Wherever There Are People, There Is a Jianghu

Qin Ze looked in from the doorway. This classroom was no different from any other, except that the desks and chairs had been cleared to the back, leaving only four or five desks with laptops on them. The students in front of the desks were either looking up or single-mindedly doing their own thing. Professor Li was in his fifties, with graying temples, droopy eyebrows, and a pair of old-fashioned round-framed glasses. He looked like a very serious and unapproachable old scholar.

He shifted his gaze from the computer and turned to look over. "Come in."

Qin Ze nodded and walked to the podium.

Professor Li adjusted his glasses and scrutinized Qin Ze. "You're a junior this year, right? You should be interning in the second half of next year."

"Yes, so I want to train myself in advance." After Qin Ze said this, he suddenly realized that he didn't feel nervous at all. According to his usual self, being scrutinized by the professor's sharp gaze should have made him at least a little restrained, if not trembling. But he felt very calm, so calm that he was surprised himself.

Professor Li nodded. "Although your dad spoke to me, we'll stick to the facts. The necessary assessments can't be skipped."

He took out a stack of A4 papers from the drawer, which listed many topics. He picked out a few and handed them to Qin Ze. "These are a small part of the topics in this mathematical modeling project. They're relatively simple and easy. Take a look. I'll give you two hours. Pick any two questions and deduce the analytical equations. Xiao Liu, give him a pen."

The female student who opened the door immediately handed over a pen.

Qin Ze didn't waste any words. He looked around and, finding no extra seats, went to the back of the classroom and self-reliantly moved a desk out, gently and quietly, trying not to make too much noise.

Qin Ze threw himself into calculating the equations on the scratch paper, occasionally looking at the topic content. Several times, he was about to deduce the complete equation, but he had to start over.

Mathematical modeling is a very profound subject, and what he was doing now wasn't even mathematical modeling, but just a small step in a twenty-five thousand-mile long march. Mathematical modeling, also known as mathematical modeling, is essentially an important means of using mathematical tools to solve practical problems. To put it more simply, it is to establish "equations" for certain things or phenomena using mathematical language and methods. For example, if a mathematician wants to predict the weather, he can collect data and establish a huge mathematical model to calculate the weather for tomorrow.

Of course, this is just an analogy. Real weather forecasting is far more complicated than this. But in fact, the meteorological bureau is a huge mathematical model.

Economics and mathematics are inseparable, and mathematical modeling is a very high-end and widely used application of it.

Qin Ze calculated for half an hour, his forehead gradually sweating, and finally found the right direction. His mathematical foundation was still too shallow, and he had to rack his brains to remember many formulas. If Qin Baobao were here, she would definitely hum a few times and push Qin Ze's head away, saying, "Get out of my way, I'll get it done in minutes."

It is said that men are born with strong logic and women are born with strong sensibility, so men are strong in science and women are good in liberal arts. But this rule is completely reversed in the Qin family siblings. Qin Baobao has been outstanding in mathematics since she was a child, and her grades have never fallen out of the top three. She calls herself the Queen of Science. Qin Ze is better in liberal arts. His most glorious achievement was winning the third prize in the National Middle School Student Composition Competition.

Fortunately, he knew that he was not a smart person, and diligence could make up for his shortcomings. He didn't give up on himself, so he wasn't stumped by two questions that could block 50% of Finance University students.

Time flew by. Professor Li, with the help of his assistants, gradually promoted the progress of the modeling, occasionally holding small meetings, but these had nothing to do with Qin Ze.

Two hours later, Professor Li seemed to remember Qin Ze and walked down the podium to his desk. Without saying a word, he picked up his paper and looked at it. The equation answers were written on the white paper, and the handwriting was neat, with a meticulousness that Professor Li liked at first glance. Looking at the scratch paper again, it was full of calculations, with no blank space left. Qin Ze's mathematics was trained by the Old Man with a whip.

"Not bad!" Professor Li nodded, put the paper back on the table, turned and walked back to the podium. "Everyone, stop what you're doing."

