled and shook her head: "Actually, the reason I've become who I am today is partly due to what you said."

Lin Ying shook her head: "Don't take credit for it. The one who truly got through it was yourself."

Tang Shiya was silent for a few seconds: "But when no one told me, I really didn't know I could hold on."

Lin Ying did not refuse again. Some words may just come out easily to the speaker, but may take many years for the listener to digest.

The waiter came over to refill their water, and the two ordered lunch.

While waiting for their food, Lin Ying asked, "How did you and Su Cheng meet?"

Tang Shiya smiled slightly: "We met through work."

"Film and software?"

"His company wanted to develop an internal film scheduling and cost management system, so they contacted our company; I was in charge of project coordination. The first time I met him, he was twenty minutes late."

Lin Ying: "This is so Suzhou."

"My face turned dark," Tang Shiya said. "He apologized as soon as he came in, saying there was traffic on the way! I asked him if he could have left earlier if there was traffic?"

Lin Ying laughed out loud: "You said that on the spot?"

"right."

"Su Cheng isn't angry?"

"He was stunned." Tang Shiya laughed as she recalled the scene. "Later he said that very few people around him had ever confronted him so directly."

Lin Ying nodded: "The boys in their family need to be teased."

Tang Shiya agreed: "I think so too."

Lin Ying asked, "Did he pursue you later?"

"Yes. But I didn't agree at first; I knew he was from the Su family, and I also knew he was involved in the film and television industry, and that he had his share of messy things going on around him."

"Have you investigated him?"

"Of course!" Tang Shiya said frankly, "You can be attracted to someone when you're dating, but you can't get married without checking their background."

Lin Ying looked at her and said, "I agree with that statement."

Tang Shiya continued, "I asked his ex-girlfriend, about his debts, about his breakup with Su Zhe, and about whether he wanted to continue working for Su Zhihao in the future."

Lin Ying became interested: "He answered everything?"

"He answered, but if he didn't answer well, I'll have him go back and answer again."

Lin Ying picked up the cup: "Tang Shiya, you're really not the little girl you used to be."

Tang Shiya blinked: "I used to be ostracized, now I'm facing the risk of being ostracized."

Lin Ying almost choked on her coffee: "You can summarize things better than I can now."

"Su Cheng's temper isn't actually bad," Tang Shiya said. "He was just a bit frivolous before, thinking he knew everything just because he grew up on film sets. But after his mother brought him back down to earth, he became much more grounded."

"Can Teacher Zhou control him?"

"She can keep him in check," Tang Shiya laughed. "Teacher Zhou is my future mother-in-law now, so I don't dare to comment on her; but I must admit, she's very capable."

Lin Ying nodded: "She was formidable when she was in charge of us."

"Are you afraid of her too?"

"I'm not so much afraid," Lin Ying thought for a moment. "It's mainly because she punishes us with such harsh homework! All the girls in our class call her Zhou the Skinflint..."

The two chatted as they ate, talking about everything from elementary school to their jobs and then about Suzhou.

Halfway through the meal, Tang Shiya asked, "Lin Ying, I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead and ask."

"You know the situation within the Su family in Suzhou better than I do; do you think he's a suitable person for marriage?"

Lin Ying did not answer immediately.

Tang Shiya didn't urge her, she just looked at her.

After a while, Lin Ying said, "He's not a bad person, nor is he particularly smart; he's made mistakes in the past, but he's willing to listen to advice and be managed."

Tang Shiya nodded.

Lin Ying continued, "If you want to find someone who is completely without problems, that's difficult; Su Cheng's advantage is that he knows his own limitations; his disadvantage is that he's used to having someone back him up."

Tang Shiya took these words to heart: "I've noticed that too; I've already had a lawyer draft a prenuptial agreement, there's no other way; I lacked confidence when I was young, and now I'm especially afraid of losing control; feelings are feelings, and money is money, I don't want to argue about these things in the future."

Lin Ying nodded: "You did the right thing."

Tang Shiya breathed a sigh of relief: "Hearing you say that makes me feel much more at ease."

"You ask me if I'm not afraid I'll side with the Su family?"

"I'm not afraid." Tang Shiya looked at her. "If you were going to say anything carelessly because of our friendship, you wouldn't have taught me to do the big problems first in elementary school."

Lin Ying was amused by this logic: "How can this even connect?"

"Yes." Tang Shiya said seriously, "You've always been someone who only cares about results."

After finishing the meal, Tang Shiya paid the bill first.

Lin Ying looked at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"It's on me today." Tang Shiya put her wallet away. "Back in elementary school, you helped me so many times, and I've never had a chance to repay you. Let me repay you with a meal today; at my wedding in January, would you like to sit on the bride's side?"

Lin Ying paused, then asked, "Me?"

"Yes." Tang Shiya looked at her. "I don't have many friends in Hong Kong, and even fewer people who are on my side. If you're willing, I'd like you to be my VIP guest."

Lin Ying did not agree immediately.

Tang Shiya thought she was in a difficult position, so she quickly added, "It's okay if it's inconvenient. I know you have a close relationship with the Su family."

"It's not inconvenient at all." Lin Ying picked up her water glass and gently touched it with hers. "In January, I'll sit here with you."