Upon closer inspection, he realized he had been discovered, and in his hands was a grey package. The package was about the size of half a pillow, wrapped in a very crude bag.
If it were a gift, how could it be presented in such a simple bag?
Cao Daming got out of the car and walked directly towards this direction. After taking the strange package from Wu Xue, he held it in his hand and lifted it. It turned out to be much lighter than he had imagined.
He glanced at Wu Xue, who was also very curious at this moment. However, considering the possibility of it being something important or a birthday gift, he decided it was best to keep it and not open it without permission.
The two walked into the room together. The room was brightly lit, and a fragrant scent filled the air, which Wu Xue had arranged beforehand with aromatherapy before coming here tonight.
He now considered this place his home. When he didn't have to go to school, he would stay here. There was also enough spacious area in the courtyard to even build a swimming pool himself without any problem.
Finding a small knife, Cao Baiming nimbly cut a small opening on the top of the package and tore it open.
As expected, the inside was filled with common cushioning materials used to protect the inner contents. After peeling away layers of padding, they discovered that the actual item inside was much smaller.
When they peeled back the last layer of padding, both of them stared intently at the black object within, completely stunned.
What was wrapped inside was none other than the phone Cao Baiming had lost last night.
This scene caused both of them to fall silent for a full two seconds.
Then, gently unwrapping the final layer of packaging, Cao Baiming successfully retrieved the phone.
The phone was not turned off. With a gentle press of the side button, the screen lit up. Everything was exactly as it had been when he lost it yesterday. Not only had the password not been changed, but the time and all settings were the same as before.
Most ridiculously, even the battery level was almost identical to when he last saw it last night, perhaps only depleted by about one percent due to automatic consumption.
This all seemed quite bizarre. If the person who had taken the phone truly didn't use it at all, then the battery could have maintained this level. However, any use, whether it was to try and hack it using technical means or simply to open the screen to look at it, would have consumed battery power.
Cao Faming used his familiar gesture password to unlock the screen and then checked if some important data files he had previously saved were still there, as well as if the contact list and memo information were still intact.
The result was that none of these items were missing at all. They were exactly the same as before, with no signs of modification.
However, even so, it was not enough to prove that the phone had not been looked at. In fact, this was impossible; any fool could figure that out.
Everything could have been deliberately staged. Was the other party truly treating him like an idiot, making it appear this way, thinking he would believe it?
He suspected that the job behind this carried a certain degree of insult.
Regardless, the phone was finally back.
But the most important thing now was not to directly start using this phone. The identity of the mysterious person behind this was still crucial, and even more suspicious.
On one hand, he had a conversation arranged with Max that needed to take place within the next two days. This was because the next league match was in two days, and he wouldn't have the leisure to deal with such trivial matters then.
And in the following week, the knockout stage of the Champions League would begin, making the schedule even more packed.
As for this phone, Cao Baiming had no intention of using it himself. The first thing he did was contact the technical team to conduct a comprehensive check of the phone to see what traces of use there were.
Things that are not visible to us are silently recorded by data in the background, and these traces can be discovered using technical means.
Under the current circumstances, this seemed like the best course of action.
The next day, Cao Baiming went to the team for group training as usual. This was the day everyone arrived, and they happened to gather for a practice match.
After it concluded, Cao Baiming checked his phone and received a message from Mike, stating that he had not been able to find this person named Max.
Even after inquiring within his own company, others hadn't seen their boss for many days, as if the person had vanished into thin air.
The boss was gone, but the company was still operating normally. The manager had even closed a deal worth millions yesterday afternoon, and the stock value had risen by nearly five percent.
Mike naturally wouldn't stop searching; this was just a minor setback.
In the afternoon, the technical team's inspection also yielded preliminary results. The phone appeared to have no abnormalities. The logs indicated it was shut down at 9:10 AM yesterday and turned back on at 11:00 AM.
Other than that, there were no operation records. Neither software nor hardware checks revealed any signs of brute-force cracking.
However, this was only a preliminary inspection. This type of inspection ruled out attempts by novice hackers. If faced with a top-tier expert, they would naturally know how to conceal their traces.
This was precisely the significance of the subsequent in-depth inspection.
In the blink of an eye, the club's final training session came to an end. On this day, the club's top brass, a rare sight, gathered outside the stadium.
They were not only there to cheer on the players for the upcoming league match but, more importantly, for the Champions League Round of 16 tie next Wednesday.
Even Arteta had repeatedly emphasized the match against Real Madrid in the past few days.
It was a persistent worry in his mind; no one wanted to face the reigning champions in the Round of 16.
Perhaps the only good news was that Zidane, who had been in excellent form, was still recovering from an injury and would definitely miss the match.