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October 2016, Greenfield, Alabama.

The CIA special operations team rented a two-story building in the east end of town.

The team was led by senior agent Mitchell, 45, who specialized in economic crimes and transnational asset tracking.

"Is this the target address?" Mitchell peered through the gap in the curtains at the beautiful manor across the street.

Assistant Kate handed over the documents: "Yes, it's the house of Suning's younger brother, Forescan. He comes out to mow the lawn every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at three o'clock in the afternoon, and if the weather is nice, he sits on the porch drinking lemonade."

Has the relationship with Suning been confirmed?

“Confirmed.” Kate turned to the file page. “In 1950, six-year-old Frisgan’s mother adopted seven-year-old Suning. The two brothers have always had a very good relationship. Suning also funded Frisgan to start the Babugan Shrimp Company. In addition, Frisgan also holds a large number of shares in Apple Inc.”

"Do you have any recent communications between the two brothers?"

“Yes! But they’re all just casual greetings, nothing business-related.” Kate tapped on the tablet. “But we’ve analyzed the language patterns. Suning’s tone was the most relaxed in his letter to Agan, with almost no business language. Psychological assessments suggest that Agan is probably one of the few people Suning truly trusts in the US.”

Mitchell frowned: "A veteran with an IQ of only 75 has become the most trusted person of the world's richest man? That doesn't make sense."

“But that’s the truth.” Kate pulled up more records. “Suning really trusts Forrest Gan a lot. He comes back to Greentown for vacation almost every year. He also has a manor by the lake that belongs to Suning.”

“So their relationship is indeed special,” Mitchell pondered. “Do you think Suning will contact Agan?”

“If he were to contact anyone, Forrest Gump would be the most likely candidate,” Kate said. “But the thing is, we’ve been monitoring him for four months—phone tapping, mail interception, package checks, even a miniature scanner in his trash can. Nothing.”

Mitchell was not satisfied: "Continue monitoring. Install more hidden cameras to cover all angles."

"We need to request additional budget..."

“I’ll approve it,” Mitchell said. “Headquarters gave a direct order: we must find Suning’s whereabouts. That $4000 billion has vanished without a trace, and the Treasury Department is going crazy.”

"Hmph! The real number is much higher than that! According to reliable sources, it's more than ten times higher."

"What? That's absolutely impossible."

Just then, the walkie-talkie crackled to life: "The target has gone out."

Mitchell immediately picked up the binoculars.

Across the street, Forrest Gump pushed open the screen door and came out.

He was wearing blue overalls, a straw hat, and carrying a lawnmower kit.

His movements were unhurried and unhurried, just like any other elderly person in a small southern town.

"Keep up, but keep your distance," Mitchell ordered.

Two surveillance vehicles disguised as delivery trucks slowly started moving.

Forrest Gump walked onto the lawn and started refueling the lawnmower.

He was very careful; after adding the oil, he even wiped the mouth of the oil can with a cloth.

Kate watched the monitor: "Did he really know nothing? Or was he just a good actor?"

“The lie detector test results showed that he was telling the truth,” Mitchell said. “We approached him last month posing as census takers and asked him about Suning. He said, ‘My brother is a good man, and I hope he gets better,’ without any unusual expression.”

"But if Suning really contacts him, how will they do it?"

This is precisely the problem that's troubling Mitchell.

Modern communication methods are all being monitored...

The phone, emails, social media accounts, and even the old fax machine in Forrest Gump's house were bugged.

But what if we don't use modern communication?
"Is it possible to use... the traditional method?" Mitchell suddenly asked.

"for example?"

"For example, by passing messages through a third party, or by using a pre-arranged code."

Kate thought for a moment: "Forrest Gump goes to church every Sunday morning. Should we monitor that place?"

“It’s already done,” Mitchell said. “The backgrounds of the church priest, the choir conductor, and several parishioners who often chat with him have all been checked, and there are no problems.”

Surveillance continues.

At 3:30 p.m., after mowing the lawn, Forrest Gump sat in the rocking chair on the porch and took out a book.

"What is he looking at?" Mitchell asked.

The camera zooms in.

