"This...this...this is impossible!"
Richie stared at the two lines of text at the bottom of the first magic screen, his hands trembling slightly, and exclaimed with some emotion.
His dream of 29th place is gone, and now he's even lost 30th!
And what dealt him one fatal blow after another was the same restaurant! A restaurant he had never heard of before!
Just yesterday, he even received personal confirmation from Secretary General Ma Er Si that Richie BBQ Restaurant would definitely be among the top thirty this time.
But what's going on now? An unknown restaurant has suddenly appeared out of nowhere and taken two spots in the top thirty, pushing Richie BBQ Restaurant down to thirty first place!
This sense of disparity was hard for Richie to accept for a moment. He felt that the envious glances he had received before had now turned into mockery, and his expression became extremely ugly.
"Boss... what... what's going on?" The young waiter looked at Richie BBQ Restaurant, which was ranked first on the second magic screen, and was equally bewildered.
The people around Richie were also looking at him with a sense of schadenfreude, including some restaurant owners. They had heard Richie boasting about making it into the top thirty, and now seeing him fail made them feel quite pleased.
Those who run restaurants in Aden Square have all heard rumors about the Aden Square Merchants' Union manipulating the rankings and have long harbored resentment. However, since the other party is wealthy and powerful and colludes with the Catering Association, they dare not speak out.
Now, a restaurant called Restaurant Mai Mi has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and two of its dishes have actually broken into the top 30, successfully invading the Aden Square Merchants' Union's territory. Regardless of whether the other party is cheating or not, as long as it is not a restaurant under the Aden Square Merchants' Union, it gives them a sense of relief.
"Hmph, I don't even need to look to know that some guys must have used dirty tricks to deliberately boost their rankings above ours. I believe the Catering Association will give us a fair explanation for this despicable behavior." Richie snorted coldly, trying to calm himself down. Looking at the glaring ranking, his expression became even more certain. "A completely unknown restaurant, I've never even heard of this name before, and it's never appeared on any food ranking list before. It's inexplicably gotten two dishes into the top thirty. If this ranking is real, I'll run naked around Aden Square!"
"Holy crap! Only 29th place? How come such delicious Braised Chicken Rice didn't even make the top spot? What kind of rubbish food ranking is this?!"
"The number one spot should clearly belong to the Rou Jia Mo! The king of flatbread, the Rou Jia Mo, lets you experience the true meaning of life in one bite and rediscover that exhilarating feeling! How come it's only ranked thirtieth?"
"At least it made it into the top 30, but the Sweet Tofu Pudding that's so sweet it makes you forget to breathe is ranked 99th! That's the most intolerable thing! It's an insult to my faith!"
"Sweet Tofu Pudding shouldn't even be on the list! You heretics gave my beloved Savory Tofu Pudding one star, which pushed us straight to number 100. Which dish ahead of us can compare to the delicious and refreshing Savory Tofu Pudding? This is practically forcing me to vote with my feet!"
"I'm really unhappy that my favorite Yang Zhou Fried Rice is only ranked 72nd. I've eaten at all the restaurants on the list, and not a single dish can reach the level of Yang Zhou Fried Rice. This ranking is simply absurd!"
As soon as the rankings were announced, the crowd standing in front of the magic screens erupted in chaos. Apart from the restaurant owners who weren't on the list and sighing, the noisiest people were mostly customers of Restaurant Mai Mi, none of whom were satisfied with the rankings.
Especially after seeing the sweet and savory tofu pudding ranked 99th and 100th, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became very tense. However, the sweet and savory factions were scattered and it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, so everyone was suppressing their anger.
"The top 30 on the list are basically unchanged from last month, but the last two spots have been taken by a restaurant that I've never heard of before. Since it was able to pass the Catering Association's vote count, it means there shouldn't be any problem with the votes. So this restaurant is very likely to be the biggest dark horse in this ranking battle."
"That's not necessarily true. May be this restaurant won't be on the list tomorrow. Although everyone knows that anyone with money can get on this list, but if it's too obvious, the Catering Association will lose face."
"Does the Catering Association even have the face to exist? It probably hasn't existed for about fifteen years."
On the periphery of the crowd, several restaurant owners watched the scene with cold eyes, speaking softly with a hint of sarcasm.
"If I heard correctly, they seem to be arguing about that Restaurant Mai Mi. For customers to care so much about a restaurant's ranking and have such a strong sense of honor, this restaurant is definitely not simple. I believe it will be a dark horse, a dark horse that will shake up this year's food rankings." Among the crowd, a young man with red hair casually tied back and a handsome face said with a smile.
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, listening intently to the arguments, their expressions gradually becoming more and more interesting.
Although it's not quite clear what they're arguing about whether it's savory or sweet tofu pudding but they are definitely arguing about Restaurant Mai Mi.
Moreover, even though the argument was heated, but both sides surprisingly agreed on one point—the ranking was too low!
A restaurant that made its debut on the food rankings had all five of its dishes in the top 100, with two of them even making it into the top 30! And these people actually think the ranking is too low?
It's worth noting that even at Dukas Restaurant, where roast whole lamb is ranked number one, the second dish selected only ranked thirty eighth, and only three dishes made it into the top 100.
"Could it be that the restaurant even hired shills to create public opinion?" This thought immediately flashed through everyone's minds.
"No! That guy over there is the owner of the biggest fabric shop in Aden Square, that guy with a red face is the owner of the gold shop, that guy rolling up his sleeves is from the Gray Temple, and there's also a high-ranking official from the City Lord's Mansion... How could these people be shills!"
Soon, everyone recognized the identities of these guests. They were all wealthy and powerful, and it was impossible for a small restaurant to afford such shills, unless the restaurant was owned by the city lord's son in law.
It's not surprising that a restaurant that can drive these distinguished guests crazy has become the dark horse in this ranking competition.
"Hmph, I'm going to see what kind of backing this restaurant has that makes them so arrogant in manipulating the rankings. I'll expose them right here and now, and show the customers that not just anyone can make it onto the food rankings, let alone the top thirty!" Richie squeezed out of the crowd with a dark face, looked around, grabbed his waiter by the collar, and said angrily, "Where is that Restaurant Mai Mi?"
"Well... I don't know either." the young waiter said innocently.
"Keep walking west from Aden Square to the very end. If you're planning to cause trouble, good luck to you." Harrison said with a smile, pointing into the distance.