Chapter 45: Paradox, a ranking of thought experiments?

"Congratulations, Jiang Zhe has broken the station's record once again!"

Before long, the door to the lounge was pushed open.

Old Zhao, Wang Guosheng, Xiao Shiyi, Wang Lin, and the others suddenly walked in.

A small silver cart was pushed through the crowd, carrying a nine-tier cake that stood 1.5 meters tall.

Then, staff members set off confetti cannons, sending plastic scraps flying everywhere.

"Congratulations!"

"Jiang Zhe, congratulations! No surprises here; you're going to be our station's pillar from now on!"

"That's right! Those theories and paradoxes you explained—anyone who understands them knows just how much technical depth they have!"

"Jiang Zhe, fame brings trouble. Advertisers have been asking about you lately, and you don't have a manager. If you need one, I can take the job."

"Shh~ Did you forget the rules? Public employees can't take outside advertisements. What if it harms the public interest?"

"Go away, don't talk about such useless things on a happy day like this."

"..."

Looking at the complex gazes in everyone's eyes—longing, admiration, jealousy, and resentment.

Jiang Zhe was stunned; he had only ever seen this kind of situation in TV dramas.

He hadn't expected the Television Station to actually bring in a cake to celebrate breaking the viewership record.

It's just...

Is it really appropriate to eat cake in the middle of the night?

"There's really no need..."

"This is a tradition of our Television Station. It would be scandalous not to celebrate breaking a viewership record! Come on, give us a speech, and then we'll have some wine and cake."

"Do we have to celebrate every time we break a record from now on?" Jiang Zhe looked at the female hosts and staff members. "Every one of them is a beauty with a slim figure and delicate features..."

Old Zhao gave a dry cough. "Just this once. We won't celebrate next time. After all, healthy eating and healthy bodies matter!"

Seeing this, Jiang Zhe walked forward with a smile and made a wish before the cake:

"I hope..."

He didn't say the rest out loud.

Entertainment host Xiao Shiyi's gossiping heart flared up as he whispered, "Teacher Jiang, what did you wish for?"

Wang Lin rolled his eyes at Xiao Shiyi. "A wish won't come true if you say it out loud."

"Isn't it for the ratings to stay high forever?"

"Old Xiao, do you really think Teacher Jiang needs to wish for high ratings?"

"That... I overthought it. With this kind of talent, he'd go viral instantly if he just appeared on a few variety shows." Xiao Shiyi became increasingly curious. "Brother Jiang, what did you actually wish for?"

Not just Xiao Shiyi, but many of the leaders and female hosts present looked at Jiang Zhe with curiosity.

"Alright, this wish is actually a bit out of place for this occasion." Jiang Zhe didn't intend to hide it and spoke the truth. "My wish is... in the future, if possible, I hope for world peace, a thriving nation, the health and well-being of the people, and a steady increase in happiness. I hope for a nationwide four-day workweek, significant improvements in healthcare and livelihood sectors, an increase in the government's credibility, and no ceding of territory, no paying of indemnities, and no forced marriage alliances..."

Of course, he knew this was impossible.

The system had already warned that global paradoxes would descend when progress reached 100%.

No casualties at that time?

Even Jiang Zhe didn't believe that.

After he stated his wish, everyone present was shocked.

They thought Jiang Zhe would be like everyone else—wishing for the same old high ratings.

Who could have imagined his vision was so grand!

World peace, the happiness of the people!

This is just...

Calling him a saint wouldn't be an exaggeration!

Why did those last few wishes feel like a hallucination of the Ming Dynasty?

A male host present who shared the same name as Zhu Di couldn't help but feel a sense of relief, as if his father and elder brother had died!

Meanwhile, the corners of the mouths of the prospective science program hosts couldn't help but twitch.

Good heavens, if Aladdin's Lamp appeared, the genie would have to kneel before you.

You're something else, making dozens of wishes in a single sentence...

After a long time, the silent scene became lively again, followed by thunderous applause.

...

Happy times are always fleeting.

After the celebration, they knew they shouldn't linger, so they left of their own accord.

