Chapter 328: Actually, You’re Jewish!
“Audience friends, we can clearly see that the professor here reacted very quickly. When the security personnel downstairs turned around, he almost immediately made the decision to dodge his head.
It was precisely this head dodge that made the first bullet miss him by a hair’s breadth, and then the second and third bullets failed to hit the professor!
In the end, the professor did not panic or get flustered. Instead, he immediately stood up, shouted the battle cry again, and was then taken away by the accompanying security personnel and White House senior officials.
During the departure process, the people present showed unprecedented respect for the professor’s performance. Almost all Black people raised their hands high above their heads—this was an unprecedented sight.
So a reporter called this scene a modern version of Moses Parts the Sea. The professor being assassinated by an assassin was also very much like Moses leading the Israel people being chased by Egyptian soldiers. In the parting of the sea scene, Moses parted the Red Sea, while the professor parted the sea of people!”
Cronkite was emotionally agitated; this scene was truly too rare.
Actually, he wanted to say Black Sea—Moses parted the Red Sea, the professor parted the Black Sea.
But considering the influence, Cronkite held back and said sea of people instead.
Ever since the White House rename campaign, conservative television media have been very attentive to this area, afraid of saying any sensitive words related to Black that might stimulate the Black community.
Especially at this sensitive time point, with Martin Luther King assassinated and the professor’s assassination attempt.
Not only was Cronkite very excited, all of America was discussing this assassination attempt.
America has always had an assassination tradition, but in such a setting, at such a close distance, three consecutive shots all missing, combined with the subsequent Moses Parts the Sea, and television stations repeatedly playing the assassination footage in slow motion afterward, directly maxed out the legendary status of the entire event.
Cronkite continued:
“From President Lincoln onward, James Garfield, William McKinley, John Kennedy—we have had four presidents assassinated and killed.
The middle two have even been forgotten by the public. President James Garfield in 1881, at the Baltimore and Potomac Train Station in Washington Columbia District while preparing to go to New England, was shot by Charles J. Guiteau.
Guiteau was dissatisfied with not obtaining a diplomatic position, so he assassinated President Garfield.
President Garfield died two months later from infection and complications.
(President Garfield was shot at the train station)
In 1901, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York State, Leon Czolgosz pretended to be a citizen hoping to shake hands with the president and shot President McKinley with a pistol hidden in a handkerchief. President McKinley died eight days later.
(On September 6, 1901, at a reception in the Music Hall of the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition, William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, hit by two bullets.)
The deaths of President Lincoln and President Kennedy, I believe everyone is clear on the stories involved, so I won’t go into too much detail.
The above are the successful presidential assassinations. Expanding the scope from presidents to White House senior officials, and successful assassinations to attempts, there are countless examples.
Next, let’s turn the lens to the Washington D.C. site. The special plane carrying President Johnson and the professor has arrived in Washington D.C. Reporters are gathered here, security personnel are already preparing in advance to ensure site security. It is reported that the professor will hold a small press conference at the airport, and CBS will bring you the first-hand reports!”
All the major television stations, newspapers, and radio stations you can name in America are gathered outside Andrews Air Force Base.
Even if not all reporters can necessarily enter the interior of the air force base.
The press conference will be held on the tarmac. After President Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, Air Force One returned to Andrews Air Force Base, and after being sworn in, Lyndon Johnson gave a short speech to national media right there on the tarmac, broadcast live on television.
But even if they can’t enter the interior of the air force base, the reporters won’t leave—live broadcasting from outside still rides the heat.
At this point, if you’re not covering professor-related news, no one will watch.
On the plane, Lyndon Johnson looked at the unscathed Lin Ran, and his suspended heart settled. Damn, if something happened to the professor, he really wouldn’t run this year. If he stepped down like this, his historical reputation wouldn’t be good either.
“Professor, it’s good that you’re okay, it’s good that you’re okay.” Lyndon Johnson said: “I’ve already sent people to investigate. For security personnel to have such an accident, this is undoubtedly a serious dereliction of duty by the security team. I will definitely get to the bottom of this!”
Without financial magnates behind him, Lyndon Johnson had nothing to fear.
Lin Ran had a very good relationship with the military-industrial complex. He himself had close cooperation with the Rockefeller and Morgan families and never rejected allocating interests to the military-industrial complex.
And his Star Wars Program was already showing initial success, greatly benefiting the military. Many senior generals within the military appreciated Lin Ran.
McNamara went without saying.
The Babylon translation machine single-handedly created by Lin Ran was still in service with the military and Department of Defense, continuously being optimized and improved.
The military had no reason to target Lin Ran.
After thinking it over, Lyndon Johnson arrived at only one conclusion: the Soviet Union. Only the Soviet Union had sufficient motivation.
