Chapter 10: 009

As soon as Fang Qingye walked in and changed his shoes, he heard Xia He say: "Fang, I'm going to stir-fry one more dish. Sit anywhere and watch TV, or if you get bored, go to my study — you can get online there."

Fang Qingye answered, then looked around. The apartment wasn't big — two bedrooms and two living rooms — but it was arranged very cozily.

He glanced around the living room, then noticed the study door was open, so he walked in. On the desk inside sat a laptop, but he had no intention of turning it on.

Against the wall there was actually an electronic keyboard, but unlike an ordinary one — it looked like the professional keyboard used by a band, which piqued Fang Qingye's curiosity.

Xia He actually had this kind of hobby?

No wonder her fingers were slender and long. He wondered how well she played.

Fang Qingye thought this, then his gaze drifted to the bookshelf.

The bookshelf was large, and the books on it were plentiful — the vast majority were finance and economics titles. Fang Qingye pulled one out from among them.

"Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives."

Fang Qingye then flipped through it. The book was already old, and inside were Xia He's neat, graceful handwritten notes — she had clearly studied it carefully and thoroughly.

It was the work of a professor at the University of Toronto in Canada, director of the Bonharm Finance Center, an internationally recognized authority on derivatives.

The book mainly covers the operating mechanism of futures markets, hedging strategies using futures, the determination of forward and futures prices, the operation of options markets, the nature of stock options, options trading strategies, as well as credit derivatives, the Black-Scholes model, the Greeks and their application, weather, energy and insurance derivatives, and so on.

Fang Qingye had also read this book seriously, though only after entering investment banking. Back then, reading it had felt profoundly deep — he had revered the theories in it enormously, even treating them as gospel. But after working in the industry for years, he realized it was really nothing special.

At that moment, Xia He came out carrying a plate of food. Seeing Fang Qingye standing by the bookshelf flipping through that book, she smiled and said: "Fang, you're interested in this book too?"

"Heh, just flipping through casually." Fang Qingye replied.

"This was my textbook when I was in grad school. I quite like it — I feel many of the viewpoints inside are very novel and incisive, really enlightening."

"You're talking about the Black-Scholes model, right?" Fang Qingye said with a smile:

"That model assumes a random walk for stock prices and derives theoretical prices for call and put options — it really is very convenient. But this thing was proposed by Western financial scholars; it suits mature Western markets better. If you apply it to our domestic market, deviations will appear. Because our domestic market's trading mechanism, market liquidity, volatility, etc., differ significantly from mature international markets — just like the southern orange and northern citrange."

Fang Qingye wasn't talking nonsense — he himself had learned a painful lesson. Back when he worked in investment banking, he had been overly credulous of this Western-imported theory and suffered quite a few losses.

Xia He listened, her face full of surprise.

"Fang, I didn't expect you to know so much? They don't teach this in undergrad, do they?"

"Heh, I read it in my spare time on my own."

"Fang, it looks like you were diligent and eager to learn in college — a good student. But when I reviewed your application, why was your GPA in college so low?"

Ugh....

Fang Qingye's old face grew hot. He fudged: "President Xia, I wasn't very interested in what the teachers lectured on."

Xia He listened and nodded.

"True enough — what you learn in college, especially at the undergrad stage, is disconnected from reality. I only really learned things during grad school and after graduation.... Come on, let's eat."

Fang Qingye agreed, put the book back on the shelf, went to wash his hands in the bathroom, then sat down at the small living room's dining table. Several dishes were already laid out, and Xia He had also opened a bottle of Great Wall Jiebaina.

Salted duck, beauty liver, duck-blood vermicelli soup.... These were all traditional Jin Ling dishes.

"President Xia...." Before Fang Qingye could finish, Xia He cut him off: "Alright, stop with 'President Xia' this and 'President Xia' that — it's not working hours now. Just call me 'senior,' or use my name directly."

Fang Qingye had no choice but to ask: "Senior, are you from Jin Ling?"

"Yes, born and raised in Jin Ling." Xia He replied: "I haven't been in Nanxin long, so I can't make your local dishes — I can only make these.... Just make do with them."

Fang Qingye picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of chicken breast, and tasted it: "Mm, pretty good."

"Heh, my mother was a full-time housewife. She often told me: if you want to keep a man's heart, you first have to keep his stomach."

Xia He stopped mid-sentence, seeming to feel it was a bit inappropriate to say that at this moment. She immediately poured wine into both their goblets, then raised hers:

"Fang, regarding the Tenglong deposit theft case, I've long wanted to thank you in person, but the bank has been busy lately, so I've kept putting it off until now. Sorry about that."

"Senior, you're too polite. I should be congratulating you on your promotion to president." Fang Qingye also raised his glass and took a sip.

"Yes.... Finally made it, but the pressure is huge too." Xia He sighed, then suddenly broke into a smile: "Forget it, let's skip the official pleasantries — wouldn't want you to think I'm being melodramatic. With so much pressure, why did I still fight for this position?"

"Painful but happy." Fang Qingye replied with a smile.

"Fang, you really know how to talk — that's exactly it, painful but happy." Xia He laughed charmingly: "Alright, eat up."

The two chatted as they ate. Xia He suddenly asked: "Fang, a while back Zhao Wenjun asked you out to dinner, and the next day he resigned. Can you tell me what he said to you?"

After speaking, a pair of beautiful eyes fixed on Fang Qingye.

Fang Qingye didn't hide anything — he briefly recounted what had happened that day at the small restaurant, including Zhao Wenjun's bet about reciting a dictionary. Of course, he didn't mention the wager itself.

Xia He listened, sighed, and said: "I didn't expect Zhao Wenjun would tell you all that.... To be honest, his ability really wasn't bad, and his methods were ruthless enough. It's just that his luck wasn't great."

"And I had a little more luck — the luck you brought me." Xia He said this, then turned a bright smile on Fang Qingye: "Fang, how do you think I should thank you?"

"Senior, you're treating me to a meal — isn't that already thanks enough?"

"How would that do? Too simple." Xia He said: "Aren't you going to make any requests about work? For instance, after your internship ends, which section do you want to go to? The Credit Section, the Finance and Accounting Section — take your pick." Xia He said.

These were the two most powerful and promising sections in the branch — many branch leaders had been promoted from these two sections.

Moreover, the deposit-raising tasks were much lighter. In a well-funded big bank like Dongfang Bank, these sections barely had any deposit-raising quotas.

But Fang Qingye shook his head: "Send me to the General Office."