It was Cao Baiming's first day of training since returning to the team. After training concluded, in the evening, Cao Baiming returned to the locker room to change his clothes before heading to the restaurant outside the stadium for dinner. Just then, a phone rang.
Since it was a new phone he had only just started using that morning, Cao Baiming wasn't very familiar with the ringtone. It was completely different from his old one, so for a moment, he didn't even realize it was his phone ringing. It wasn't until his good friend Messi, standing nearby, reminded him that he finally registered it.
The display showed a completely unfamiliar number. However, considering the phone was less than five hours old, his contact list was still empty, and Cao Baiming didn't have a habit of memorizing anyone's number.
This call could be from anyone. Most likely, it was his technical team, who might have made some progress through technical means in tracking down this "Max." Thinking about it, given the time that had passed, they should have some results to report to him.
With such anticipation, Cao Baiming pressed the answer button.
The voice that came through wasn't the technical team he expected, but rather a more familiar one. The caller was Wu Xue.
Cao Baiming listened carefully to what Wu Xue was saying on the phone. Apparently, Wu Xue had received a package that day. Compared to the other birthday gifts, this package had a very strange wrapping – just a bulging bag, and the contents inside were very mysterious.
Wu Xue had just finished tidying up the new villa Cao Baiming had given her that afternoon and wanted to spend the night there. The recipient of the package was written as Cao Baiming's name, which was why Wu Xue immediately notified him.
What was strange was that the sender's name was written as "Anonymous." It was obvious that the sender didn't want their name to be discovered.
Receiving a package at a time like this seemed quite suspicious.
Just as Cao Baiming was pondering this, another call came in.
Cao Baiming had to temporarily hang up on Wu Xue and answer the call from the completely unknown number.
This second call, as he had anticipated, was from his technical team, whom he had arranged to contact him at noon. They had indeed achieved some preliminary results.
After repeated and multi-faceted verification, this phone number indeed belonged to Max himself. This Max was the head of a company called Maxwell. Judging by the photo, this man had distinctive long hair and was the same person he saw on the field earlier.
Hearing this, Cao Baiming took a deep breath. As expected, things were more complicated than he had imagined.
The Maxwell company was reportedly a new company that had just gone public at the beginning of last year. Its main focus was the integration of technology and sports, even including an artificial intelligence department. Such a development direction certainly aligned with the future. After going public last year, its market value had increased sevenfold in less than a year.
It could be said that Max, the founder of this company, was a shrewd and capable boss.
However, even so, it was merely a company with a market value of tens of millions. In Cao Baiming's eyes, it was just a small venture, mere pocket money, not worth mentioning.
Still, this piece of information was indeed shocking. What were that person's intentions? Cao Baiming's curiosity was even greater now.
The most important thing tomorrow would be to find him personally and discuss this matter face-to-face.
After hanging up the phone, Cao Baiming immediately informed Nikar, assigning him a simple task: go to the Maxwell company, find their chairman, Max, and bring him to a coffee shop to await Cao Baiming's meeting.
As Cao Baiming's agent, Nikar had to do much more than a typical football star's agent. At this moment, he was practically a deputy, needing to do and know how to do almost everything.
However, he also earned several times the salary of other agents. Ultimately, it was still a good job.
After sorting out his thoughts, Cao Baiming arranged the tasks that needed to be done next. Afterward, he finally got to eat dinner at the restaurant as he had wished.
After sending a message to Wu Xue, Cao Baiming left the restaurant that evening, found his car, started it, and headed towards Wu Xue's villa.
Besides the identity of the mysterious man, Cao Baiming also had another curiosity: what could be inside the package delivered at this time?
Even as a birthday gift, it was a bit late, and who would anonymously send someone a birthday gift? Most people wouldn't do such a thing.
To be honest, compared to the pile of gifts in the storage room, Cao Baiming was more curious about this mysterious package.
He hadn't even opened most of the gifts sent by his friends last night. He simply couldn't muster any enthusiasm for them; they were all common items, unlikely to surprise him.
Gifts like those could be bought with money, and Cao Baiming never lacked money. Why would he need to rely on others' gifts to get by?
Driving on the road at night, the streetlights suddenly lit up. It might have been the appointed time. The sky was gradually turning darker, approaching a complete blackness. In the night sky, only a bright crescent moon hung alone.
Arriving in the familiar neighborhood, Cao Baiming parked his car by the roadside. This area was no longer under his exclusive traffic control, and the roads were now busy with passing vehicles, a stark contrast to last night.
Looking ahead in the distance, Wu Xue was already waiting. She was wearing a blue and white pajama set and stood behind the glass door of the entrance, looking out.