The night was unusually peaceful. Cao Baiming fell asleep as soon as he got into his own bed, and everything outside continued as usual, each in their own way.
Fans were still processing the news of internal conflict within Real Madrid that had recently broken, but such news was hardly fresh to them. The entire football world had settled into a state of calm.
Was this bottleneck the calm before the storm, or the lull after it had just passed? No one could say for sure, as they were not yet aware of the news that would completely detonate the global public opinion.
It was very quiet, yet at the same time, the night was also very unsettled. Everything was brewing, quietly gathering momentum.
The transition between day and night, completed in just about ten hours, saw a subtle change over Arsenal city as the sun gradually rose above the horizon.
The sky shifted from absolute darkness to a gradual brightening, and the entire world was once again bathed in sunlight. For many, this was the time to wake up. Following their usual habits, they would get up, wash up quickly, prepare a simple breakfast with fast-food efficiency, and plan to eat on their way to work.
While waiting for the coffee machine to brew their coffee, people often took out their phones to casually browse the latest news of the day. It was around seven or eight in the morning, the freshest time for news.
But no one could have imagined that a single piece of news would cause everyone to drop their glass cups to the floor.
At this very moment, Manchester United was no longer hiding the transaction. After all, it had been successfully completed. Following some final follow-up procedures, the news was ready to be released.
The news was issued at 4:00 AM, when most people were sound asleep.
Yet, even upon waking at 6:00 AM and seeing the news, people were still shocked. Its view count had already reached tens of millions!
"Manchester United Club acquired today by Cao Baiming, with a total transaction value of 8.26 billion..."
Just seeing the name Cao Baiming was enough to startle everyone.
Cao Baiming? Wasn't that the player who had been making waves recently? Why would his name appear in such news?
At this moment, this was the thought of most people. They might not understand football or follow matches regularly, but they couldn't fail to recognize the name Cao Baiming, whose fame in the football world had long surpassed the sport itself.
Despite this, very few people were aware of Cao Baiming's wealth, which was in the hundreds of billions. Everything had happened too fast, and most people didn't care about such matters. Who would have thought that a professional player had quietly become a commercial magnate, even entering the top 10 on the world's rich list?
This was too crazy. It wasn't just reaching a certain level of craziness; it was no longer the way the world was supposed to be.
Everyone who saw this news at this moment was stunned, whether they were fans or ordinary people who had never cared about football.
8.26 billion pounds – this was an astronomical figure, a number that ordinary people might never see in their entire lives!
Waking up and seeing such news, the first thought that occurred to everyone was whether they were still dreaming, as such an event happening in the real world was too outlandish.
It was so wild that it made people question reality.
The public sphere was in an uproar, as if hit by a nuclear bomb. Meanwhile, tabloid reporters instantly became swamped with work.
Even in the early morning, they were receiving urgent calls from their bosses, demanding they make a big story out of this shocking news.
Fans were going wild, and public opinion on the internet erupted like a flood.
At this moment, the calm before the storm had been shattered. The scene unfolding now could even be considered an understatement to call a storm; it was an unprecedented hurricane, and it was ongoing!
Cao Baiming slowly got out of bed, throwing off the covers. His gaze drifted to the clock on his bedside table. It was already ten thirty-four.
An unexpected holiday brought a sense of unexpected relaxation. Normally, waking up after 8 AM would be considered a novelty; such an opportunity was almost impossible. But now, with a sudden holiday, he had slept in until past 10:30.
At this moment, although the outside world was in a state of near nuclear explosion, Cao Baiming was completely unaware. During that time, he had been having a wonderful dream, sailing the world on his luxury yacht, from Antarctica to the Arctic, to the ends of the earth.
As usual, after getting up, Cao Baiming went directly to the living room and then looked at his phone. Although he didn't see news headlines, a very conspicuous notification directly caught his attention.
As expected, all the notifications were text messages, with no missed calls. The sender of all the messages was Mike. Mike alone had sent six messages.
Perhaps as his boss, Mike understood Cao Baiming well. He wouldn't dare to call at this hour, so if there was any new information, he would notify him via text message.
While unsure of how much his boss suffered from morning grumpiness, or if he even did, as a subordinate, how could he dare to try? If he rashly attempted it and really stirred up a hornet's nest, the trouble would be immense.
As Cao Baiming walked towards the washbasin, holding his phone in his left hand, he swiped a few times on the screen. Mike's six messages appeared one by one.
While brushing his teeth and browsing these messages, a hint of surprise flickered across his face.
Before seeing these messages, Cao Baiming had already anticipated them. They would undoubtedly be about the major transaction that had just closed yesterday.