Book Synopsis
Pasadena, a beautiful small city near Los Angeles in the United States, is home to one of the best universities in the world, the California Institute of Technology.
On a day in June 1955, a scene unfolded on the streets that startled the usually calm passersby: several sharply dressed men in black, resembling federal agents from the movies, suddenly appeared, looking anxious and glancing around nervously.
They questioned each other, "How could it be gone?" "Where did it run off to?" It seemed they had just lost something due to carelessness and were frantically searching for it.
In their agitation, they blamed one another, discussed briefly, and then hurriedly dispersed. Just seconds later, like raindrops merging into a river, they vanished from sight.
Unbeknownst to these men in black, a middle-aged man with yellow skin was watching their every move from a nondescript café just around the corner, his alert gaze fixed on them through the glass window.
He knew very well that those men did not merely resemble FBI agents; they were indeed genuine FBI agents.
Once the FBI left, the middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief and quickly began writing on a piece of paper. The paper had been stealthily torn from a cigarette box moments earlier. He wrote in Chinese:
"Mr. Teacher Shu Tongtai: Since we parted ways in September 1947 without communication..."
This middle-aged man was the very target being tracked by the FBI.
In the eyes of the all-powerful FBI, he was not just an elegant gentleman but a figure whose danger level surpassed that of missiles—a national enemy causing significant headaches for the mighty United States.
Now, he hurriedly finished what he needed to write, tucked it into an ordinary family letter, and placed it inside an addressed envelope.
Casually walking out of the café, he took advantage of others' inattention and swiftly dropped the letter into the mailbox outside.
It was destined for Belgium; if all went well, it would bring him and his family back to their homeland.
At the end of that letter, he signed with a Chinese name: Qian Xuesen.
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