He put himself in the position: if he were Leonid, seeing Burning No. 1 and Lin Ran’s astonishing youth, he too would be unable to sleep and would try every means to deal with Lin Ran.
For something like this, the most important thing is motive. Besides the Soviet Union, no one had the motive.
Lin Ran nodded: “Okay.”
He said no more; he was very calm because Lin Ran knew well that they couldn’t hurt him.
There’s a saying: within ten steps, man is fast; beyond ten steps, gun is fast.
Although the gunman was only ten meters away—safely within ten steps—he had a cheat, and his spirit was highly tense in advance, ready to dodge bullets at any time.
So at the first moment the gunman acted, he reacted.
As for deliberately getting injured? Lin Ran never thought of staging something like that. On one hand, it was unnecessary and hard to control—he wasn’t arrogant enough for that. On the other hand, he had to return to the 2020 spacetime from time to time.
How do you explain a gunshot wound when you go back?
As for a bullet grazing the ear and losing one ear, that’s even harder to explain.
As for healing first and then going back, Lin Ran was a moon-landing astronaut in 2020 spacetime. For any future aerospace missions, with the strict physical exams for aerospace tasks, hiding a gunshot wound is impossible.
No wound before, wound now—impossible to explain, would create countless troubles out of nowhere.
The door isn’t time stasis, just slowed time flow rate; it’s almost impossible to hide with the door.
So Lin Ran never thought of getting injured.
Even if big T’s famous scene happened, he wouldn’t fully replicate it.
America has plenty of historical assassinations, successful and failed.
Big T’s assassination was shocking, but not number one. Number one should be old Roosevelt, who during his presidential campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was hit by a bullet from former saloon owner John Schrank.
Roosevelt insisted on finishing his one-and-a-half-hour speech before going to the hospital.
Because at the time, he had a steel glasses case and a 50-page thick speech manuscript in his chest pocket; these two ensured the bullet was just lodged in his ribs without piercing his heart.
But even just lodged in the ribs hurt more than big T’s one ear, and Roosevelt endured a full one and a half hours.
If Lin Ran were to replicate, he’d replicate Roosevelt—continue speaking for one and a half hours after being shot.
In short, no need.
Deliberately getting injured carries too high a risk, too high in both this spacetime and 2020 spacetime.
During Lin Ran and Lyndon Johnson’s conversation, Jenny sat right beside Lin Ran, tightly gripping his arm.
After Lyndon Johnson walked away, she leaned to Lin Ran’s ear and whispered: “Professor, I’ll take charge of your security work afterward. The White House interior is too chaotic; everyone has their own interests.
The security team could be infiltrated by Soviet Union personnel—better than the Hearst family security team? No.”
Lin Ran nodded: “Okay.”
After all this, he completely trusted Jenny.
Moreover, given Jenny and his relationship, if Jenny wanted to harm him, there were countless opportunities in the past seven years.
When Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base, everything was set up here, including cameras, live broadcast lines, media reporters, and more.
McNamara had been waiting here for a long time.
To be precise, from the moment they boarded Air Force One, McNamara dropped his Vietnam War re-ignition proposal formulation and came to Andrews Air Force Base.
“Professor, this must be those damn Russians. I knew they would do something like this, those despicable Russians, willing to do anything to win.”
McNamara even tried to touch Lin Ran’s chest with his hand, attempting to confirm Lin Ran wasn’t injured that way.
Such an action was sternly stopped by Jenny, who directly slapped his hand away.
McNamara wasn’t embarrassed at all, just touched his nose and continued: “Professor, the only good news is that you’re okay. I’ve seen the site footage; your reaction was fast enough. It feels like divine providence helped you dodge the bullets.
In a Chinese person’s words, this is called the good are protected by heaven.
But still too dangerous. Professor, afterward the Department of Defense will provide you a security team—higher safety factor.”
McNamara kept talking, as if only this way could alleviate the anxiety from almost losing the professor.
Lin Ran nodded: “I’ve discussed it with Jenny. Jenny will arrange a new security team for me. Mike, I appreciate your kindness.”
McNamara shook his head: “Professor, how can that work? The Hearst family is in media; how could they understand security like the Department of Defense? Impossible, absolutely impossible!”
Jenny couldn’t hold back and righteously said: “Mr. McNamara, by your logic, the White House security team should be the most professional, but this shooting came from the White House. The Department of Defense isn’t even as professional as the White House—how dare you make big promises?”
Lin Ran patted Jenny’s hand, then said to McNamara: “Mike, thanks for your kindness. I need to prepare for the speech.”
Then he stood up and headed to the tarmac. Lyndon Johnson was already prepared, holding the speech draft prepared for him by Joe Christian.
Lin Ran would improvise.
After all, he had no dedicated press secretary; he didn’t need one.
