At Cao Baming's former club, the top brass at Arsenal were stunned when they learned of his impending move to Nottingham Forest.
They had considered the possibility that Cao Baming might join a platform superior to Arsenal, a team with a longer history and a more impressive current standing in the competitive landscape. However, they had no inkling of which team it might be, as there seemed to be no clear standard to indicate such a choice at the moment.
A question that had been plaguing their minds was which team Cao Baming truly desired to transfer to, enough to abandon Arsenal at this juncture?
Was it Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City? Or Liverpool?
Despite racking their brains, they still had no definitive answer. Each individual among the top management offered a different guess, yet none were entirely confident in their own conclusions.
Now, the real answer had emerged: a team ranked near the bottom had completely invalidated all their predictions. They had all guessed wrong, and by a significant margin!
"This is unbelievable! Is Cao Baming out of his mind? Why would he transfer to Nottingham Forest? To leave such a great environment for a worse one?"
As the owner of Arsenal, he couldn't comprehend it. He simply couldn't understand.
"I don't know what he's thinking, but who can truly fathom his mind? He's Cao Baming, after all." Mikel Arteta responded helplessly.
At this moment, the top management of Arsenal were gathered in a conference room for a meeting, the subject of which naturally revolved around Cao Baming's transfer. Each of them held a document detailing the news of Cao Baming joining Nottingham Forest. Although this information had not yet been publicly announced, they had already received a letter from Nottingham Forest.
As for the transfer fee, it had to be accepted. For such a small team like Nottingham Forest to snatch their most prized possession was no small matter, perhaps even an act of defiance.
Just as Cao Baming had anticipated, all transfer-related matters were concluded that afternoon. Since Nottingham Forest had waived all expenses for a top superstar, their current funds were quite ample.
With the private agreement with Cao Baming settled, negotiations with the club were merely a formality. After all, even if they didn't want to sell, what could they do? It was a matter of giving face, a courtesy. Cao Baming was now a completely free agent, and no one could stop him.
That night, the outside world remained peaceful. Although Nottingham Forest was eager to release the news, they would at least pick a suitable date. This was, after all, the most significant news in their history, perhaps the most important signing since the club's inception.
To release such momentous news at any random moment would be foolish. They needed to choose an auspicious date and time to make this announcement to their fans and the entire football world.
This was probably the first time their club would successfully stand at the pinnacle of the news headlines, basking in the strongest winds.
On this night, all the top management who were privy to the afternoon's events were happy, so excited they couldn't sleep.
Sleepless, they still savored the last moments of peace before the storm, knowing that the tempest was imminent.
After deliberation, they decided to make the announcement at 8 PM the following evening. Coincidentally, tomorrow was the anniversary of the club's founding, Nottingham Forest's birthday.
Announcing such crucial news to their fans on such a day would be perfect.
Meanwhile, Cao Baming continued to stay in his villa, enjoying his romantic time.
He had arranged dinner with Wu Xue for that evening and was also keeping a close watch on external news. However, it seemed his successful transfer had not yet been announced.
But on his social media platforms, direct messages and inquiries from fans had flooded his inbox like an ocean.
Every time he opened it, there were millions of inquiry records from curious fans. Even though they knew the chance of a reply was minuscule, it didn't stop them from wanting to express their thoughts.
Someone like Cao Baming, who only posted two or three social media updates a year, still garnered immense attention. His fan count had reached the same level as Messi's.
The only difference was a single digit in the ten-figure range, a negligible gap when considering hundreds of millions of fans.
And in the near future, this gap would be reversed, an unstoppable trend, an inevitability of history.
Last night, as planned, Cao Baming and Wu Xue arrived at the Italian restaurant by the sea. While waiting for their meal, Cao Baming instinctively opened his phone and navigated to the news media interface.
He didn't actually expect his transfer news to be released at this moment. The club had informed him of the timeline, and he knew it wasn't time yet.
However, this casual, almost unintentional action led him to witness something that left him utterly stunned.
As they waited for their food, Wu Xue sat beside Cao Baming. Seeing the look of utter shock on his face instantly, she was startled.
This was Cao Baming, and from her understanding of him, he was a person who rarely displayed such surprised expressions. He was always extremely calm.
It was precisely for this reason that Wu Xue was greatly alarmed. She quickly turned to Cao Baming and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong? What... what happened? What did you see???"
These rapid-fire questions clearly conveyed her surprise and curiosity.