Five or six assistants looked up.

"Let me introduce a new member to everyone, Qin Ze from Finance Department Class 7, your junior."

Qin Ze stood up and said politely, "Please take care of me."

Sparse applause.

Professor Li added, "Yang Chen, you can take the junior around for the next few days and let him figure out our project as soon as possible. I have a class later, so I'll leave first."

A boy in a blue T-shirt and light white casual pants nodded with a smile. "Got it, Professor."

Professor Li left.

Before coming here, the Old Man had told Qin Ze in detail that a huge mathematical model could not be done by Professor Li alone, so he needed assistants. The assistants' salary was two hundred per day, for a week. After the mathematical model was completed, he could get one thousand four.

Professor Li was originally unwilling to recruit students in school. The assistants under him were all senior interns who would graduate next month. He only agreed to let Qin Ze try because of the Old Man's sake.

Qin Ze waited in his seat for a moment. Seeing that the senior named Yang Chen was buried in his work, he took the initiative to walk over and called out "Senior."

Yang Chen glanced at him, casually took out a stack of materials from the drawer, and said indifferently, "Take a look at it yourself first."

Qin Ze had no choice but to take the materials back to his seat and patiently delve into them. A good private equity firm should have its own professional market analysts, which suggests that the private equity firm entrusted to Professor Li is not large in scale. Building a complete mathematical model requires a massive amount of formulas and data. Mathematics is the most rational thing in the world, and every step needs to be repeatedly scrutinized. Qin Ze's group is responsible for the yield and risk assessment part.

In addition to a not-so-detailed summary, the materials also contained a series of symbol explanations. Qin Ze seemed to be struggling a bit, so he took out his phone, searched the internet, and translated them one by one.

In the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime, and the senior students in the classroom went to the cafeteria to solve their food problems. Qin Ze originally wanted to bury himself in hard study with the spirit of 'hanging his head from the beam and stabbing his thigh with an awl,' but he was driven out to eat by the senior student in charge of the keys.

Because time was limited, he ate something casually and hurried back to the classroom.

The classroom door was ajar, revealing a crack. Just as he was about to push the door open, he heard someone inside saying, "Brother Chen, what's the deal with the newcomer? We've been working hard on this mathematical model for a month, and there's only a little over a week left until the delivery date. Good heavens, he suddenly jumps in and earns our labor costs."

The guy who was speaking was also in Qin Ze's group, but his name was unknown.

Yang Chen snorted, "His dad and Professor Li seem to be in the same office. He's just here to gain some experience and earn some pocket money."

"Our group only has a bonus of 10,000 yuan, and he's taking away more than 1,000 yuan. Damn it, that's enough for half a month's rent."

"Aren't you still living in the dormitory?"

"Then I could go for two 'big health' sessions."

"Don't worry, we have a mission today. He hasn't even figured out the basic situation yet. When the time comes, I'll assign him some topics, and if he can't complete them, hehe, Professor Li will definitely be unhappy. After a few more times, he might kick him out."

Qin Ze's face darkened, and he thought to himself, These two little bastards. He silently went downstairs, strolled around the teaching building, and sighed in his heart, As expected, wherever there are people, there is a world of strife. This kind of infighting without swords and shadows has become even more cruel after entering university. No, there is competition and killing everywhere in life, and elementary and middle schools are no exception, but at that time, he was young and liked to express it in a violent way.

Qin Ze didn't like this kind of insidious and extremely harmful scheming hidden in the dark, and he hadn't adapted to it yet.

More than ten minutes later, he went upstairs and entered the classroom. The senior students had basically returned. The senior student named "Xiao Liu" smiled at him, and Qin Ze politely returned a smile.

There was a professional class at 1:30 in the afternoon. After class, Qin Ze declined his roommate's invitation to play online games and plunged into the pile of modeling materials. Although he wasn't a gifted science expert like Qin Baobao, he had one advantage that even the Old Man praised: He is calm in the face of major events! These were the Old Man's own words of praise for him.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Professor Li returned and distributed tasks to each group. Before announcing the end of the day, he rarely thought of Qin Ze.

