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

On the morning of June 27th, in a sixth-grade classroom at St. Paul's Primary School in Sai Wan.

This is the second and final day of the high school entrance exams.

"Ding-dong-dong" The school bell rang in the schoolyard.

"Stop writing!" As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the classroom erupted in cheers. "The exam is finally over!"

Lin Ying remained seated, waiting for the class monitor to collect the papers. Then, Teacher Chen came in, walked up to the podium, and held the notification slip in her hand very high.

"Don't think that everything's fine after today's exams, and that you can just go off and have fun!" Teacher Chen shouted. "Listen up, everyone! The results will be released on July 7th. Everyone must go back to your primary school to collect your Secondary 1 placement certificates and enrollment registration certificates! Do you understand?"

"I heard you clearly~" came the weak, drawn-out voice from below.

"From July 10th to 11th, you must personally go to the middle school you have been assigned to complete the registration procedures with your identification! If you fail to report by this time, your place will be invalid!" Teacher Chen banged the wooden ruler in his hand.

"And don't say I didn't warn you. In mid-July, the assigned secondary schools will arrange class placement for new students. Before entering Form One, there will also be the Hong Kong Academic Test, which is essentially the placement test. Don't relax too early! If you end up in one of the lowest-ranked classes, don't say you came from St. Paul's!"

The initial enthusiasm for having fun that everyone had was completely dampened by a few words from Teacher Chen.

Lin Ying looked down at the notification slip that had been handed out.

On July 7th, the results were announced and the marriage certificate was issued.

I went to register at the middle school on July 10th and 11th.

In mid-July, classes will be divided into groups and subject tests will be conducted.

She originally planned that as soon as she finished her exams on June 27th, she could work with Boss Peng to coordinate the traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles for the mainland, and even go directly to Guangzhou to handle the pre-production work.

It now seems that Hong Kong's rigid education system, imported from the British, has no intention of letting her escape easily. One wrong step, and her entire secondary school enrollment will be nullified.

After school, Lin Ying walked out of the school gate with her schoolbag on her back. The sun was scorching outside. Lin Lanying was already waiting outside the iron gate, holding an umbrella and a paper bag in her other hand.

"Finished the exam?" As soon as Lin Lanying saw her daughter come out, she took a few steps to greet her and handed her the paper bag in her hand. "Are you tired? Are you hungry? These are freshly baked pineapple buns. Mommy specially went to the ice cream parlor at the corner store to buy them."

Lin Ying took the pineapple bun, took a bite, and said, "Not tired at all, just right."

Lin Lanying tilted the umbrella slightly towards her, observing her expression: "How are you feeling? Did you encounter any tricky questions?"

"Perform your usual routine."

Hearing those four words, Lin Lanying breathed a sigh of relief. Her daughter's performance was as expected, very solid. "That's good. I'm relieved that she performed as expected. Let's go back to Yufa's place. Your father specially left work early today to come back and collect his things."

The mother and daughter boarded a red-topped minibus, which swayed and bumped its way towards the Western Ring Road.

Lin Lanying held the notice from the school, read it carefully, and then sighed, "Why is the schedule so tight? You have to go back to school on the 7th, register on the 10th, and then take a placement test in the middle of the month? I thought you could sleep in for a few days after the exam today, but this is practically the end of the exams!"

"You can sleep for a few days, but you can't go far." Lin Ying took a sip of water. "That's how the process works. The placement test in the first year of high school determines the teacher allocation after the start of the semester, so we can't be careless."

Back in the old house in Yufa Building, as soon as the door was pushed open, newspapers were scattered all over the floor. He Dazhu was squatting on the ground, stuffing the remaining clothes and sundries into a nylon woven bag.

Lin Qian squatted down beside him, looking miserable: "Why do we have to move again? Why do we have to pack? My older sister has finished her exams, and I've only just finished fourth grade. It's not like I'm the one taking the high school entrance exam."

Lin Lanying slammed her bag on the table, glaring at him: "You're done with your summer homework after fourth grade? If you don't tidy up now, there'll be no room to walk in this house!"

He Dazhu looked up and saw Lin Ying, then smiled and said, "Little sister, are you done with your exams?"

"The exam's over, Lao Dou."

He Dazhu nodded and pointed to the two large bags on the ground: "We already took the large furniture to Taikoo City. All that's left here are a few changes of clothes and your books. I'll pack everything up today, and we'll go back to Taikoo City tonight."

Lin Qian looked at Lao Dou: "Lao Dou, does that mean we won't live here anymore? We'll live in Taikoo City the whole time?"

"Dream on." Lin Lanying walked over and stuffed the few exercise books Lin Qian had carelessly tossed into his schoolbag. "This house isn't rented out; it's reserved for your schooling. You've only just finished fourth grade, and Xihuan is close by. After the July holidays, I'll have to take you back to this Yufa Building to live for another two years, Monday through Friday, until you finish sixth grade."

Lin Qian immediately realized what was happening and asked, "So I live in Yufa Building? And what about you, Sister?"

"Your older sister is studying in the East District, so it's naturally more convenient for her to live in Taikoo Shing." Lin Lanying had calculated everything clearly.

"What about Lao Dou?" Lin Qian asked anxiously. "Where did Lao Dou go?"

He Dazhu unzipped the nylon bag: "I'm in Taikoo Shing. I'm going to my master's place for jade carving. It's not far from Taikoo Shing. Your older sister has a lot of schoolwork, so I make her breakfast in the morning and watch over the new house at night, cooking her a late-night snack. On weekends, you and Mommy can go back to Taikoo Shing for a family dinner."

Lin Qian wailed, "Then I'm the one who got separated!"