Once the unrelated people had left.

Only Old Zhao, Old Wang, Xiao Shiyi, and Wang Lin remained.

Old Zhao had brought out a monitoring chart from the data department for Jiang Zhe to see, explaining as he did, "Now that the celebration is over, take a look at your performance report... Actually, let me explain it to you."

He pointed to the three viewership peaks on the tablet and explained each one.

"The first peak was the moment you were about to solve the Bootstrap Paradox."

"The second peak was the moment you proposed the 'Theory of Cosmic Circulation'."

"The third peak was the moment you solved the Bootstrap Paradox."

"Looking at the data, it's clear that the tastes of the television audience and the livestream audience are split into two groups."

"The target audience in front of the TV is distributed across the 30–60 age range, with quite a few over 60 as well."

"The target audience in the online livestream is aged 14–30."

"It's evident that the TV audience makes up the majority, while the livestream numbers are decent."

"..."

After a few minutes, Old Zhao finished analyzing Jiang Zhe's performance.

This let Jiang Zhe know how to increase his mission progress next.

"Leader, what is your suggestion?"

"It mostly depends on you. If you have the energy, you can cater to both markets."

"After all, it will only benefit your earnings. Of course, if your energy and material are insufficient..."

"Then I would suggest focusing only on the television audience. Most TV viewers are scientists, teachers, and the like; their circles are different from those of the livestream audience."

"I've made an assessment of you: 'A golden scale is no creature of a mere pond; once it encounters wind and cloud, it transforms into a dragon.'"

"The circles you'll interact with in the future will likely be academic ones, so I suggest you take the academic route. Let our Television Station serve as your springboard."

"By the way, what do you want to talk about in the next episode?"

While saying this, although Old Zhao was smiling, Jiang Zhe could hear the tone in his voice.

He believed Jiang Zhe was destined to be no minor figure, but a great man who could shock the world—it was only a matter of time.

Old Zhao was perfectly willing for the Television Station to serve as Jiang Zhe's springboard.

Jiang Zhe shook his head slightly. "Forget about springboards; that's too formal. My ambitions aren't that great; I just want a bit of stability."

Old Zhao just took those words with a grain of salt. A talent of this caliber was almost always pushed forward by the era, rather than being able to control his own fate.

Unless Jiang Zhe truly volunteered to stay at this Television Station!

"The last two times were themed around time."

Jiang Zhe thought for a moment. "There aren't many with [Space] as a theme. 'Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel' is space-based... but it's not very suitable for attracting and retaining new viewers. I've decided to keep it simple—"

"Most likely the [Ship of Theseus]. The theme would be [Am I me? Am I really still myself?]."

"There's a small chance I'll continue with another paradox using [Space] as an element."

As soon as he said this, the four people present were instantly dumbfounded.

"Holy crap!" x4

Regarding Hilbert's Hotel, only Wang Lin among them knew of it, so he wasn't too surprised.

But the Ship of Theseus—that was a super paradox on par with the Grandfather Paradox!

And you call that keeping it simple? You simplified it all the way to the [Ship of Theseus]???

Wang Lin was secretly shocked, then gave a thumbs up. "Keep it simple? You simplified it to the [Ship of Theseus]? Jiang Zhe, you'll get beaten up if you say that out loud. The Ship of Theseus is ranked many places higher than Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel!"

Jiang Zhe was taken aback, then quickly realized; in this world, it was unsolvable, but he had solved it in his previous life.

But he soon responded, "I'll keep that in mind."

Now, the four were both shocked and bewildered, but mostly worried!

The Ship of Theseus was almost unsolvable...

But seeing Jiang Zhe's confident demeanor, Old Zhao and the others discussed for a moment and decided to let Jiang Zhe take the risk.

"Alright. Even if you can't solve it in the end, with your current fame, as long as it's not too egregious, your fans will forgive you. Scientists and philosophers will forgive you too."

"Hmm... Wang Lin." Jiang Zhe looked at Wang Lin with curiosity. "The ranking you mentioned earlier was the Paradox and Thought Experiment Ranking, right? What's the number one spot on that list?"