"How much of the information on yield and risk assessment have you read?"

"I'm groping around on my own and haven't fully understood it yet," Qin Ze said.

Professor Li frowned and looked at Yang Chen, "Didn't I ask you to guide him?"

Yang Chen looked innocent, "I gave him the materials and told him to ask me anything he didn't understand, but he didn't have any questions all day. I thought Qin Ze had a solid foundation and had mastered it on his own."

Damn it, when did you say that?

Professor Li glanced at Qin Ze and didn't say anything. He announced the end of the day's work. Professor Li's nonchalant attitude made Yang Chen a little disappointed. Only Qin Ze could vaguely guess his thoughts. In fact, the modeling was nearing completion, and it was true that they needed an assistant, but how could they invite a half-baked person like Qin Ze to join? It was mostly because of the Old Man's sake. The Old Man had also vaguely said that day: Ask him if you don't understand anything.

So Professor Li didn't care whether Qin Ze was just loafing around, because his dad was helping behind the scenes.

Qin Ze asked Yang Chen for the materials, and he didn't refuse, handing him a stack of photocopies. A college student, what can he see from just looking at the materials?

It was still early after the breakup, so he posted in the chat group: "Liberation!"

A moment later, Li Liang replied: "Come quickly, we need you to preside over the overall situation. Damn it, I can't carry them."

Zhao Baliao followed up with a reply: "It's me who can't carry you guys. I'm fighting one against three, vowing not to retreat. I turn my head, damn it, where are my teammates? My teammates are all dead and back in the hot spring."

Then there was Liu Ziqiang: "I'm just quietly watching you guys pretend, not saying anything."

The corners of Qin Ze's mouth curled up, he put his phone back in his pocket, and jogged towards the internet cafe with his shoulder bag.

The familiar location, the familiar three animals. With cigarettes in their mouths, they leaned back on the sofa chairs. Because they were waiting for Qin Ze, Li Liang took the time to watch competition videos, Zhao Baliao opened a small window to watch Japanese AV, and Liu Ziqiang played with his phone.

Qin Ze habitually lit a cigarette, turned on the computer, and squinted as he exhaled smoke.

"The summer vacation is at the end of the month, what are you messing around with? Be careful you fail," Li Liang said, taking a hard drag on his cigarette.

"Just earning some pocket money, can't always let my sister support me," Qin Ze said, taking out bottled water from his bag and handing one to each of them.

"Investment modeling is not easy, there are too many factors to consider, how did the first day feel?" Liu Ziqiang, who had the best grades compared to the other two, opened the cap, took a sip, and asked with a smile.

"Whether it's difficult or not doesn't matter, it's just that I met a bastard today, and I'm not in a good mood," Qin Ze complained.

"You have a story, but I don't have wine. Tell me about it?" Li Liang casually invited Qin Ze to join the game on the computer.

"Just a son of a bitch, I'll find a chance to get him," Qin Ze said, curling his lips.

"Be sure to bring Zhao Baliao with you then, and use his human cannon to fiercely poke that son of a bitch's chrysanthemum," Li Liang had just finished speaking when he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Are you crazy, why are you inviting a noob?"

A guy with the ID "Xiao Man Yao" mixed into the camp, it was precisely that bronze noob who had screwed them over that day.

Xiao Man Yao enthusiastically spoke in the room: "Long live, long live, Great God, you're finally online."

"Great Gods, are you guys playing together?"

"This girl has lost three games in a row today, and dropped a rank again."

"Great God, take me to rank up, take me to fly, I'll video chat with you."

The three animals were unwilling to pay attention to her, even the love-starved Zhao Baliao disdained to talk to her. These days, there were too many shemales online. Just thinking about a rough man on the other side of the screen was disgusting.

Qin Ze replied playfully: "Nude (censored) chat?"

"How annoying!"

The screen darkened, and the game began.