"You're more focused on your studies, so stop acting crazy." Lin Lanying slapped him on the back of the head.

In fact, this family distribution plan was not only planned by He Dazhu and Lin Lanying, but also arranged by Lin Ying beforehand.

Taikoo Shing is located in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, and Lin Ying had already decided to enroll in the Eastern District when she filled out her application form for secondary school placement in March.

She still remembers the day she filled out the form in March, when Teacher Chen specifically called her to his office.

"Lin Ying, your mock exam scores are all A's, and your overall grade is also high. Aren't you considering those traditional century-old church schools on Hong Kong Island as your first choice?" Teacher Chen pointed to the top-ranked names on the list. "With your qualifications, you have a very good chance of getting in."

Lin Ying sat at her desk and said without much hesitation, "Teacher Chen, my first choice is Boya College."

Teacher Chen was taken aback: "That famous government girls' college in Fortress Hill, East District? Although that school is also very good, a long-established prestigious school, it still lacks a bit of reputation compared to the top ten schools."

"What I value isn't its reputation," Lin Ying analyzed. "Teacher Chen, Boya College is located in Fortress Hill. From my home in Taikoo Shing, it's only a ten-minute bus ride to the school gate. If I were to go to one of those traditional prestigious schools you mentioned, with transfers, I would spend almost an extra hour and a half on the road every day. Moreover, Boya College has a complete system from Form 1 to Form 7. As long as my grades are good enough, I don't need to frequently transfer schools in Form 3 and Form 5 to compete for a high school place."

Teacher Chen nodded repeatedly after listening, saying that the calculation was very shrewd.

Lin Ying's principle is simple. Spending an extra hour and a half commuting each day adds up to hundreds of hours a year, and thousands of hours over three years. Wasting that time on minibuses and traffic jams is simply not worth it for her.

Therefore, she set her sights on Boya College, which was close to Taikoo Shing and had a stable academic system. Although the secondary school placement in Hong Kong ultimately involves an element of luck, with her top scores in all four subjects, getting into Boya College was a sure thing.

Around 7 p.m., the family of four returned to their apartment on the 15th floor of Taikoo Shing, carrying the last few red, white, and blue plastic bags.

The living room was spacious, with bright floor-to-ceiling windows. As soon as Lin Qian entered, he plopped down on the sofa and rolled around, exclaiming, "It's so much more comfortable here!"

He Dazhu ignored him, carried several cardboard boxes containing textbooks into the storage room, and said, "Little sister, don't think about anything these next few days. Don't read books, don't pay attention to scripts, eat your fill, and get a good night's sleep to make up for the energy you've lost these past two days."

Lin Ying nodded and was about to take the notification slip out of her bag when the landline on the coffee table in the living room rang.

Lin Qian jumped up from the sofa in a flash: "It must be Boss Peng! Maybe there's good news!"

He Dazhu walked over, picked up the phone, and said, "Hello, who is this?"

On the other end of the phone came Boss Peng's booming voice: "Brother Dazhu! Has Aying finished her exam? Let her answer the phone!"

Lin Ying walked over and took the microphone from Lao Dou: "Uncle Peng, the exam is over."

"Thank goodness the exam's over!" Boss Peng's voice boomed on the other end of the phone. "Screenwriter Lin, I have some fantastic news for you! I've finally got things sorted out on the mainland!"

Lin Ying asked, a little disappointed, "When is it scheduled?"

"Early July! The procedures are progressing faster than we expected. The leadership values ​​cultural exchange and granted us special internal approval. A high-profile screening is scheduled for Guangzhou in early July. This is a premiere that sets the tone; it's on a different level. If everything goes smoothly, mainland cinemas will be able to start showing the film simultaneously with its European and American releases on July 20th!"

This is truly good news; Lin Ying's path of cultural export has finally taken its first solid step.

But Lin Ying looked at the school notice in her hand: "Uncle Peng, I can't go on July 6th and 7th."

Boss Peng was stunned: "Can't go? Why? Didn't you finish your exams today and start summer vacation? Mrs. Lin won't let you go? I'll go talk to her!"

"It has nothing to do with my mommy." Lin Ying held the notice to the microphone. "Uncle Peng, on July 7th, all primary schools in Hong Kong will release their results. I must go back to school in person to collect my Form 1 placement certificate and enrollment registration certificate."

……

Mr. Peng remained silent on the other end of the phone.

"That's not all." Lin Ying read out the list one by one. "From July 10th to 11th, I have to bring my placement certificate to the secondary school I've been assigned to for the registration process. If I don't show up, my place will be forfeited. After registration, in mid-July, the new school will arrange a Hong Kong subject test for class placement."

After she finished speaking, there was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Holy crap..." Boss Peng was completely dumbfounded. "I have an international project worth tens of millions of US dollars in my hands. I've already got all the bigwigs on the mainland covered, and I'm ready to roll it out across all channels... and now you're telling me the screenwriter can't leave because she has to go back to elementary school to get her lousy graduation certificate and then she has to line up to register at middle school?!"

Lin Ying sighed helplessly: "Uncle Peng, the education system in Hong Kong is just so rigid. This play is very important, but I can't stop my studies. I have to go get my placement certificate myself."

It took quite a while before the phone rang again.

"Okay, get your certificate. You can't let a movie ruin your studies. Your high school, Liberal Arts College, right? Go get your certificate and get in line to register!"

Lin Ying asked, "What about Guangzhou?"

"If you can't release the results on the 7th, then postpone it! I'll go talk to them and explain the situation. Since we're going to do this big business, ten days or two weeks won't make a difference! You focus on finishing your high school registration, and after your so-called placement test in mid-July, you free up all your time for me!"