Chapter 339 - Promises And Guarantees

Panda Novel

Warren’s smile immediately froze on his face upon hearing that. The entire conference chamber also fell silent, and peculiar expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

Robert was a little special in that he had been sent from the city lord’s castle, so his position was slightly different from that of the other vice presidents.

However, his personality was too unyielding and straightforward, so President Warren did not like him. As such, he was figuratively marooned, so his position in the Catering Association was a little awkward.

There was another fatso by the name of Tonis sitting beside Warren. He looked at Robert with a hint of mockery on his face as he said, “Vice President Robert, I know you like to conduct your own investigations at various restaurants, but I don’t agree with what you’re saying. This restaurant has only been open for a month, so even if we were to set aside how they managed to garner such a large customer base, I had a look at prices of their dishes, and even the cheapest one costs 200 copper coins, while the most expensive one costs 800. Even high-class restaurants wouldn’t dare to charge such high prices; how could it be reasonable for a small restaurant like them to charge these prices?”

As Warren’s right-hand man, as well as a vice president of the association, he was also quite disdainful toward Robert.

“That’s right. With such high prices and essentially zero promotion, how could they’ve gathered such a large customer base in such a short time?” Theo also chimed in. All of those vice presidents had been developed by President Warren, and had been living good life under his reign. They also received considerable bonuses from time to time, and they were thoroughly enjoying their role.

However, the stubborn Robert was a constant thorn in their side, so everyone was forced to refrain slightly from engaging in shady dealings. Thus, he was a public enemy in the first place, so everyone immediately sided with Warren against him.

Robert had come from the city lord’s castle, but the Catering Association wasn’t an official organization anyway. For him to be sent to the Catering Association most likely indicated that he was failing in his job at the city lord’s castle, so he wasn’t an important figure in their eyes.

Robert adopted a calm expression, and responded, “That restaurant was able to accumulate such a large customer base in less than a month as their food is extremely delicious. I feel like their prices are justified as I tasted their most expensive menu item, the braised chicken and rice, as well as their most controversial dish, the tofu pudding. Those two dishes were more delicious than anything I had ever had, and I felt that they were well worth the price.”

During the past few days, Mamy Restaurant’s dishes climbed steadily up the rankings. The braised chicken and rice was already at number 21, and after tallying up today’s votes, it should be able to break into the top 20 with no issues.

Robert had predicted that Mamy Restaurant’s meteoric rise would irk those in the Catering Association, but he didn’t think that these guys would make a snap judgment without any evidence and remove Mamy Restaurant from the rankings.

Robert was fuming internally at their unjust actions, but could only repress his rage. In this place, he was a lone warrior with no support.

Mamy Restaurant was an exceptional restaurant. Such an establishment deserved to be respected and promoted. It should be developed into a main attraction of the Aden Square, not removed from the rankings board just because it was interfering with some people’s profits.

“I do approve of and endorse Vice President Robert’s endeavors to conduct personal investigations at restaurants, but your words are very subjective, and are not enough to convince me. I only trust evidence, and believe in statistics and facts.” Warren’s small eyes narrowed further into slits, and he shook his head at Robert as he said, “From what I can currently see, there is an issue with this restaurant. I don’t know why Vice President Robert insists on standing up for it.”

“President Warren, I believe this is a restaurant with a lot of potential, and in the near future, it could become the most famous restaurant in the Aden Square. I am saying all this based on the delicious food that I had there, not to stand up for them.

“It’s ironic that President Warren is talking about facts and evidence when the decision you arrived at was made based on nothing but personal subjective judgment. You accuse me of standing up for Mamy Restaurant, but what you’re doing is standing up for restaurants who harbor resentment for Mamy Restaurant. If you insist on removing the restaurant from the rankings board, then I will be reporting this matter to the city lord for him to make a decision.” Robert rose to his feet and glowered at Warren.

The conference chamber fell into silence again. Tonis and Theo also both shut their mouths. Robert had brought up the city lord, so it would be unwise for them to interject any further.

“Heh, there’s no need for you to report this matter to the city lord; I will do so on my own. If our Catering Association is not good enough for an important figure like you, then I suggest the city lord transfers you elsewhere.” Warren chuckled coldly, and his expression was also extremely cold.

“Without instruction from the city lord himself, I won’t leave the Catering Association. President Warren, I hope you still remember the promises and guarantees you had made back when you took over from the former president.” Robert turned, and stormed out of the room.

Warren looked at Robert’s departing figure, and a memory was suddenly evoked in his mind. He recalled all the way back, when an elderly man with white hair had held tightly onto his hands in front of a few dilapidated tables, and vehemently described his vision for the future of the Catering Association. He then passed a set of keys to Warren in an extremely careful manner, making him the owner of the place. On that day, he had said many things, and also promised many things…

Tonis disrupted his train of thought, and asked, “President, what should we do?”

“We’ll naturally be following the normal procedure. Tonis, come with me to the Mamy Restaurant tomorrow. We must take an evidence-based approach, so we’ll go and collect some evidence.” Warren smiled as he got up to leave.

“Alright.” Tonis hurriedly nodded.

Everyone departed, and Warren entered another room with a balding middle-aged fatso.

“Stanley, go and tell Young Master Cyril that Mamy Restaurant won’t be on the rankings board tomorrow. On top of that, it will never make it onto the rankings board again.” Warren picked up a crystal glass, and poured some wine for himself. He swirled the vibrant red wine before bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip.

“Yes, President.” Stanley hurriedly nodded before quickly departing.

Warren took another sip of wine, and looked at the swirling wine in the glass as he murmured to himself, “It’s just a small restaurant. As long as you’re in the Aden Square, I can decide your fate. Nothing is more important to a restaurant than their reputation.”

…

In Cyril’s mansion.

Cyril raised his glass to Stanley with a smile on his face, and proposed a toast. “Well done. Thank you for your efforts, Board Member Stanley and President Warren. I believe that under the protection of the Catering Association, the Aden Square food competition will continue to thrive. Here’s to us, cheers.”

“To us.” Stanley hurriedly raised his glass with a fawning smile. He had benefited greatly from the deal that had just taken place, and was actually hoping for more restaurants like Mamy Restaurant to appear so he could continue to take more bribes.

…

We should be able to break into the top 20 on the rankings board today, right? The next morning, Mag opened his eyes, and got out of bed. He looked at his two hands, and a smile appeared on his face.