Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 87 - 84: Feeling Uncomfortable All Over

"Don’t worry, miners are quite normal creatures on Earth, just involved in some Quantitative Modeling, which usually involves only two methods: Stochastic Calculus and Statistical Learning."

"Before the year 2000, Stochastic Calculus was the only important method in financial research. Our professor from Stanford, Kenneth J. Arrow, received the Nobel Prize because of his research in this area." note 1

"In recent years, Statistical Learning has gradually become mainstream. Mainly, it involves big data and machine learning."

"Most of the work is now solved using computer programming, and the amount of manual computation has become increasingly scarce." Qi Yi provided a relatively detailed introduction.

"You learned computer programming too?" Yan Yan had never heard Qi Yi mentioning this before.

"At Stanford, even students studying liberal arts learn programming. After all, it’s a school in Silicon Valley. Without learning some programming, the whole college experience would feel incomplete." Qi Yi smiled gently, as Yan Yan had been surprised during the whole time it took to eat a burger.

"I’ve decided," Yan Yan said, then turned her head towards her burger.

"Decided what?" Qi Yi didn’t know where Yan Yan was suddenly steering the conversation.

"I’ve decided to just enjoy my burger and never research your Wall Street investment banking positions again. After all that studying, I’m still clueless." Only delicious food could alleviate the frustration in Yan Yan’s heart at that moment.

"That’s because you were using the wrong approach," Qi Yi disagreed with what Yan Yan said.

"What did I do wrong?" Yan Yan didn’t understand.

"If you hadn’t called your cousin, but asked me instead, you would have understood everything a long time ago." This statement was Qi Yi’s "closing argument" on the topic of the job.

"Oh—so you were just jealous?" Yan Yan really wanted to roll her eyes at Qi Yi.

"You know your grandfather likes to drink vinegar when he gets older, so why can’t I?" Although Qi Yi spoke about his grandfather, his tone was full of childishness.

"I really don’t know what to do with you. I didn’t initiate the call; I was forced by my Aunt.

My Aunt wanted me to persuade my cousin to come back home, and then I just happened to ask about these things. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Actually, you should think about it the other way around," Yan Yan said in a playful tone to Qi Yi.

"How so?" Qi Yi shifted Yan Yan’s hand that he was holding, to prevent it from remaining in the same position and causing her hand to ache soon.

"You should think that even though I was forced to call my cousin, the topics I discussed were still about you," Yan Yan winked at Qi Yi.

"Uh, why do I always end up not knowing how to respond when you tease me like this?" Qi Yi said, though his face betrayed his happiness.

"Cut it out, you’re copying my way of speaking again. Didn’t you say before that you were learning to talk like me because we couldn’t see each other?" Yan Yan said contemptuously.

"Now that we’ve met, I’m so happy that I’ve completely forgotten what I’ve said before. I just like to mimic the way you talk," Qi Yi found Yan Yan’s disdainful look particularly adorable.

After finishing at Shake Shack, Qi Yi took Yan Yan to check into the Conrad Hotel on Wall Street.

They hadn’t even reached the hotel when something particularly embarrassing and somewhat humiliating happened to Qi Yi.

Qi Yi and Yan Yan had talked about Shake Shack for ages and even had Yan Yan queue up for a long time at the shop on Eighth Avenue.

Turns out, there was a newly opened Shake Shack branch in Battery Park City, where the Conrad New York is located. note 2

However, since this branch was too new, opened less than a month ago (opened on May 31, 2011), Antonio the "hot dog fanatic" from Stanford couldn’t possibly have known to take Qi Yi to this new outlet.

Today, when Qi Yi was asking Ian and his two assistants on the helicopter about good restaurants in New York, he hadn’t inquired about casual dining options like burger joints.

Even if it was triple the price of a McDonald’s burger, it’s just a few dollars US per burger.

Qi Yi’s original plan, even if not to take Yan Yan to a candlelit dinner, was at least to dine at a somewhat upscale restaurant.

As Qi Yi was brooding over how to face Yan Yan’s questioning, Yan Yan had already spotted the Shake Shack in BPC and asked,

"Hey, why is there a Shake Shack here too? And there’s no line right now. Is this burger place different from McDonald’s, where the chef plays a crucial role and the flavor changes with different chefs? Is it somewhat similar to the Nando’s I took you to before?"

"Maybe," replied Qi Yi, feeling embarrassed, but Yan Yan had given him an explanation that he hadn’t thought of himself.

When Qi Yi answered "maybe," he was actually very unsure.

He had eaten at Shake Shack twice, both times at the one on Eighth Avenue, so without comparison, he felt he had no right to speak.

Qi Yi was already prepared to be reprimanded by Yan Yan, and truthfully, he didn’t mind Yan Yan’s scolding that much.

What depressed Qi Yi wasn’t the scolding itself.

If Qi Yi had known there was a Shake Shack here, he would have taken Yan Yan straight here after checking in.

This would not only have saved a lot of time on the road but also allowed Yan Yan, who had just gotten off the plane, to go to the hotel to tidy up and rest for a while.

Qi Yi was upset because his culinary strategy had really missed the mark.

Next, he would have to double his efforts to create a New York food map for Yan Yan.

Qi Yi’s self-blame was actually a bit excessive, considering that he had also just arrived in New York and Yan Yan had surprised him with no prior notice.

.........

Checking in was a simple matter, but things started to get complicated afterward.

Last time, when Yan Yan went to find Qi Yi at the Crown Casino hotel in Melbourne, they were still "high school classmates," at most "ex-partners".

This time, when Qi Yi took Yan Yan to check in, their relationship had reverted from "ex-partners" back to current partners.

Qi Yi couldn’t possibly not accompany Yan Yan into her room.

But once they reached the room, the atmosphere started to become a bit awkward.

Qi Yi and Yan Yan were two innocent "kids" who had dated in high school for a year without even holding hands.

The joy of holding hands, Qi Yi had only just experienced it two days ago.

Qi Yi certainly knew that now was not the time to cross any boundaries.

But before reaching the boundaries, there were many things they should have done back in high school that he still hadn’t done.

After reaching Yan Yan’s room, Qi Yi felt uncomfortable all over.

.........

note 1:

Kenneth J. Arrow passed away in early 2017.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1972 for his pioneering mathematical models on "general equilibrium theory" and remains the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

note 2:

The Shake Shack in BPC, besides the regular menu, features three location-specific items: Wall-nut Street, Lower West Side, and Downtown Butter Brown.

It’s close to Wall Street, hence there are more gimmicks.