Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 1081. The Carp Crossing the River

Duanmu asked Dong Qiangqiang to take the CFA exam. He took the lead and took the first level in June. He felt that he could pass the exam, so he packed up all the materials he found useful during review and sent them to Dong Qiangqiang. He encouraged him that although it sounded scary to take ten exams at once, they were all multiple-choice questions. If he read the books carefully and prepared for the exam seriously, it was not impossible to pass them in one go. After encouraging him, he did not forget to paint a rosy picture for Dong Qiangqiang: if one day in the future the business cards of the two shareholders of Buchan can be printed with the gold-plated words "CFA holder", the business might be much better than it is now.

Dong Qiangqiang was really surprised when he heard this. He knew about Duanmu's workload. Duanmu could quietly study and work while taking the Level 1 exam and was sure to pass it in one try. He must have made more efforts than ordinary people. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but reflect on whether he wasted too much time. But he started taking classes after returning from China, and the most time-consuming chore was the preparation of China Week. Apart from that, he had no other hobbies, no tour groups (except the seven-country tour), no work, and was focused on studying. Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that he wasted time, but it's normal that it's easier to get results wherever you spend time. But then he thought again, even if he didn't get involved in China Week, could he take the CFA Level 1 exam in June? He didn't think so. And he always thought that college life with just studying and taking exams was too boring. In that case, apart from the diploma, there would be no difference from not going abroad to study for a master's degree.

Life is a journey of cultivation, so it is better to experience more while you are still young. He said to himself that he might never touch activities like China Week again.

After receiving the express delivery, he carefully opened the package and found that in addition to the books, there were also a lot of old test papers. Many of the books Duanmu had used were rough and curled up, and there were many folded pages, ink stains and scribbled notes in the books, which showed that he had read them a lot. He was full of admiration. With a master like Duanmu paving the way for him and proofreading for him, he felt both pressure and confidence.

Those sets of papers made him even more excited. He had thought about getting a few sets of old papers before, but the training class in Luxembourg did not provide them. So when he told Duanmu that he had received the things, in addition to expressing his firm determination to learn from Duanmu seriously and complimenting Duanmu for his hard work and getting good grades in one go, he also asked Duanmu carefully where those real test papers came from.

  But Duanmu laughed and boasted that he bought the books and test papers from eBay. The books were old when he bought them, and the handwriting on the books was all written by the previous owner. He was so busy every day that he had no time to turn over the questions. In the end, he managed to pass the test by relying on the tactics of solving a large number of questions. As for the real test papers, they were actually fake. The papers were so fake that they could only be used as mock papers. Duanmu changed the subject and emphasized to Dong Qiangqiang earnestly:

Although he had a chance to pass the exam by taking shortcuts, he forbade Dong Qiangqiang to just do exercises without reading books. After all, many contents in the ten subjects were closely related to the business of catching cicadas. If both of them took shortcuts and had no real skills, who would they rely on to do business in the future? Therefore, Dong Qiangqiang had to read books. At least one of them had to really understand.

Duanmu didn't know that his worries were unnecessary, because compared to the boring and uninteresting tactics of solving a large number of questions, Dong Qiangqiang actually preferred to read the textbooks. After all, conceptual questions could be solved by practicing, and calculation questions could still be solved by understanding their principles and overall picture.

The university professors gave him mostly German book lists. The more German textbooks he read, the more likely he would repeat the same words. Influenced by German grammar, many of the contents were long clauses, and even one clause was nested in another long clause. Not to mention that it was tiring to read, it was obvious that one sentence could make it clear, but it had to go around in circles and waste the reader's time. He knew that Germans were not lacking in meticulous logic, but such long-winded content made him doubt the author's purpose. CFA training was all English book lists. In comparison, he preferred English textbooks that were easy to understand and read more like a fool's manual.

It is true that contrast creates beauty.

Inspired by Duanmu, Dong Qiangqiang followed suit and went to eBay Germany to search for test papers in his own major. Although he knew that he might encounter scammers selling fake papers, it was still a good thing to have a mock test paper.

The second half of 2003 was about to begin, and the global economy showed signs of recovery from the economic slowdown caused by SARS. Although the US stock market, the world's leading stock market, fluctuated frequently, the overall trend was still positive and remained upward. The airline stocks that Duanmu had considered before fell instead of rising when SARS was about to end. Fortunately, he listened to the advice of the Wall Street report and did not touch them at all, so he could keep the fruits of his previous victory.

German society is usually friendly to companies that are enthusiastic about public welfare and have social responsibilities, so Duanmu made full use of the popularity of the donation to advertise for Cicada. Not only did he compare himself to donating ventilators to German companies in China, he even added a few corny slogans praising Cicada in the report, which made Dong Qiangqiang very embarrassed. He advised him that it was too unprofessional to do so. Duanmu thought it made sense, and finally decided on two versions. The reports sent to foreign companies were all without advertisements, while those sent to domestic institutions were beautified as much as possible.

The time when Buchan was bullish and fully long on Volkswagen was when Volkswagen's stock price was at its historical low since 1998. German investment institutions that read Buchan's report did not think there was anything wrong or special about it. After all, Volkswagen is not only one of the leading German automakers, but also the company with the largest number of employees in Germany, the leader of German national companies, and the largest automaker in Europe. Even the Lower Saxony state government holds shares in Volkswagen Group. It is normal for such a status in the industry to be favored by a small company like an ant. Even if its stock price is not as sexy as in previous years, it is still Volkswagen after all.

But the development of many things will always be unexpected. Not only did Volkswagen's stock price stabilize when SARS first showed its strength in March, it also began to miraculously climb when SARS was rampant in April. By the time SARS was about to end in June, the stock price had risen from a jaw-dropping low of 3 euros per share in March to a high of 4 euros per share. It was at this time that Catching Cicadas attracted the interest of some investment institutions that were also paying attention to Volkswagen but were not optimistic about it.

To be more precise, catching cicadas has attracted the attention of some American investment companies.

  They were bearish on Volkswagen in the long term. Based on the information they had, during the time when SARS was rampant, Volkswagen should not have risen even if it had not fallen. So they speculated that Bochan might have some important information that they had overlooked but should have paid attention to, but they did not seem to have read it in the report. So, suddenly, a large number of American investment institutions expressed interest in Bochan. At first, communication was mainly through telephone, but gradually more and more people came to communicate face to face, even on weekends. Some institutions, considering their noble status, would ask Bochan to conduct roadshows at their homes.