"Th … Th … That's impossible!"
Ricky's hands trembled slightly as he stared at the bottom two rows of words on the first magic screen with a hint of agitation in his eyes.
He had lost the 29th place that he had always dreamed of, and now he had even lost the 30th place!
Furthermore, it was the same restaurant that had dealt him one fatal blow after another! It was a restaurant that he had never heard of!
Just the day before, he had received confirmation from the secretary-general of Mars that Ricky's Rotisserie was definitely in the top 30.
But what the hell was going on here? A completely unknown restaurant had appeared out of nowhere and taken two of the top 30 spots, pushing Ricky's Rotisserie down to 31st place!
Ricky was unable to accept this stark contrast, and he felt as if all of the envious looks in his eyes had turned into mockery, and his expression darkened significantly.
"Boss … Wh … What's going on?" The employee stared at Ricky's Rotisserie on the second magic screen with a dumbstruck expression.
The surrounding customers were also looking at Ricky with schadenfreude in their eyes. There were many restaurant owners among them who had heard Ricky's boastful claim that he was going to make it into the top 30, and they were all quite elated to see him suffer such a setback.
All of them had heard about the Aden Chamber of Commerce manipulating the rankings board, and they were all quite displeased by it. However, the Aden Chamber of Commerce was extremely wealthy, and they were in cahoots with the Catering Association, so they didn't dare to voice their displeasure.
However, this restaurant by the name of Amy's had appeared out of nowhere, and two of its dishes had made it into the top 30, thereby allowing it to invade the Aden Chamber of Commerce's territory. Regardless of whether Amy's Rotisserie had made it into the top 30 or not, as long as it wasn't a restaurant owned by the Aden Chamber of Commerce, they felt as if they had vented their frustrations.
"Hmph, I don't even need to look to know that someone must've used dirty tricks to push their rankings higher than ours. I'm sure the Catering Association will give us a fair explanation for such despicable behavior." Ricky harrumphed coldly as he tried his best to calm himself down. He looked at the dazzling rankings, and an even more confident expression appeared on his face as he said, "This is a completely unknown restaurant. I've never even heard of this name before, and it has never appeared on the Aden Square before. However, for some reason, two of its dishes have made it into the top 30. If this ranking is accurate, then I'm going to run a lap around the Aden Square naked!"
"F * ck! It was only 29th place. How could such delicious braised chicken and rice not reach the top? What kind of bullshit Gourmet Rankings is this?! "
"Roujiamo is supposed to be the first! The king of pastries, la zhi roujiamo, let you experience the true meaning of life with one bite and regain the feeling of surging blood! He's only ranked 30th? "
"At least it's in the top 30. The sweet tofu pudding that's so sweet that I forgot to breathe is ranked 99th. That's the most intolerable thing! This is an insult to my faith! "
"A heresy like sweet tofu pudding shouldn't be on the list! You heresy bastards gave my beloved savory tofu pudding one star and pushed it all the way to the top 100! Which dish can compare to my delicious savory tofu pudding? You're forcing me to vote with my feet! "
"I'm very unhappy that my favorite Yangzhou fried rice is only ranked 72nd. I've eaten all of the dishes on the rankings, and none of them can compare to my Yangzhou fried rice. This ranking is ridiculous!"
Everyone in front of the magic screen erupted into an uproar as soon as the rankings were released. Aside from the owners of the restaurants that didn't make it onto the rankings, the most raucous of all were the customers of Amy's. None of them were satisfied with the rankings.
In particular, after seeing the sweet tofu pudding and savory tofu pudding that ranked 99th and 100th, the atmosphere immediately became extremely tense. However, the sweet and savory factions were scattered all over the place, and it was difficult to tell who was friend or foe, so everyone was repressing their anger.
"The top 30 of the rankings are basically the same as last month, but the last two restaurants are from a restaurant that I've never heard of. Since the Catering Association was able to count the votes, then there should be no problem with the votes. This restaurant is very likely to be the biggest dark horse in this competition."
"That's not necessarily the case. Maybe this restaurant's name won't be on the rankings tomorrow. Even though everyone knows that you can get on the rankings as long as you're rich, if they make it too obvious, then the Catering Association will lose face."
"Does the Catering Association still have such a thing as face? They probably haven't had any since 15 years ago. "
Outside the crowd, a few restaurant owners looked on coldly as they whispered among themselves with a hint of mockery in their voices.
"If I'm not mistaken, they seem to be arguing about that Amy's restaurant. For the customers to care so much about the rankings and have such a strong sense of honor, this restaurant definitely isn't simple. I'm even more convinced that it's a dark horse, a dark horse that's going to disrupt this year's Aden Square food competition." Among the crowd, a young man with a head of red hair that was casually tied behind his head said with a smile. He had a delicate and handsome face.
Everyone fell silent upon hearing that. As they listened to the argument, their expressions gradually became more and more interesting.
Even though they didn't know what the salty and sweet tofu pudding were, they were indeed arguing about Amy's.
Even though the argument was extremely heated, there was one thing that both sides agreed on — the restaurant's ranking was too low!
This was a restaurant that had appeared on the Aden Square food competition for the first time, and all five of its dishes had made it into the top 100, with two of them even making it into the top 30! Were these people complaining that the restaurant's ranking was too low?
One had to realize that even Ducas Restaurant, which had placed first on the rankings for its roast lamb, had only placed its second dish at 38th place, and only three of its dishes had made it into the top 100.
Could it be that the restaurant even hired people to create controversy? That was the first thought that flashed through everyone's minds.
No! That's the owner of the largest cloth shop in the Aden Square. That red-faced man over there is the owner of the gold shop. That man with his sleeves rolled up is from the Gray Temple. And there's also a powerful figure from the city lord's castle … How could these people be hired people?
Soon, everyone identified the identities of these customers. They were all extremely wealthy and powerful, and there was no way that a small restaurant could afford to hire them, unless that restaurant was opened by the city lord's son-in-law.
It didn't seem strange that a restaurant that could drive all of these esteemed customers into a frenzy would become the dark horse of this competition.
"Hmph, I'm going to go see just what kind of backer this restaurant has. How dare they try to fake the rankings like this? I'm going to expose them right here and now! I'll show all of our customers that not just anyone can make it onto the Aden Square food competition, let alone make it into the top 30!" Ricky squeezed his way out of the crowd with a dark expression. He looked around before grabbing his employee by the collar, and angrily asking, "Where's that Amy's?"
"Well … I don't know, either," the employee replied with an innocent expression.
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