"Boss! Boss!!! Our restaurant entered the rankings board again! Braised chicken and rice came in at number 29, and all of the other four dishes also made it into the top 100!" Mag was just preparing breakfast for Amy when he heard an urgent burst of knocking. He opened the door, and Yabemiya immediately rushed in with cheeks that were flushed with excitement."Hmm?" Mag faltered slightly upon hearing that before a surprised smile appeared on his face, and he asked, "Is that true, Miya? The braised chicken and rice made onto the rankings board again? And it"s number 29?"
"It"s 100% true! I saw it with my own two eyes; our restaurant really did make it onto the rankings board again!" Yabemiya nodded with excitement.
Right at that moment, the system"s voice sounded. "Ding! Congratulations, one of your dishes has made it into the top 30 during this edition of the Aden Square food compet.i.tion, so you have successfully completed the mission! The reward for this mission, the Haagen-Dazs ice cream recipe, has already been delivered. You may enter the test field for the G.o.d of Cookery at any time to practice."
Mag looked at the flas.h.i.+ng experience bag in his mind, and he couldn"t help but smile.
The completion of this mission sure was unexpected. He was already prepared to receive the punishment for failing the mission, but who would have thought that such a drastic reversal would take place? He had done nothing else aside from sleeping the night before, but the mission was somehow completed.
"How did this happen? Did the Catering a.s.sociation provide an explanation?" Mag asked.
"I don"t know the specific details, but the president of the Catering a.s.sociation has been replaced by a tall and thin man. I recall that he came to dine at our restaurant once, and he seems to be very stern. Aside from our restaurant being reinstated on the rankings board, many restaurants were stripped from it. He announced that those restaurants had bought their rankings, and they would be banned from the food compet.i.tion for three months." Yabemiya was still feeling very worked up as she delivered her recount of events.
"Who would have thought that such a ma.s.sive revolution would take place? Looks like the city lord really decided to bite the bullet this time. I"m surprised that he remembered to reinstate our Mamy Restaurant on the rankings board, though." Mag nodded with a smile. From Yabemiya"s account, he could deduce that the new president was most likely the former Vice President Robert, who had been transferred to the Catering a.s.sociation from the city lord"s castle.
The dismissal of the old guard in the Catering a.s.sociation would undoubtedly create many changes, both in the Catering a.s.sociation itself as well as in the restaurant industry in the Aden Square.
However, Mag definitely approved of the new president"s decisive course of action. Even though such radical measures would inevitably result in some backlash, it was always better to rip off a band-aid quickly rather than slowly. If he wanted to drag the Catering a.s.sociation out of the mire that it had been sinking into for the past decade, then some negative consequences were an inevitable byproduct.
As long as the Catering a.s.sociation could establish itself again, and not be controlled by money, perhaps it would actually serve as a useful a.s.sociation to the ma.s.ses soon. Even though it had done many wrong things in the past, Mag still felt that the Catering a.s.sociation shouldn"t be completely abolished. The restaurant industry needed a supervising organization, so the existence of the Catering a.s.sociation was still imperative.
Of course, what made Mag the most elated was that he had completed his mission. The Haagen-Dazs ice cream recipe was a really good prize; Amy would have delicious ice cream to eat tomorrow.
After a while, Sally also arrived, and she, too, wore a bright smile on her face. However, she refrained from repeating the news as it was apparent from Mag and Yabemiya"s smiles that they already knew what had happened.
"Father, tomorrow is our day off; I can still invite my friends over for lunch, right?" Amy came downstairs, and looked at Mag with antic.i.p.ation on her face.
"Of course you can. Also, I"m going to prepare a special dessert for you and your little friends tomorrow." Mag nodded with a smile. The ice cream recipe had arrived just in time for Amy and her little friends to enjoy a delicious dessert.
"A dessert?" Amy"s eyes lit up with excitement and curiosity as she asked, "Like tofu pudding? Amy loves tofu pudding!"
Mag put on a mysterious smile as he replied, "It"s a little different from tofu pudding. You"ll know what it is tomorrow."
"Yay! Father"s dessert will definitely be super delicious!" Amy nodded with glowing eyes.
"Boss, are you going to be entertaining guests tomorrow? Do you need our help?" Yabemiya asked.
"That won"t be necessary, but if you"ve got nothing to do tomorrow, you can come over for lunch, and try out the new product that our restaurant is going to release." Mag turned to Miya and Sally with a smile.
Yabemiya nodded with elation before turning to Sally. "Alright, I"ll be coming for sure. How about you, Aisha?"
"I don"t have anything to do, so I"ll come as well." Sally nodded. She was very much looking forward to this new dessert.
"Good." Mag nodded with a smile.
…
Outside the restaurant, the customers organized themselves into two lines as usual. All of them were very happy that Mamy Restaurant had made it onto the rankings board again, but were also feeling a little wistful as Mamy Restaurant had given up on voting on the final day. Otherwise, their rankings would have been even higher.
Mamy Restaurant made it back onto the rankings board; Boss Mag must be really happy, right? I"ll be going to the Blue Suede Textiles Shop today, so I won"t be able to wear my veil anymore. I wonder if he"ll dislike me for my appearance. Gloria was part of one of the lines, and she wore a nervous expression on her face, which was still being obscured by a white veil.
She clenched her delicate little fists tightly as those thoughts occurred to her. She wore a pink dress with a golden sash, which accentuated her lithe and graceful figure, drawing the attention of many customers, all of whom were curious what she looked like under that white veil.
The restaurant door was opened, and customers piled in as they expressed their congratulations to Mag.
"Thank you all for your support. The restaurant is now open for business; please come in." Mag greeted all of his customers with a smile. He was very touched by the concern and support that they had extended toward him.
The customers entered the restaurant one after another, and Mag greeted all of them one by one. All of a sudden, a woman in a pink dress stopped in front of him.
"Welcome," Mag said with a smile. He had never seen the young woman"s face as it was always obscured by a veil, but from his observations, he knew that she came to eat a sweet tofu pudding almost every day. Her voice was very beautiful, but she rarely ever spoke, and the two of them had never had a conversation.
However, she stopped beside him today, and looked at him through her white veil as if she had something to say.
All of the customers behind her also stopped, and looked on with curiosity.
"Thank you for curing the freckles on my face. Can I give my first time to you?" Gloria was a little nervous as she appraised Mag.