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

The next morning, Lin Ying went to São Paulo as usual with her schoolbag. She would be on holiday after class that day.

After assigning the summer homework, Teacher Chen said, "Don't think you can let your minds wander just because it's almost the end of the semester! You'll be in sixth grade in September, and the deadline for middle school placement will be right around your necks; if anyone messes up in the first test of the semester, I'll have my ways of dealing with them."

No one dared to speak. Lin Ying sat in the third row, her head down as she copied the English reading list into her exercise book.

The students behind her were discussing whether to go to Repulse Bay or Singapore for the summer vacation, but Lin Ying's pen never stopped moving.

This summer, she not only had to finish the homework assigned by her teachers, but also had to write a script. That 1.7 million yuan really didn't last long!

When Lin Ying returned to Lin's Tailor Shop after school in the afternoon, there were no customers in the shop today, and Lin Lanying was writing something with paper and pen.

Lin Ying walked over: "Mommy, what should I write?"

Lin Lanying put down her pen: "I was too excited last night. When I woke up this morning, the more I thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. Moving the day after tomorrow is simply impossible."

Lin Ying glanced down at the paper: it listed a telephone and a range hood, followed by a twin-tub washing machine, a rice cooker, and a refrigerator, then a row of daily necessities such as pots and pans, and even toilet paper and a trash can.

"Indeed." Lin Ying pulled up a chair and sat down. "Yesterday at the furniture store, I only bought large items like a bed, cabinets, sofa, and color TV. But you can't make a living on just a few big items."

Lin Lanying shook her head more and more as she thought about it: "It's more than that! There isn't even a single curtain in Taikoo City! The pots and pans here at Yufa Building are all blackened by soot... It'll be a nightmare to move in if we don't buy all these odds and ends."

Lin Ying comforted her, "Take your time. The furniture store will deliver the goods tomorrow; they'll receive them for inspection first. Don't rush over there."

"Your mom has already come up with a plan. I'm all alone, and the shop still needs to operate to make money; it can't be closed every day. We need to wait for deliveries and inspect goods at Taikoo Shing. Your dad has to go to Yau Ma Tei to learn jade carving during the day, so he can't take time off every day. And that good-for-nothing Ah Him can't be relied on for anything except watching color TV."

"Mommy, who did you call?"

"I just called back to the New Territories and invited your grandparents over."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Lin Qian's voice came from outside the door: "Mommy! What do you mean I can't be relied on?! I can help you test the water in the bathtub!"

Lin Lanying shot her a glare: "You'd better thoroughly understand all the addition and subtraction problems you got wrong on your final exam before you talk!"

Lin Qian...

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The next morning, Lin Fu and Li Yuzhen got off the minibus at the station and rushed to Sai Wan.

The elderly couple each carried a cloth bag. Li Yuzhen's bag contained two slaughtered free-range chickens. Lin Fu's bag held a small hammer and measuring tape wrapped in old newspaper, along with electrical tape and a well-worn Phillips screwdriver...

As soon as he entered the corridor of Yufa Building, Lin Fu frowned: "Looking at how narrow this corridor is today, how did you manage to move the wardrobe in back then?"

Lin Lanying quickly stepped forward and took the chicken from the old lady's hand: "Dad, don't take any of the big items. Buy all new ones in Taikoo Shing. Just bring clothes, books, and some personal belongings."

Li Yuzhen exclaimed, "Aying, you said on the phone that you bought a new house, I thought you were joking. Such a large sum of money... Did Aying really make money writing plays?"

Without saying a word, Lin Lanying took out the floor plan of Taikoo City and spread it on the table.

Lin Fu put on his reading glasses and looked down for a while. "1200 square feet? Four rooms? Fifteenth floor, three balconies!"

With each sentence the old man recited, Li Yuzhen gasped in shock. In all her life, the largest sums of money she had ever heard of were hundreds of thousands or even millions spent on building a house; such a sum was completely beyond her wildest imagination.

The old man sat on a bench: "We should buy it!"

Lin Fu stared at the copy of the design: "Money in your hand is just fleeting wealth; it'll vanish in the wind. Only when it's used to buy bricks and registered under Aying's and your names does it become real wealth! Aying is a girl; if she wants to succeed in the future, she needs to have strong backing. This move was the right one!"

Lin Lanying quickly served tea and water to the two elders and asked Lin Ying to put away the housing information for Taikoo City.

Li Yuzhen took a sip of water and helped Lin Lanying with her calculations: "We need to buy new pots. The kitchen in the new housing estate is so clean; we can't bring over those old, dark iron pots from Yufa; they look awful. We should also get a new set of bowls and chopsticks; these matching sets will look best when we have guests over."

Lin Lanying took out her pen and wrote down each item in her notebook.

He Dazhu chimed in from the side, "We should install a phone as soon as possible. It will be easier for A-mei to contact us when she needs to go to school or the film company."

The family spent the whole morning discussing the new house in detail.

After lunch, Lin Fu looked at Lin Lanying and asked, "Lanying, after you move to Taikoo Shing, what are your plans for the tailor shop in Sai Wan?"

Lin Ying opened her schoolbag, took out a notebook, and pushed it on the table. "Mommy, I was just about to tell you this. After we move to Taikoo Shing, the tailor shop in Sai Wan can prepare to close down."

Lin Lanying immediately disagreed: "Close the shop? That's our family's livelihood built up over the years, you're just going to close it like that?"

"It's not that we don't do it, it's just that we're doing it in a different place and in a different way," Lin Ying analyzed. "Here in Sai Wan, they charge local prices for altering trouser hems and sewing zippers. Mommy, your skills are so good, you spend half a day altering a garment and charge people only a few or ten dollars, that's too cheap."

Lin Lanying didn't speak, but subconsciously touched her fingers, which had calluses from years of using a sewing machine.

Lin Ying continued, "Who lives in Taikoo Shing? They're Hong Kong's middle class. They don't lack the money to buy ready-made clothes in malls, but they lack well-fitting, presentable, and unique clothing. Mommy, you don't need to take these odd jobs anymore; you can specialize in bespoke tailoring. Cheongsams, suits, evening gowns—it's more cost-effective to have a complete set made here than here."

Li Yuzhen frowned upon hearing this: "Personalized customization? You mean making clothes exclusively for wealthy wives?"

"Yes." Lin Ying nodded, "Measurement, fabric selection, pattern making, fitting, the whole service."

Lin Lanying felt uneasy: "Wouldn't a wealthy woman look down on me, considering I'm just an old seamstress from the streets of Sai Wan?"

"So we need to package it. Mommy, after we move in, I'll go to Central and get some of the latest foreign fashion magazines. I'll find some nice cheongsams and suits for you."

Lin Ying has great faith in her mother's craftsmanship: "You study the patterns, combine them with your skills, and gradually develop your own designs. As long as the products are good, the ladies in Taikoo Shing will come to you on their own."