“Don Quixote.” Kate recognized the cover. “Strange, given his reading ability…”

“He’s not really intellectually disabled,” Mitchell said, flipping through the file. “Military tests showed his IQ was at the lower end of the normal range; he was just slow to react. But he managed to graduate from the University of Alabama and even ran a successful business.”

Forrest Gump read for about twenty minutes, then got up and went inside.

Surveillance footage shows him pouring a glass of water in the kitchen and turning on the TV to watch a sports channel—a baseball game.

Business as usual.

At 7 p.m., Forrest Gump's wife Jenny returned home.

She now works as a primary school teacher in town and gets off work at this time every day.

Their son, Frederick Jr., had long since started a family and become a prominent Alabama legislator.

The two elderly people then ate dinner together, watched TV, and turned off the lights to go to bed around nine o'clock.

Mitchell looked at the darkened window and felt a wave of frustration.

“It’s been four months, and there’s been no news at all.” He rubbed his temples. “Either Su Ning really hasn’t contacted him, or there’s a loophole in our surveillance system.”

Kate pulled up the data analysis: "All the people who entered Forrest's house in the past 120 days, a total of 47 people: mailman, UPS courier, grocery store deliveryman, neighbor, church friend... all of them have had their backgrounds checked."

"Where are the items?"

“All letters and packages are scanned,” Kate said. “We even open and reseal every issue of his subscription to the Alabama Farm Weekly.”

Mitchell remained silent for a long time.

“Starting tomorrow, expand the scope.” He finally decided, “Monitor everyone who has had contact with Forrest Gump—the grocery store cashier, the gas station employee, the barber at his usual barbershop. Check everyone.”

"That would require at least twenty more people."

“Apply,” Mitchell said. “Headquarters said, at any cost.”

However, another three months passed, and in January 2017, there was still no progress.

The Washington headquarters has lost patience.

During the video conference, the deputy director directly questioned, "Mitchell, it's been seven months, what progress have you made besides wasting the budget?"

“The target’s life is extremely regular, with no unusual communications,” Mitchell reported. “We suspect that Suning may really not have contacted Agan.”

“Or he contacted us in a way we couldn’t have imagined.” The deputy director tapped the table. “I received intelligence that there’s no trace of Su Ning in China either. It’s impossible for someone with so much wealth to simply disappear.”

“Unless the money wasn’t transferred at all, and is still somewhere we don’t know about,” Kate whispered.

These words enlightened Mitchell.

After the meeting, he gathered his team together: "Let's change our thinking—if Suning wants to convey a message, they don't necessarily have to do it now. They may have already made arrangements."

“What do you mean?” “For example, a pre-arranged signal,” Mitchell said. “Underlining a specific page and line in a book, a particular lyric on a record, or even a specific time slot in a television commercial.”

Kate frowned: "That area is too large..."

“But there are conditions.” Mitchell walked to the whiteboard. “First, the signal must be understandable to Forrest Gump. Second, it must be concealed enough to evade our checks. Third, it may have already happened, but we just haven’t realized it.”

The team began to re-examine all surveillance records from the past seven months.

……

Three days later, a young technician discovered the anomaly.

"Team leader, look at this." The technician pulled up the video. "On November 15th last year, Agan went to the town library to return books. He borrowed five books and returned five books. But one of them is not in good condition."

"Which one?"

"The Call of the Wild, by Jack London." The technician zoomed in on the screen. "Library records show that Forrest Gump borrowed this book twice—the first time in April 2016 and the second time in October 2016. But strangely, he returned it after only three days the April time, barely even reading it."

Mitchell became alert: "Has the book been checked?"

“The books were scanned when they were returned; there was nothing tampered with,” the technician said. “But what if we assume… the information is in the books themselves?”

"What are the contents of the book?"

"For example, a page might be marked, or certain words might be circled," the technician said. "After we return the book, the library will put it back on the shelf. If someone wants to retrieve the information, they just need to borrow the same book."

Mitchell immediately ordered: "Retrieve the borrowing records for 'The Call of the Wild' right now! From April 2016 to now, everyone who has borrowed it!"

