Chapter 289: Reality Doesn't Need Logic, Only Movies and Novels Do!
"Wait, that actually works?"
Joey's eyes lit up after a moment of stunned silence.
"You should worry more about your situation with Linda,"
Monica shot back. "Besides, Mark Sloan is a real doctor with actual credentials. You can't just copy his playbook."
Joey immediately touched his still-healing broken leg, grimacing.
He was good at the whole player lifestyle.
But actively becoming someone's side piece and keeping it on the down-low? That was way outside his comfort zone. He hadn't made much progress so far.
Now, with this whole creepy Esther situation, he immediately thought of Peggy and became even more paranoid.
The Hofstadter House
"You're finally getting it."
Leonard said happily, watching Sheldon carefully folding the newspaper with Esther's picture on the front page. "You can't go wrong listening to Chuck! He's always right!"
"I'm not listening to him!"
Sheldon protested. "I just think Beverly is right. This can be considered a social psychology experiment. You know how much I love scientific experiments."
"Me too."
Howard winked suggestively.
"No, you don't!"
Sheldon shot back bluntly.
"Yes, I really do!"
Young Howard unbuttoned his shirt collar, revealing a photo sewn into the inside. "Look at this!"
"Holy crap!"
Young Leonard exclaimed, jaw dropping. "You actually photoshopped yourself with Esther! Dude!"
"Hehe."
Young Howard grinned smugly. "Thank God for photo editing software! I had this idea way before Chuck even told Sheldon about it, and I acted on it immediately. I now unilaterally declare myself Esther's boyfriend!"
"You're insane!"
Young Leonard retorted. "Aren't you afraid of what happens when people find out?"
"I want people to find out."
Young Howard said proudly. "From now on, if anyone bullies me or tries to pants me at school, they'll see this photo. I bet they'll freak out!
That's basically what Sheldon's doing with the newspaper, right?"
"She's not your girlfriend!"
Young Leonard frowned.
"Who says?"
Young Howard shrugged. "We look about the same age. Why can't we be together?"
"Aren't you afraid that if she somehow gets out and finds out you're using her name, she'll come after you?"
Young Leonard said unhappily. "Sheldon's just using her story to warn people not to push him too far, but you're actually pretending to date her. And most importantly, she's Chuck's enemy. I don't like her!"
"It's enough that I like her."
Young Howard chuckled. "Actually, I really feel bad for her. Someone like her, if she'd been in Japan or certain parts of Europe, she would've been celebrated. Why would she need to hide and end up in this mess?"
Seeing his good friend Leonard still glaring at him disapprovingly, he quickly tried to backtrack.
"Don't look at me like that. If I were Chuck's close friend like you are, I'd definitely stand by his side. No matter how pretty or whatever she is, I wouldn't even acknowledge her..."
"Even though you can't be Chuck's close friend, you are my best friend, and he's my best friend."
Hearing this, Leonard's face immediately brightened, a wide smile spreading across it. "So you're also his friend—otherwise he wouldn't have helped you so much last time. You should be on his side too!
Actually, you two sometimes think alike."
"I know—women, am I right?"
Howard interjected with a knowing wink.
"...That's not what I meant!"
Leonard said irritably. "I meant that sometimes your perspective actually aligns with Chuck's thinking. You said someone like Esther would be elevated to celebrity status in Japan or Europe. Chuck actually said something similar."
"Really?"
Howard exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah,"
Leonard nodded. "He said that things like Esther's situation only happen in reality because reality doesn't need to follow any logic.
If this happened in a well-crafted movie, TV show, or novel that requires logical consistency, it simply wouldn't play out this way.
Because the underlying logic is fundamentally flawed.
As we all know, the United States has the most comprehensive and detailed child protection laws in the world.
But the more comprehensive the laws are, the more they reveal how frequent crimes against children actually are, and how perpetrators keep finding new methods.
Our own experiences growing up are the most vivid proof of that."
He glanced at Sheldon, Howard, and himself, noticing their contemplative expressions, and nodded. "If it weren't for Chuck, I honestly think our futures wouldn't have turned out much better. The severity of child protection laws in America speaks for itself."
"And that's not even all of it.
In Americans' eyes, Europe with its incredibly permissive attitudes must be even worse.
That disturbing book 'Lolita,' that controversial film—weren't they European?
And then there's Japan, where the adult entertainment industry is practically a family business passed down through generations.
In these places, even serious criminals attract fan clubs, so how could Esther—with her condition allowing technically legal relationships—not find people interested?
Instead, she's trapped in this childlike body, unable to have a normal adult romantic life, suffering from psychological trauma, which led to her current state.
Now that she's in custody, so many people still want to meet her, despite her being accused of murder.
In those countries, if she'd just been open about her condition—or at least not tried so hard to hide it—she would've immediately had plenty of admirers!
So this whole situation makes no sense!"
"Then why wasn't she enthusiastically received in reality beforehand, and instead ended up like this?"
Young Howard pondered.
"You don't even understand something this simple?"
Young Sheldon said bluntly. "It's obvious—she's too stupid! Just like you!"
"..."
Young Howard glared at Young Sheldon.
"Chuck deduced that she wasn't actually a child based on this exact logic,"
Young Leonard couldn't help but grin. "Because if she could accomplish all this at such a young age, she'd have to be a genius like Paige. But she deliberately made such a massive fundamental logical error.
Plus, unlike Sheldon, she was dumb enough to actually provoke Chuck directly. So it's obvious she's not a genius—just an ordinary person who accumulated knowledge and experience over time."
"..."
Young Sheldon was speechless.
He really wanted to argue that he'd dared to provoke Chuck too.
But that was when he first met Chuck.
Now, after all this time and being subjected to all kinds of direct and indirect positive and negative reinforcement, his subconscious no longer had that impulse. Even being defiant was becoming difficult.
(End of Chapter)
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