The first major class in the morning was Principles of Accounting.
Han Lie had already acquired Level 3 professional knowledge in Accounting, which thoroughly covered the basics.
Neither the lecturer on stage nor the textbook could provide anything new.
So, Han Lie simply pulled out his notebook and began to organize his own knowledge structure.
He had thought it would be easy. But when he actually got down to it, he found the task to be much more difficult than anticipated.
The level of Level 3 knowledge was "proficient application." Its description was vague, and its actual boundaries even more blurred.
To put it bluntly, he was completely unclear about what he could or could not do now.
Let's take a simple example—
Given a pile of original vouchers, an experienced accountant could tell after a quick glance whether they could handle the account book.
But Han Lie was different. He had to do it himself and then find out whether he was capable.
It might work out, or it might not—a fifty-fifty chance.
He had no clear understanding of the limits of his abilities. Because knowledge had been crammed into his brain all at once, he lacked both practice and systematic organization.
This approach is definitely not going to work.
If he didn't hurry up and sort it out clearly, the more knowledge he tried to cram in, the messier it would become, making it increasingly difficult to organize.
It wouldn't go so far as to cause my head to explode or anything; that's too far-fetched. But there would definitely be a huge waste—of intelligence and knowledge. And frequent errors in judgment. Knowledge that can't provide a correct basis for decision-making can sometimes even be a burden.
So Han Lie decided to focus solely on organizing his knowledge structure for the time being, without getting involved in anything else.
First, he needed to come up with a plan of action.
Han Lie started to list key points in his notebook, creating an organizational plan, writing everything down clearly, one, two, three, four.
One, Mathematics is a fundamental tool and must be tackled first.
Two, English and Literature are purely humanities subjects and will be handled separately at the end.
Three, Establish Finance as the core discipline, with all other related subjects serving it.
Four, Accounting requires a specific focus. Proficiency in bookkeeping isn't necessary, nor is expertise in practical application. The key is to understand four main areas: *Audit*, *Financial Cost Management*, *Taxation*, and *Risk Management*.
The ultimate goal: to understand ledgers and reports, know how to control costs and risks, and avoid pitfalls in taxation. That will suffice.
Five, Law also requires a specific focus, primarily on laws related to economics, finance, and securities. As for areas like criminal law, a basic understanding sufficient for everyday situations is enough. Professor Zhang San once said, 'Non-professionals shouldn't delve too deeply into criminal law; otherwise, you'll constantly be thinking about how to challenge it...' And if you fail that challenge, things could get very 'criminal.'
Six, Psychology is the second priority and requires deep exploration. The direction for in-depth study is group psychology, laying the foundation for future research into market sentiment. In daily life, certain branches of psychology are also very useful. For instance, picking up girls, charming women, seducing ladies... AHEM!
Seven, The primary role of Marketing should be self-promotion, building a personal brand. Focusing on external applications is unnecessary. Working for others is out of the question. To achieve social status, entrepreneurship is the correct path.
Eight, After establishing a finance-based knowledge framework, it's crucial to promptly add 'flesh and blood' to this 'skeleton.' Examples include Political Science, International Relations, Management, and Economics. Mastery in all isn't required, but forming a broad network is essential to ensure no blind spots in one's perspective. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a vision capable of piercing through the fog of time. Only by seeing further than others can one ensure perpetual victory.
Nine, Bacon wrote in his philosophical work *New Instrument*: 'Human knowledge and human power coincide. For where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced; and where the agent in contemplation is the cause, in operation it is the rule.'
To simplify this quote: 'Knowledge is power.' Familiar, isn't it? So, learning must never stop. And one must genuinely value knowledge and skills. Even knowledge acquired effortlessly must be personally reviewed and organized. As for skills, practice them frequently, use them often, and experience them deeply. Uh, except for 'manual skills.'
Ten, For humanities, breadth is more valuable than depth. Since they are neither the core framework nor its 'flesh and blood,' but serve to cultivate one's sentiments, a broad range of exposure is good, without needing to invest excessive effort. What's the use of learning music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs? Can they help pick up girls? Oh, then I'd better try harder. Don't get me wrong. I mean working harder to earn money, so girls will come to me... End of list.
PS: Today's reflections have been very productive; I should engage in such summaries and reflections more often in the future.
Han Lie, written on September 25, 2013.
Putting down his pen, Han Lie felt refreshed and clear-headed.
For the first time, he realized that thinking was such a delightful activity. Because the future was certain and promising, his mindset became positive and healthy. Consequently, any behavior that enriched his life brought immense pleasure.
It wasn't as thrilling as chasing girls, but the aftertaste was much more profound and lasting.
Yu Yun: Meow?
Having settled on an overall plan, Han Lie immediately started to execute it.
No longer paying attention to the open *Fundamentals of Accounting* textbook, he took out the mathematics textbooks for the first semester from his bag.
There were only three books: *Mathematical Analysis I*, *Higher Algebra I*, and *Geometry*.
To master finance, one must master mathematics. But the level at the Humanities College wasn't up to par; they really lacked the teaching capability.
As for support from the main campus... Forget it. The main campus doesn't even have a mathematics department; what support could they possibly provide? If you can't learn math well and your foundation isn't solid, the actual capabilities of a graduate from the Humanities Finance program... well, let's talk about something else.
Han Lie only had Level 1 mathematics knowledge because he had taught himself later on.
It wasn't that I didn't want to learn more, but... any more than that, and I genuinely couldn't grasp it! But now, things are different.
Opening *Higher Algebra I*, he flipped to the exercises page. With a few casual strokes on scrap paper, the answer popped out. ZING!
Polynomials, determinants, systems of linear equations, matrices... Han Lie could solve the relatively simple first four chapters with his eyes closed. It wasn't until linear spaces and linear transformations that he needed to think a little harder.
However, the feeling of doing math problems... It was absolutely exhilarating! That sense of conquest and achievement from solving difficult problems was something no other activity could provide.
Really. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.
Han Lie became a little obsessed.
Time flies when you're completely absorbed in something. Han Lie was fully focused, his mind unwavering, as he pleasantly breezed through the problems. Meanwhile, Xi Luting gradually grew bored.
Finance at the Humanities College was open to both arts and science students. Xi Luting, originally an arts student, had chosen the field because she believed it had good prospects. However, she found every specialized course challenging. Moreover, the accounting lecturer on the podium was mediocre, merely reciting from the textbook as if chanting a monotonous incantation.
She could still manage to persevere at first, but halfway through, her attention finally wandered.
Glancing at Yu Yun, unsurprisingly, she was chatting with someone.
Then glancing at Han Lie...
Huh? He looks so focused. Everyone else is reading novels, chatting, or binge-watching dramas. Is he actually studying?
Unable to suppress her curiosity, she quietly moved closer to see what Han Lie was doing.
A glance over... Wait, no, my eyes must be playing tricks on me.
Shaking her head vigorously, she looked again...
Xi Luting stared, her eyes wide in utter disbelief.