“Ladies and gentlemen, American compatriots watching the live broadcast on television,
Standing on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, having just returned to our nation’s capital, my heart is heavy with inexpressible grief, mourning the passing of a great figure, a prophet of peace, a fighter for justice—Dr. Martin Luther King.
Tonight, America weeps. A voice echoing everyone’s dreams of freedom has been cruelly silenced by an assassin’s hand.
But let me say clearly: this act of hate, this bullet born of division, will not kill the mission for which he lived and died.
At the same time today, another even worse thing happened: at Martin Luther King’s funeral, an assassin tried to assassinate the professor, the greatest scientist and engineer of this century.
The assassin tried to inflict unbearable pain on America. If Martin Luther King represents America’s conscience, our pursuit and attempt at national integration, then the professor represents America’s brain. He is so important that he can even influence the outcome of the Cold War.
Dr. King advanced not with weapons but with words; not with fists but with faith.
The professor leads America forward with wisdom. Under the professor’s leadership, we achieved manned moon landing. NASA was shaped into the most powerful aerospace agency in history. Our Star Wars Program is nearing completion; we will soon be invincible in the Cold War.
I say to every American, from our city streets to the halls of power: enough of these assassinations that tear the republic’s soul and destroy the republic’s brain.
Let us reject the gunman’s path, the path of chaos and death, and choose the path of peace, the path of peace.
Whoever the real culprit behind the scenes is, the White House will get to the bottom of it. Once clarified, we will not let him go.
God bless you, God bless America.”
Then Lin Ran stepped forward and smiled: “Fellow American compatriots, I’m fine, I’m very well.
Before the assassination happened, some voice in the ether told me there was an assassin.
I don’t know if it was God’s will or Martin Luther King’s soul, but that voice was so clear that I reacted immediately. The gunman turned, I synchronously turned my head, dropped, rolled, dodged all the bullets.
I believe violence cannot solve problems; violence only breeds hate.
I believe these acts of hate will not make the assassination instigators stronger. On the contrary, it shows their weakness—they are so weak they can’t compete with America through upright means and can only achieve their goals through such despicable assassination methods.
When in a race, one side needs the other injured, thinking victory is not running faster themselves but making the competitor run slower, then in this race they have already lost. By not following the rules, they have lost the people’s hearts.”
Lin Ran didn’t name the Soviet Union, but the American public hearing it knew it was about the Soviet Union.
“I don’t know if this was the Soviet Union; I hope not. I hope our Cold War is a competition of advantages, not unscrupulous assassinations.
In 1961, during a break in my academic lecture at University of London, Mr. Korolev was waiting for me in the backstage lounge.
He wanted to talk with me.
Although at that time I was White House Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs, and NASA was at a disadvantage in the space race, I never thought of keeping Mr. Korolev in London.
Everyone should know that London is a fortress of the free world. If I wanted to, keeping Korolev in London was completely doable.”
Washington and London have a five-hour time difference; it was midnight in London.
Countless English citizens weren’t asleep, staying by their televisions watching the live broadcast.
Major Freeman and Sir Hailey were in a pub, drinking beer and watching TV.
Major Freeman had served in the military. Hearing this, he couldn’t hold back laughter and said wistfully: “Sir Hailey, is London really a fortress?”
Sir Hailey was humorous enough: “Leonid’s fortress? First time I’ve seen a fortress with so many KGB. The professor still has feelings for England, even hyping it up at a time like this.”
On the television, Lin Ran continued:
“I’ve met Mr. Korolev three times. No matter the occasion, whether NASA was advantaged or disadvantaged in the space race, I never thought of gaining advantage for America in the space race by eliminating the opponent.
I hope the mastermind behind my assassination isn’t the Soviet Union. If it is, it would disappoint me.
Assassinating one professor—America has millions more. You can’t defeat America this way.
Finally, I want to pay tribute to my dear friend, Dr. Martin Luther King. I believe in the final moment it was you guiding my fate from heaven. May you rest in peace there.
Thank you everyone!”
At this point, Lin Ran was completely accepted by Black people as one of their own.
Stabbed at the funeral, then dodging three bullets with god-like reaction speed.
Whether Martin Luther King’s guidance or God’s whisper, it showed Lin Ran was favored by God.
Black people of this era were mostly devout believers.
Before, they thought Lin Ran was amazing, his theories convincing, but you weren’t one of us.
Now, if you say you’re not one of us, we’ll think you are.
What Lin Ran didn’t expect was that while he was resting at the White House, with the outside world abuzz about Martin Luther King’s death and his assassination attempt, Goldberg arrived with a handwritten letter from Professor Seagull.
Professor Seagull had already called to express concern; this handwritten letter was just reiterating that, then obliquely expressing Goldberg’s intent.
Goldberg’s first words shocked Lin Ran:
“Professor, actually you are Jewish.”
