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

It's Sunday again.

The morning air in Sai Wan was still damp with mist, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares could already be heard in the alleyway of Yu Fat Building. Lin Lanying cooked a bowl of steaming wonton noodles in the kitchen and placed it on the folding table.

Lin Ying sat at the table, her schoolbag already packed neatly, with a brown paper bag tucked inside. Inside was the detailed script of the first five scenes of "Death by Light," which she had worked on overnight, along with the character outlines.

"Going to other people's homes is a good way to make money, but don't overwork yourself," He Dazhu couldn't help but advise.

"I know, Lao Dou." Lin Ying lowered her head and finished her wonton noodles.

Carrying her schoolbag, Lin Ying walked out of the alley and boarded a tram, heading towards a high-end apartment in Causeway Bay. Today's trip wasn't just about earning tutoring fees; it was also about officially stepping into the golden age of Hong Kong cinema.

Upon arriving at the Su family home, Maria, their Filipino maid, opened the door.

"Good morning, Miss Lin. Brother Hao is waiting for you in the study." Maria smiled even more respectfully than last week.

Lin Ying changed into slippers and went straight to the study. The door wasn't closed properly, and a strong smell of smoke could be smelled through the crack; Lin Ying raised her hand and knocked on the door frame before pushing the door open and going in.

Su Zhihao was leaning back in his executive chair, flipping through a thick ledger. Hearing a noise, he looked up and saw Lin Ying come in carrying a brown paper bag.

"You've written it down?" Su Zhihao closed the ledger in his hand and stubbed out his cigarette.

"The first five scenes, plus the complete character and plot outline." Lin Ying walked to the large desk and pushed over the neat stack of manuscript papers. "Second Uncle, please check the goods first."

Su Zhihao glanced at her suspiciously. He felt that something written by a nine-year-old girl was merely child's play. He reached out and picked up the top few pages.

Page 1, Character Biography: A coffin shop assistant who is afraid of blood and timid.

Page 2, Scene 1: Delivering the wrong coffin late at night leads to stumbling upon a cult ritual.

The study fell silent, save for the sound of pages turning...

He read the last page of the outline twice, flipping through it repeatedly.

"Damn it..." Su Zhihao finally gave a thumbs up, "Absolutely brilliant! This way of mixing ghostly taboos with slapstick humor is something you won't find in theaters anywhere else! I was practically hooked on the first five shows, and I can't wait to see how he fights that fake Taoist priest!"

Lin Ying stood quietly in front of the table: "Second Uncle is satisfied?"

"Satisfied! Absolutely fucking satisfied!" Su Zhihao slammed his hand on the manuscript. "What's wrong with your brain?! This script, if filmed, would be a smash hit in midnight theaters!"

After imagining his films turning into money-printing machines for a while, Su Zhihao casually asked his son, "Let me ask you something. What exactly did you talk about with that jerk Ah Jun at home last week?"

Lin Ying: "What?"

"That brat's been acting like he's possessed lately!" Su Zhihao felt his son had become very strange. "He doesn't watch TV after school anymore, and he doesn't even look at his treasured comic books. After dinner, he locks himself in his room to read his textbooks! When I push open the door to ask him what's going on, he just glances at me, ignores me, and continues writing."

At this point, Su Zhihao even found it somewhat ridiculous: "Even when I whipped him with a belt, he never worked this hard! What exactly do you have to control him with?"

Lin Ying looked at Su Zhihao: "I didn't say anything. I just told them what we teenagers should be like."

"What should a young man be like?" Su Zhihao asked subconsciously.

"We can't just wait for adults to give us things." Lin Ying looked him straight in the eye without any hesitation. "We have to learn to earn things with our own skills."

Su Zhihao was stunned for several seconds, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Good! Well said! That's what human language is all about! I call them trash all the time, and they just ignore me. But one sentence from you is more effective than ten beatings!"

Su Zhihao felt extremely pleased and took an envelope out of the drawer, slapping it on the edge of the table.

"Ah Ying, your second uncle has another task for you today! This time, you'll tutor Su Cheng as well! The tutoring time will be extended to three hours. I'll give you two hundred yuan!" Su Zhihao was very generous. "No matter what method you use, give them a good beating! As long as you don't cripple them, you can do whatever you want with them!"

Three hours, two hundred yuan; that's double the income.

Lin Ying did not refuse, but stepped forward calmly and put the envelope away: "I'm paying people to do my job. I'll definitely teach them to the end."

"Fine! Go deal with those two bastards." Su Zhihao picked up the manuscript on the table and grabbed his car keys. "I'm going to take this script to that bum director right now! Let's see what excuse he has to ask me for money this time. I want him to start preparing to film right away!"

