“The first question, 1 Kg of wool and 1 Kg of metal, which is heavier? A: 1 Kg of wool, B: 1 Kg of metal, C: Both are the same.”
Professor Zhao smiled and answered: “The answer is C. Both are the same.”
A leader from CCTV in the audience stand laughed. The same? Professor? 1 Kg of metal must be heavier!
“Is this your final answer?” Ni Ping asked again.
“Yes. Because both the wool and metal are 1 Kg. But the wool’s volume will be much more than the metal.”
“Congratulations. Your answer is correct!”
The audiences cheered. The leader who laughed just now realized that he had overlooked the weight of the wool and metal. He had thought that if the questions were so simple, he would be able to answer all the questions quickly. But now it seems that the questions were not that simple.
Professor Zhao continued to answer two questions correctly and had pa.s.sed the first stage. The prizes for the first stage was 1,000 RMB and a prize. But if he chose to take the prize, he got to give up the rest of the questions.
“Professor Zhao, are you sure you want to continue?”
“I am sure. I need to win more prize money.”
“Alright. We shall continue with the questions. Please look at the next question…...”
On the fifth question, Professor Zhao hesitated. This was a Lifestyle question. He does not know the answer, and he told Ni Ping: “I will use one of my lifelines. I request to seek help from the live audiences.”
A student raised his hand and gave Professor Zhao the correct answer. Professor Zhao had pa.s.sed the second stage.
When Professor Zhao reached the eighth question, he had used up all his lifelines. But he still chose to continue answering the remaining questions.
However, when Professor Zhao reached the 10th question, he got the answer wrong.
“I’m sorry. Your answer to this question is wrong. Your prize money will be reset to zero. However, you will still have a Consolation prize, an Aiwa Walkman.”
The live audiences groaned with disappointment. Professor Zhao was also feeling depressed. He had never expected that he had answered all the difficult questions about physics, chemistry, math, and history. But he got the final question about lifestyle wrong.
The percentage of a tri-colored cat being female was more than 99%! Professor Zhao had never kept pets before and how could he know the answer?!
“Professor Zhao, I am sorry that all your prize money is forfeited. But don’t worry. The director had just pa.s.sed me a message for you. Wind and Rain Electronics, Aiwa Electronics, Lehaha Corporation, and Tai Hua Education Fund will study the situation of your hometown and will sponsor the education system there. They will make sure all the kids there will be able to go to school!”
The live audiences cheered when they heard what Ni Ping said. Professor Zhao was also stunned. He stood up and thank the host and the sponsors.
Feng Yu had all along been donating to schools and does not mind giving some money to this village. After this episode was aired and with the newspaper reporting, it will surely increase the social standings of his companies further!
Next year’s summer, it should be easier to recruit graduating students from Beijing University.
The few leaders sitting in front nodded with approval. If this were aired, the rating would surely be high. This program was exciting. The questions had covered all sorts of weird topics. They could not even answer more than half of them. But were these questions too difficult?
Even a professor had failed to answer all the questions. What about the rest? Will the viewers still be interested to watch?
“Let’s welcome the next contestant.”
Someone in working attire walked up the stage and waved to the audience enthusiastically. He felt like he was a superstar. His uniform was printed with the words – Songjiang Motors.
When Ni Ping saw this worker walking up the stage in his uniform, she was stunned. But she was able to recover fast.
“Good evening Sir. Have a seat. I am Ni Ping, can you introduce yourself?”
“Good evening. My name is Sun Dahai. I am from Northeast Bing City. I am a worker in Bing City Machinery Company’s First Automobile Branch Factory.” He spoke with a Northeast accent, and the live audience laughed.
“Mr. sun, can I ask how you are selected?”
“One day after work, I heard about this program from the radio, and I called in to apply. I also did not expect myself to be selected. My wife actually did not allow me to come. She said that I only have a middle school education and I will surely lose on the first question in this type of quiz. But I want to win the prize money to bring my family on holiday. I want to bring them to visit all provinces of China.”
The leaders from CCTV frowned. This contestant was selected by the sponsors? A worker with a middle school education? He might not even answer the first three questions. If he can’t even answer the first question, this program will be a laughing stock!
All the live audience were thinking the same way too. Even a highly educated Professor could not answer all the questions, let alone a worker like Sun Dahai.
The audience laughed when the first question appeared. This Sun Dahai does not even know ABC. How come this person dare to partic.i.p.ate in this program?
But Sun Dahai managed to answer the first 3 questions correctly. Sun Dahai had learned that knowledge in the course of his work in the workshops and was able to apply what he learned in answering the questions.
But the audiences felt that this was Sun Dahai’s limit. He should take the first stage of prize money and leave. However, Sun Dahai still wanted to continue!
The 5th question was an about history. This was an uncommon question. It was asking who the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty was.
“I pick the third answer. Zhao Heng.”
“Is this your final answer?”
“Actually, I do not know the answer. I am only making a guess. My parents have 3 sons, and I am the third son. So, I pick the third answer. Yes, the third answer.” Sun Dahai replied.
“Congratulations. Your answer is correct!”
The live audiences were shocked. WTF? This contestant did not know the answer and made a random guess. Just because he was the third son and picked the third answer, he got it correct?
But this was the rule. The contestant does not need to know whether if they know the answer to the questions as long as they got it correct. It was just like sitting for a multiple-choice test. Marks will be given for every correct answer.
The live audiences thought that this lucky contestant would give up answering the rest of the questions and take the second stage prize money, but he chose to carry on with the quiz. Did he think that he will still be so lucky to answer the rest of the questions correctly? 3,000 RMB was not a small sum, and there were still other prizes.
When this worker was answering the 8th question, even the leaders among the audiences felt this person was too lucky. The 8th question was about astronomy. This worker does not know the answer, and he picked the answer with the most words. He got it right!
This worker had reached stage 3 purely due to his luck, and he still wanted to continue.
This worker does not know the answer to the last 2 questions, but he still got it right with his luck. This was out of expectations from the audiences. This worker had answered all 10 questions right with his extraordinary luck!
When the host announced this worker had successfully cleared all the stages and won 10,000 RMB and other prizes, the audiences cheered.
A worker had accomplished what a highly educated professor couldn’t! Does this mean that anyone can also win this quiz just by luck alone?
Other than Deputy Chief Jia, the rest of the CCTV leaders did not know this was arranged and the worker knew the answers before the start of the quiz.
Everybody was shocked. This was too dramatic. A professor had just lost to a worker?!
Translator’s notes: Learned something new today. Almost all tricolor cats are females.