Chapter 13: 012 Weekend Climb Langshan

Since he had taken the order, Fang Qingye considered the modeling task.

But now the first problem was that he had no reference books on hand, which required theoretical knowledge in financial mathematics, such as binomial pricing models, co-integration theory, and volatility models.

He searched online again, but the information was fragmented and of little practical use.

Forget it, I’ll check the bookstore tomorrow to see if there are any similar books.

Instead of focusing on his work, Fang Qingye opened a game and played a round of Warcraft before washing up and going to bed.

The next day at work, after lunch, Fang Qingye rode his small scooter to the Xinhua Bookstore near the Telecom Building, then visited two private bookstores—but was greatly disappointed.

Aside from high school and junior high tutoring books, everything else was literature; the private bookstores mostly carried bestsellers by Han Han and Guo Jingming, along with some printed versions of online novels.

Of course—Nanxin County has no university at all; how could it possibly stock books on advanced mathematics?

It seems I’ll have to go to Jinghai, or even bigger cities like Jinling or Shanghai, to buy them.

Fang Qingye suddenly remembered that when he visited Xia He’s place yesterday, her bookshelf had many finance and economics books—could any of them cover financial mathematics?

Thinking of this, Fang Qingye rode his scooter and pulled out his phone to call Xia He.

The call connected quickly, and Xia He’s pleasant voice came through.

“Xiao Fang, what’s up?”

“Yes, senior, do you have any books on financial mathematics? I’d like to take a look.”

“Heh, so you’re interested in what you studied in school? Fine—come over to my place after work today and pick whatever you like, but come early; it’s the weekend and I’m driving back to Jinling.”

“Alright, I’ll come right after work.”

After work that afternoon, Fang Qingye rode his scooter straight to Beifang Mingzhu, knocked on Xia He’s door, and found her packing her luggage in the living room.

“Xiao Fang, go ahead and look for yourself,” Xia He said.

Fang Qingye agreed and went to the study, carefully examining the bookshelf.

Shuguilicaijingjinrongleishujiqueshiduo ， Juedabufendoushihongguanjingji ， Gongsijingying 、 Shangyeyinxingguanlideshuji ， Xiangjinrongshuxuezheyangpiangongjuleihenshao ， Fangqingyetiaolehuicaixuanzhongyiben 《 Zhengquanfenxi 》 Mianqiangcouhe 。

Xia He noticed Fang Qingye’s search and laughed from the living room: “Didn’t find anything suitable? How about this—I’ll bring you two books when I return to Jinling?”

Fang Qingye thought for a moment and replied.

“Alright, senior, get me ‘Financial Stochastic Analysis’ by S.E. Shreve, both volumes, and ‘Mathematical Finance: A Basic Introduction’ by E. Platen.”

“Heh… Xiao Fang, those books are quite advanced in financial mathematics. Not only does our bank not use them—even the Jinghai branch doesn’t. Only the securities analysis department at the provincial headquarters might touch on them slightly, mainly the securities analysts at major investment banks in Shanghai need them.” Xia He paused.

“Xiao Fang?”

“What is it, senior?”

“You’re not thinking of quitting and moving to Shanghai, are you?” Xia He asked.

“No way! Our bank offers such good benefits and relatively easy work—why would I go to Shanghai and get worn out?” Fang Qingye immediately denied it.

“It’s true it’s exhausting—I have a graduate school classmate working as a market operations analyst at JPMorgan Chase in Shanghai who constantly complains to me on QQ, saying her boss treats her like an animal, not a person—but the pay is astronomical, nothing we can compare to.”

“So I don’t want to be treated like an animal.”

Hearing this, Xia He burst into laughter, shaking with mirth.

After selecting his book, Fang Qingye bid farewell and returned home. After dinner, he began reading in his bedroom.

It was co-authored by American scholars Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, hailed as the Bible of investors, covering fixed-income investing, income statement analysis, factors affecting common stock valuation, and deviations between price and value.

It’s a foundational text in financial economics, but still somewhat distant from what I need—I’ll just make do with it for now since I’ve got nothing else to do.

The weekend passed without Fang Qingye going out; he mostly stayed home reading and searching online, spending the whole day with little progress.

He wasn’t in a hurry—modeling wouldn’t be finished in a day or two anyway. Once Xia He brought back those two or three books, he’d have the right tools and could speed things up.

Should I go out tomorrow?

Staying cooped up at home on such a beautiful spring day would be a waste of time.

Fang Qingye was pondering where to go when his phone rang—it was Song Dahai calling.

“Yezi, are you going out tomorrow?” Song Dahai asked over the phone.

“Heh… I was just about to call you about that. Where do you want to go?” Fang Qingye asked lazily, lying in bed.

“Climb Langshan Mountain—Jiang Chen invited us.”

Jiang Chen?

Fang Qingye knew him well—he was a high school classmate who graduated from Jinghai University and now works at the county statistics bureau.

“Jiang Chen said he invited two female classmates, Shao Jing and Wang Simin, and asked me to join. I thought I’d bring you along too—we’ll drive over and have a barbecue.”

“Alright, come pick me up.” Fang Qingye agreed.

“Great, I’ll be at your place at nine sharp… Oh, Yezi, can you invite Chen Meimei too?” Song Dahai suddenly added.

“Dahai, are you seriously interested in her?” Fang Qingye asked.

“Hehe, don’t get the wrong idea—I just need a girl along… If you don’t invite Chen Meimei, invite someone else!”

Fang Qingye thought about it: he knew Shao Jing and Wang Simin, but beyond them, he wasn’t close to any other female classmates. In the bank, he was only really friendly with Chen Meimei.

“Alright, I’ll try,” Fang Qingye agreed.

He had a feeling Song Dahai had a crush on Chen Meimei.

“OK, leave a message on QQ once you’ve arranged it.”

Fang Qingye hung up and called Chen Meimei’s number. Her soft voice answered quickly.

“Fang Qingye, what do you need?”

“We’re planning to climb Langshan Mountain tomorrow and wanted to invite you.” Fang Qingye briefly explained the plan.

On the other end, Chen Meimei hesitated: “Fang Qingye, I don’t really know any of your classmates.”

“No problem—I’m there, and my buddy Song Dahai from the city management team—you’ve met him. We’re all the same age, and with such lovely spring weather, it’s perfect for hiking and enjoying the outdoors.”

“Alright then, what should I bring?” Chen Meimei agreed.

“Nothing special—just bring your own things. My buddy and I will pick you up around nine.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow morning.”

“See you then.”

After arranging with Chen Meimei, Fang Qingye logged onto QQ and left a message for Song Dahai: everything was set.

The reply came instantly: “OK!”