Chapter 2: Deciphering the Grandfather Paradox

Inside the Television Station's dressing room.

Jiang Zhe was led here by Wang Guosheng for an emergency makeup session.

"Make-up Artist, just help Jiang Zhe touch up with some powder. With his looks, he'd be among the best even in a talent show. We don't have much time now."

"Yes."

Old Wang glanced at Jiang Zhe in the mirror: handsome features, a straight nose, thin lips—masculine yet with a touch of softness. His 6/4 parted short hair gave him a proper, upright look.

If he were a woman, he's afraid he would fall directly in love with Jiang Zhe.

After giving his instructions, Old Wang left the room and headed to another meeting room in the station.

...

Inside the leadership meeting room,

"Did you find a substitute?"

Station Manager Zhao Ming, over fifty-five but with a full head of white hair and wearing silver-rimmed glasses, looked toward the hurrying Wang Guosheng.

"Found one. He's a candidate who failed the written exam."

Old Wang quickly sat down, opened his laptop, and projected Jiang Zhe's profile onto the large screen.

"Failed the written exam... well, in these special times, as long as he passes the oral interview, it's fine." Old Zhao's hanging heart finally settled; he had been afraid no one would take over this mess.

Old Wang said, "Please look at the screen!"

The hosts of other channels and relevant personnel present looked at Jiang Zhe's profile on the meeting room screen—

Jiang Zhe, 24 years old, Suzhou Media University, majored in Broadcasting and Hosting, minored in Theoretical Physics, with additional studies in Philosophy.

His background was considered top-tier and fit the current theme: Deciphering the "Grandfather Paradox."

But when everyone saw Jiang Zhe's written exam paper, they were all dumbfounded.

[Which of the following is the English abbreviation for a Television Station?]

[A]: TVS

[B]: TV

[C]: TVA

[D]: AUV

The normal answer was obviously [A], but Jiang Zhe had chosen [D] on his paper?

"AUV?"

"Is this Jiang Zhe's Kyoto accent that heavy?"

"Shouldn't it be [A]?"

Everyone looked bewildered and hurriedly asked Wang Guosheng to pull up Jiang Zhe's total written exam score.

It was better not to look; once they did, everyone was left reeling: [40 points]!

Forty points didn't even reach the threshold for employment. How could he possibly decipher the so-called [Grandfather Paradox]?

This science popularization and paradox deciphering show was actually in a trial phase.

If the ratings failed a few more times, this program would definitely be axed!

The room fell silent for a moment. Old Wang rubbed his nose awkwardly, "Ahem, he passed the oral interview, it's just the written part he failed. Who would have thought his score was this low? If he wasn't the only rejected candidate left, I wouldn't have dared to find him."

"Anyway, no one can solve the 'Grandfather Paradox' anyway. As long as he has a good, in-depth chat with the audience and controls the rhythm and topics, it'll be fine."

"After all, we didn't expect him to actually solve one of the top ten paradoxes on the list, did we?"

Once these words were spoken, Station Manager Zhao Ming and the others finally accepted the situation.

Zhao Ming sighed, "Since he's willing to gamble his future reputation to seize this opportunity, let's give the young man a chance. If he fails, it will be difficult for him to ever hold a host position again."

Old Zhao looked at the crowd below, "Just in case he fails, Xiao Shiyi, you're an entertainment host—you'll step in."

Xiao Shiyi looked blank, "Station Manager, I don't even know what the Grandfather Paradox is..."

Old Zhao sighed and looked at the sci-fi radio host Wang Lin, "Little Wang, as a late-night sci-fi radio host, you should be able to do it, right?"

Little Wang waved his hands with an awkward smile, "Station Manager, the scripts for my late-night broadcasts are all written by outsourced web novelists. I can't find one right now even if I tried. I can't do it, I really can't."

None of them wanted to touch this hot potato. Even if they could, they wouldn't say they "could"!

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became extremely awkward.

To ease the tension, the head of the Broadcasting Department, Wang Guosheng, gave a firm guarantee: "Station Manager, if you use a man, do not doubt him. If something goes wrong, I'll step in personally, and you can even dock my salary!"

Left with no choice, Old Zhao nodded, "Since Little Wang has guaranteed it, that's enough!"

...

About 20 minutes later.

Jiang Zhe had finished his makeup and received the script from the station's Copywriting Department.

He sat on the waiting sofa and first looked over the script outline.

[Grandfather Paradox]: Who killed the grandfather, and where did the grandson go?

[Solution]: Parallel Universes.

After skimming through it, he gave his evaluation:

"A rough script outline with no actual dialogue lines. I'll need to perform and improvise!"

"The solution the Copywriting Department used for the Grandfather Paradox is—Parallel Universes."

"But Parallel Universes are the lowest-tier solution; they shouldn't even be brought to the table!"

Looking at it this way, the corners of Jiang Zhe's mouth couldn't help but curl up.

The solution he was about to propose would overturn the entire world's perception!

"Teacher Jiang, it's time for you to go on stage." Make-up Artist knocked on the door and called out.

"Coming."

...

At 9:58 PM, the program was about to start.

Jiang Zhe arrived at the main broadcasting hall.

He sat upright at the podium and scanned the area below.

The group of interviewees in suits and leather shoes were standing in the corner, waiting to see Jiang Zhe make a fool of himself.

After adjusting his emotions, although he was a bit nervous, as long as he viewed the people below as students seeking knowledge, his nervousness vanished without a trace.

"Lights off, sound engineer in position, background board ready..."

"3... 2... 1!"

"Start!"

As the staff member's voice fell, all the lights on set went out, focusing solely on the broadcasting podium.

Facing the camera in front of him, Jiang Zhe wore a smile.

"Good evening, viewers."

"I am your substitute host for science popularization and deciphering: Jiang Zhe."

"Next, I will bring you an unprecedented double feast of [Science Popularization and Paradox Deciphering]!"

As he finished speaking, Jiang Zhe gave a suave wave of his hand, and today's theme appeared on the background board behind him.

...

Inside the leadership meeting room.

Listening to Jiang Zhe's self-introduction and seeing his calm demeanor under pressure.

It immediately sparked surprise and curiosity among the other hosts.

For a newcomer, most people would still be nervous sitting at the broadcasting desk.

But seeing Jiang Zhe's actions, everyone's eyes lit up; this didn't seem like hosting, but rather like Jiang Zhe was about to start teaching.

Wang Guosheng's brow twitched, "I see the demeanor and tone of my Professors from my school days in him. I'm strangely a little nervous, the kind of nervousness a student feels toward a teacher."

Station Manager Old Zhao agreed with satisfaction, "He indeed has a bit of a Professor's flavor. Anyway, as long as he's not nervous, it's fine."

It was true; the aura Jiang Zhe exuded was clearly that of an old Professor.

Even though they didn't know where this aura came from.

Until they saw the science theme on the background board behind Jiang Zhe.

[Today's Science Popularization and Deciphering: The Grandfather Paradox!]

[Segment 1: Popularizing the 'Grandfather Paradox'!]

[Segment 2: Deciphering the 'Grandfather Paradox'!]

[New Segment 3: Randomly selecting 3 lucky viewers to answer questions after the show!]

[Host Jiang Zhe's Message: "Can the Grandfather Paradox truly be called a paradox? In my view, it doesn't count; in fact, it's very easy to solve!"]

As the series of themes and introductions appeared, Station Manager Old Zhao, Broadcasting Head Old Wang, and the others were all dumbfounded.

What kind of person comes out swinging with such bold claims that they can actually solve a world-renowned paradox like the Grandfather Paradox?