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

Lin Ying did not go to the tailor shop.

This was the first time since she had regained consciousness that she had gone straight upstairs from the alley entrance of Xihuan after school and returned to her home in Yufa Building.

There was no one inside. Usually at this time, Lin Lanying would still be finishing up at the shop, and Lin Qian would be staying after school today, coming home late with his mother. He Dazhu, needless to say, was an apprentice jade carver at Master Su's shop in Yau Ma Tei, and wouldn't be released until dark.

Lin Ying walked to the table, put down her leather backpack, unzipped it, and took out the class transfer application form given to her by the principal's office.

[Proposed transfer destination: Grade 5, Class 1]

She stared at the line of text for a couple of seconds, then tucked the form back into the innermost layer of her Chinese textbook.

This piece of paper is so light that a gust of wind seeping through a crack in the window could blow it away; this piece of paper could compress a whole year of primary school time in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's education system doesn't wait for anyone. Lin Ying especially can't wait.

Lin Ying pulled out a chair, sat down, took out her notebook, and began writing her English exercises for the day. The pen scratched across the paper. Her hand was steady; the letter spacing was perfect, and no punctuation was missed.

Just as he was writing the third page, he heard Lin Qian's loud and boisterous voice coming from the hallway outside the door.

"Mommy, I'm so hungry! Is there any roast goose for dinner tonight?"

Then came Lin Lanying's scolding: "Roast goose? Do you think your family owns a roast goose shop? You were kept after school again today to copy new words, and you still have the nerve to eat roast goose? Tonight we only have fish ball noodles, do you want some or not?"

"Eat! Eat if there's food!"

The key was inserted into the lock, and the door was pushed open. Lin Lanying walked in carrying a vegetable basket, with Lin Qian following behind on his schoolbag.

Lin Lanying looked up and saw Lin Ying sitting at the table: "Aying?"

Lin Ying looked up: "Mommy."

Lin Lanying placed the vegetable basket on the table. She knew her daughter too well. Aying was usually very disciplined. After school, she would always go to the shop first to check Lin Qian's homework, help watch the counter for a while, and then go home together.

"Why did you go straight home today?" Lin Lanying took two steps closer, looking her up and down. "Didn't you go to the shop? Did something happen at school?"

Lin Qian peeked over from the side and asked, "Sister, are you sick?"

Lin Ying closed her English exercise book and put her pen aside: "I'm not sick."

Lin Lanying knew that her daughter must have something important to do if she came home today. She took off her apron, draped it over the back of the chair, and pulled out the chair to sit down.

"Go ahead and speak."

Lin Ying didn't beat around the bush. She reached out, opened her Chinese textbook, pulled out the application form, and pushed it across the table in front of Lin Lanying.

"Mommy, the principal talked to me today."

Lin Lanying asked nervously, "The principal personally came to see you? Did you get into trouble at school?"

"No," Lin Ying pointed to the form, "it's about skipping a grade."

Lin Lanying lowered her head, looking at the form stamped with a red seal. Lin Qian also leaned closer, gripping the edge of the table, his eyes wide as he read it aloud, word by word:

"Original class... Grade 4, Class 1... Proposed transfer to... Grade 5, Class 1?"

Lin Qian froze after reading it aloud. "Huh?"

Lin Ying said, "The school wants me to start a trial period in the fifth grade class 1 next week. If my grades in all subjects meet the requirements at the end of the semester, I won't have to study in the fifth grade when school starts in September; I can go directly to the sixth grade."

Lin Qian opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time.

Lin Lanying picked up the form and looked at it again from beginning to end. "What exactly did the principal say?"

Lin Ying recounted exactly what Principal Liang and Inspector Luo had said in the office: six years of primary school, secondary school placement, junior secondary school from Form 1 to Form 3, Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) in Form 4 and Form 5, pre-university in Form 6 and Form 7, and only then can one go to university.

In government-run secondary schools, skipping grades is strictly prohibited; however, primary school is a place where time can be artificially compressed and costs saved.

Lin Lanying listened attentively and didn't interrupt at all.

Lin Qian, who was standing next to him, frowned in pain halfway through the conversation.

