Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 251 - 246 Work is Precious

Over the past three years, Yan Yan’s life seemed to revolve solely around work.

The legendary boyfriend.

How should I put it?

Let’s wait a bit before discussing that.

When Qi Yi worked as a "miner" at Barclays, his life was actually fairly routine.

The data available for "mining" was limited; those who needed to work overtime were mostly ones who could not work fast enough.

Qi Yi’s work efficiency was very high, so he seldom needed to work overtime.

But the triple salary at Ian’s private fund was not for nothing.

After joining Ian’s team, besides doing quantitative analysis, Qi Yi also had to take on some of the roles of an investment manager.

What Qi Yi had done previously was more of the "laboratory" type of analysis and research; now, he had to engage in real-world applications.

His past analyses were mostly handed over to others for practical implementation, and at Barclays, the quants’ tasks were mostly supportive in nature.

Now, he was responsible for the entire decision-making process himself.

Ian’s fund was not just a simple stock fund.

It also made many other types of investments.

Ultimately, those high-end quants were exploiting loopholes in financial regulatory systems.

Their activities were essentially no different from the age-old practice of buying low and selling high, which merchants have relished for thousands of years.

However, quants proficient in mathematics and computers, compared to their predecessors, were much more adept technically and skillfully.

Strictly speaking, quants did have a speculative nature.

For top-tier quants and their computers, success or failure often happened within a three-millionth of a second.

The tasks quants and hedge fund managers had to do were "quite simple."

After all, it was about treating the market like a gambling arena.

Electronic devices, which were not allowed in casinos as they could be used for cheating, were utilized in this larger financial "gambling arena."

Quants sought patterns in the random, patternless market that most people could not discern.

Ultimately, they were exploiting the mathematical statistical model of the Random Walk.

However, this model had a flaw in that it lacked appropriate preventative mechanisms.

When new market mechanisms and regulatory measures emerged, or during terror attacks and major natural disasters, the Random Walk model would fail.

During such occurrences, hedge funds and once-dominant quants would face massive disasters.

The golden era of hedge funds had ended with the advent of the subprime crisis, and even dark pool trades were no longer genuinely unregulated "back-room deals."

Whether for work or for most of Yan Yan’s "fortune," Qi Yi had to search for suitable preventative mechanisms while being a quant.

This meant he couldn’t just rely on mathematical models but had to consider many real financial and other factors.

That is, Qi Yi had to merge quant investment tools with real financial and social environments.

First, it was necessary to discover patterns through mathematical methods, then apply these patterns to the market environment.

Combining investment strategies that mainly considered the investment targets and their industries’ prospects with investment techniques that mainly considered mathematical models was indeed not an easy task.

Thus, while Yan Yan was incredibly busy, Qi Yi was equally overwhelmed.

Haute Couture demanded numerous requirements and complex craftsmanship; thus, whether in design, cutting, or sewing, it consumed brainpower, and the combination of quant + investment manager required no less.

Yan Yan was so busy she didn’t even have time to sleep.

A boyfriend was such a "luxury."

Naturally,

It was not something

She could afford.

Work is precious, love is priceless.

If there’s no time, one must create time to be together.

.........

Yan Yan had once "put it in black and white" promising Qi Yi that she would go to New York in the second half of 2012.

Since she had said so and Qi Yi was insistent, Yan Yan felt it was necessary to follow through.

If Yan Yan wanted her first show to be featured at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in January 2013, she had to secure an invitation from the Paris Haute Couture Guild as a guest member right after the July 2012 show.

Each July was the time when the Paris Haute Couture Guild made their final decisions about members for the following January’s Haute Couture events, and the list of official and guest members was quickly announced after the grand shows in July.

That was also why, at the Haute Couture Fashion Week in July 2012, Yan Yan chose such a unique way to make her appearance.

Apart from drawing the attention of Haute Couture Club Members and the media, Yan Yan aimed to attract the notice of the Paris Haute Couture Guild.

Because once the Haute Couture fashion shows in July ended, everything was set in stone.

Thus, after purchasing the same thirty-two sets of Haute Couture daywear as Persian Gulf Nobles, Yan Yan immediately vanished from Europe and headed to New York.

The final communications with the Paris Haute Couture Guild, which helped Yan Yan secure the invitation to the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week of January the following year, were all handled by Allegro.

Yan Yan was only responsible for providing the organizer the necessary information about the designers from Maison Yan II.

The relevant communication matters had been in preparation from the moment Allegro joined the Yan siblings’ dream and were managed by her.

If it weren’t for Allegro’s absolute confidence, Yan Yan wouldn’t have made such a firm decision or chosen such a unique approach.

Therefore, Yan Yan actually received the Haute Couture guest member invitation for the January 2013 Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week while she was in New York.

Yan Yan claimed she needed to go to New York to "hide" for a while to maintain a sense of mystery, but deep down, she was fulfilling her promise to Qi Yi.

During high school, after Qi Yi’s mother had called Yan Yan, Yan Yan had broken up with him.

When Qi Yi was in Italy, the call his mother made to Yan Yan not only revived Yan Yan’s vivid memories but also made Qi Yi revert to his insecure self.

Without following through with the original plan to go to New York, Qi Yi would definitely not have been able to relax.

From the moment Yan Yan confirmed her plan to go to New York in August of ’12, Qi Yi began helping his designer girlfriend look for a suitable studio.

Even before Qi Yi had resigned from Barclays and before he went to Italy to see Yan Yan, he had already found her a "workplace" in New York.

When Qi Yi went to Italy, it was for Yan Yan, to ensure the location and size of the studio he chose met Yan Yan’s requirements.

Yan Yan was naturally one hundred percent satisfied with her boyfriend’s thoughtfulness.

However, that was all agreed upon before the "mom’s phone call incident."