The record came out quickly.

2016年4月5日：阿甘借阅，4月8日归还。 2016年10月12日：阿甘再次借阅，11月15日归还。 2017年1月3日：一个叫“罗伯特·陈”的人借阅，1月10日归还。 2017年1月20日：该书被标记“损坏”，下架处理。

"Who is Robert Chen?" Mitchell pressed.

Kate quickly searched: "A 23-year-old Chinese student at Greentown Community College, studying computer science. Clean background; parents run a foreign trade company in China."

"Where is he now?"

“记录显示他1月15日突然退学，1月18日飞回中国。”凯特抬头，“机票是1月10日买的——正好是他还书的那天。”

Mitchell felt a chill run down his spine: "Find that book! Get to the library right now!"

Half an hour later, the team rushed into the Green Town Library.

The administrator was startled: "That book? Because of a missing page, it's already been sent to the recycle bin... it's probably already been disposed of."

"Which recycle bin?!"

"The waste paper recycling center in Zhennan."

When they arrived at the recycling center, the books had already been packed and were ready to be shipped to the pulp mill.

After searching for two hours, I finally found the book, "The Call of the Wild".

Mitchell put on gloves and carefully turned it over.

On page 47, there is a faint pencil mark—almost invisible unless you look very closely. The mark indicates a sentence:

“Ancient desires still stir, and the shackles of habit have loosened.”

On page 89, another sentence is marked:
"He heard a call from the depths of the forest, clear and distinct."

Page 132:
Follow the call, and do not look back.

No further information is available.

“What is this? A password?” Kate asked.

“Perhaps it’s a pre-arranged code,” Mitchell said, examining the pages carefully. “But what message can these sentences convey?”

Technicians used ultraviolet light to illuminate the ink, but no hidden text was found. Chemical tests also revealed no invisible ink.

“Perhaps the information isn’t in the book, but in the act of ‘borrowing’ itself,” Kate suddenly said. “Forrest Gump first borrowed a book in April 2016—before Suning became ‘seriously ill.’ He may have received instructions then: ‘If I ever disappear in the future, go to the library to borrow this book, and I will arrange for someone to contact you.’”

Mitchell suddenly realized: "So Forrest Gump borrowed the book a second time last October, after Suning disappeared. He was sending a signal: 'I'm here, ready to contact you.'"

“Then in January of this year, the Chinese student borrowed the book and completed the contact,” Kate continued. “And Forrest Gump didn’t even need to know the specifics—he just had to do what was agreed upon.”

"That international student, Robert Chen..."

“He’s already in China,” Kate said with a wry smile. “And it’s certain he’s not a real international student. His identity is fake, and he’s probably disappeared by now.”

Mitchell looked at the book in his hands and felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

They monitored Forrest Gump for seven months, overseeing all modern means of communication.

But Suning used the most primitive method: a book from a public library and a pre-arranged signal.

There were no electronic records, no financial transactions, and not even face-to-face contact.

Even if they find out now, it's three months too late.

What information did that international student take with him? Was it the location of Suning, or some other instruction?
No way to know.

“Report to headquarters,” Mitchell said wearily. “We found a lead, but it’s gone cold.”

……

That afternoon, Washington replied: withdraw surveillance and close the Greentown outpost.

Before retreating, Mitchell took one last look at Forrest Gump's house.

The old man was watering the flowers in the yard, his movements slow and focused.

He didn't know, or pretended not to know, that he had just helped the person most eager to be found in the world complete a perfect contact.

Or perhaps he knew everything, but simply chose to help an old friend in his own simple way.

Mitchell ultimately did not bother Forrest Gump.

Some truths are better left unknown.

As the convoy left Greenfield Town, the sun was setting.

In this ordinary small town in Alabama, two elderly people continue their ordinary lives.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in a room in a certain city, another person received the long-awaited message:

"Fresgan is safe. The signal has been delivered."

He closed the book and continued his life in anonymity.

The surveillance has ended.

But the search continues.

The US government will never know that the person they're looking for is actually in the most unexpected place...

Live in the most ordinary way.

...(End of chapter)