'One genius trying to work out what another genius has done - it results in the most appalling carnage ...'
The world only makes sense to Rong Jinzhen through numbers. As an orphaned child he counts the ants on the ground and writes calculations on wrapping paper. But as this fragile, isolated boy grows up, his mathematical genius is recognized by the secret services. Recruited as a codebreaker to crack the notorious 'Purple' cipher, he begins to unravel ...