"Wait! Wait!" Lin Qian raised his hands and shouted to stop. "Sister, you're in fourth grade now, you'll be in fifth grade next week, and sixth grade in September. What about me? I'm only in third grade next semester!"

Lin Ying glanced at him: "So?"

"So I'm two years younger than you, and you're almost graduating from elementary school while I'm still struggling with multiplication tables!" Lin Qian grabbed his hair. "Is this reasonable? This is absolutely unreasonable!"

Lin Lanying turned around and glared at him: "You can't even memorize 7 x 8 = 56, how dare you talk about being reasonable?"

"Mommy! That's not the point at all!" Lin Qian clutched his chest, feeling like he couldn't breathe properly. "The point is, how come there are so many books to read in Hong Kong?! After six years of primary school, there are Form 1, Form 2, Form 3, then Form 4, Form 5, and finally Form 6 and Form 7? After a full seven years of secondary school, you still have to go to university? This is insane!!"

Lin Qian plopped down in a chair, his eyes vacant: "When I think about it now, I feel like my life is completely hopeless!"

Lin Ying couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Lanying raised her hand and lightly slapped Lin Qian on the back of the head: "Do you think you can just study whenever you want? Hong Kong's allocation system is incredibly brutal! If your grades aren't good, you won't get into a good school, you won't even be able to get into those secondary schools! Do you think they're begging you to go to Form 7?"

Lin Qian muttered to himself, "Then I'm even more hopeless."

"Don't be so discouraging," Lin Lanying scolded her son, then turned her gaze back to the application form.

"Ah Ying," Lin Lanying looked at her daughter, "what do you think?"

Lin Ying looked into her mother's eyes: "I want to jump."

"Continuing with the normal education system would take too long. Three years of primary school, five years of secondary school, two years of pre-university, and several more years of university. Everything is expensive in Hong Kong, but time is the most expensive. Every year I can save now is a year."

Lin Lanying didn't speak. She was just a woman who worked on a sewing machine in Sai Wan. She didn't understand any academic principles, but she understood life and how difficult it was for people at the bottom to climb up.

After a moment, Lin Lanying slammed the form back onto the table. "Then jump!"

Lin Ying looked at her.

Lin Lanying said, "Mommy knows you're smart, and I know you're not doing this for show. Now that you've made up your mind, just do it."

She added realistically, "Besides, the competition in Hong Kong is so fierce. If you don't hurry up and study like this, you'll be an old maid by the time you graduate! How will you survive in society when you're too old?"

Lin Qian burst out laughing, "Mommy, my older sister is only ten years old this year, and you're already calling her an old maid?"

"You don't know anything!" Lin Lanying rolled her eyes at him. "For poor families' children, starting school a year earlier means one more year of opportunity. With your older sister's brain, keeping her in lower grades doing those problems she already knows with her eyes closed is a real waste!"

------

Around 8 p.m., He Dazhu returned home.

He had two more cuts on his hands from the carving knife today, and his fingers were wrapped in medical tape. As soon as he entered, he sniffed and said, "It smells so good. Is there noodles for dinner tonight?"

Lin Qian immediately jumped up from his chair and rushed over: "Old Dou! Something terrible has happened! My sister is skipping a grade again!"

He Dazhu stopped putting down his toolbox and stood frozen in the doorway: "Jumping again?"

Lin Lanying walked over and handed him the application form: "The school spoke with Aying today. She'll be going to the fifth grade for a trial period next week. If she meets the requirements at the end of the semester, she'll be joining the sixth grade in September."

He Dazhu handled the paper very carefully, afraid of crumpling it. He couldn't read the small English print, only Lin Ying's name and the words "fifth grade".

"Sister," He Dazhu walked over, "Isn't it too tiring?"

Lin Ying looked up at her father and said, "It will be tough, but I can keep up."

He Dazhu pulled out a chair and sat down, remaining silent for a long time. He was an honest man who had illegally immigrated from G province and made a living with his skills; he was completely unfamiliar with Hong Kong's complex school system. The concepts of placement, entrance exams, and preparatory courses all gave him a headache.

He only knew one thing in his mind: his daughter had already gone through so much.