"Second Uncle Su!" Lin Ying suddenly stepped forward and placed her hand on the edge of the stack of manuscript papers.

Su Zhihao looked at her with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong?"

"Don't contact the director yet! Contact the lawyer first."

"Find a lawyer?"

"Yes." Lin Ying explained the pros and cons to him. "Second Uncle, you know better than I how murky the entertainment industry is. You've handed this brilliant script to an outsider director without any precautions. What if he reads it, tells you it can't be filmed, and then secretly finds a writer, changes the character names, copies the entire plot, and releases it before you? What will you do then? Go to Kowloon City and have someone beat him up? Or will you just swallow this bitter pill?"

The excitement on Su Zhihao's face vanished instantly.

He came from a criminal background and was used to fighting for territory with real weapons. How could he understand the bloodless and insidious plagiarism tactics used in the cultural circle? If it weren't for Lin Ying's reminder, he would have given this script away to someone else today!

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Su Zhihao looked at Lin Ying and thought she was a very thoughtful adult!

"I'll find a lawyer first!" Su Zhihao clutched the manuscript to his chest. "I know a top lawyer who specializes in commercial contracts. I'll take him to him right away to apply for... copyright protection!"

Lin Ying then released her grip and continued to add details, even outlining her escape route: "Second Uncle, the last page of the script's character outline has my real name, address, and contact information. Because I'm a minor, if the lawyer needs my guardian's signature for filing, you can directly call that shop to contact my mother. She's fully aware of this matter."

"Okay, I'll take care of it!" Su Zhihao readily agreed to Lin Ying's suggestion and hurriedly grabbed his car keys and manuscript before heading out the door.

The door slammed shut.

Lin Ying turned around, walked out of the study, and stopped at the door of Su Cheng's room.

The door was ajar, and Lin Ying pushed it open and went inside.

The room was dimly lit with the curtains drawn. Twelve-year-old Su Cheng sat at his desk, pen in hand, staring blankly at his open textbook. Su Jun, on the other hand, was curled up on the carpet, his head buried in his knees.

Hearing footsteps opening the door, Su Jun looked up.

Upon seeing Lin Ying, the usually arrogant and domineering second young master burst into tears.

He got up from the carpet and said, feeling wronged, "Lin Ying... you were absolutely right."

Lin Ying closed the door behind her and placed her schoolbag on the chair next to her: "Did you ask?"

"Last Sunday night, my brother and I asked him," Su Jun sobbed. "Dad had been drinking, and he said he would definitely remarry. I asked him if he would have more children, and he said: 'Of course, he's a man, how could he not have more...'"

"We've failed so badly..." Su Jun cried, wiping away tears. "We don't have a mother, and our father constantly berates us as worthless trash. Once our stepmother comes in and has a new brother, we'll be kicked out completely! Lin Ying, we have no choice, we have absolutely no choice! What are we going to do?!"

Su Jun sat on the floor and burst into tears, the sound of his sobs echoing throughout the room.

Once Su Jun's crying subsided a little, Lin Ying spoke up, "Are you done crying? If you are, remember one thing: you are you, you are Su Jun, you are Su Cheng."

The two brothers stared at her blankly.

"You are not anyone's possession, nor are you the names that follow anyone's property."

"You were brought into this world by them, you had no choice. It's a fact that your mother is unreliable for going abroad, there's no need to make excuses for her. But your father is still very responsible. He pays for your education, hires tutors, and provides you with such a big house, it's just that he's rude and doesn't know how to teach. The kind of person who loves deeply is also very strict, and everything he says sounds like a threat."

Su Cheng still said unwillingly, "But he'll give the money to someone else sooner or later."

"That's his money!" Lin Ying continued. "He can give it to whomever he wants! Actually, we're all the same. We're all born to learn how to live, how to survive in this world without a protective umbrella, how to earn the life we ​​want with our own hands!"

Lin Ying looked into their eyes.

"Never have too high expectations of your parents; the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. The only thing you can rely on is your own abilities. When you're capable of building your own empire, even if your father has ten more sons, you won't have to worry!"

These words struck a chord with both of them.

Su Jun's tears were still on his face, but he stopped sobbing; Su Cheng also loosened his grip on the pencil and looked at the girl in front of him who was three years younger than him.

Lin Ying didn't say another word. She walked over, opened the math and English textbooks in front of Su Jun and Su Cheng, and slapped the pencils in front of them.

"Now, face reality, and wipe away your tears." Lin Ying pulled up a chair, sat down, and opened her tutoring notebook. "Three hours today, two hundred yuan in tutoring fees. Starting over from third-grade multiplication and division and English clauses. Grab your pen!"

The two brothers didn't utter a single word in rebuttal. Su Jun wiped away his tears forcefully and picked up his pen; Su Cheng took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the paper.