Chapter 3

On the holiday itself, Lucretia was up early posting photos of the other restaurant to the group.

I gave them a glance.

The place did look nice. Clearly a lot of thought had gone into it.

Then came Lucretia's usual snideness.

"Eating somewhere like this really does lift the mood. Not like certain places, old and rundown, with prices that are downright outrageous."

I couldn't help smiling.

The owner of that restaurant was named Bruce Dickerson.

Everyone in our line of work had heard of him one way or another.

He and I had once trained at the same place.

Back then our teacher used to say Bruce didn't put his cleverness where it belonged.

At the time I hadn't understood what that meant.

Later, hearing it from others in the trade, I learned he always liked to work the surface, deliberately undercutting prices to steal business.

But he sourced his stock carelessly. Only the prices looked good.

What you actually got to eat was pure luck.

And customers had no way to take it up with him.

She kept needling me in the group.

"What's this? Some people don't dare speak up now? Businesses that gouge their regulars should just go under fast!"

"Once the food's out, I'll show all of you what an honest business really looks like!"

Bill was furious on my behalf and asked why I didn't just kick her out.

I sighed and typed back.

"If you stand straight, you don't fear a crooked shadow. If I kicked her out, she'd just go somewhere else to badmouth me."

That would only make things harder to control.

Because of her ranting in the group, our foot traffic dropped by a third.

Not only that, some customers who'd booked private rooms in advance got poached off to that restaurant she was recommending.

The staff were starting to get anxious.

I did my best to reassure them.

Who was right and who was wrong, the people who knew the business would judge for themselves.

Besides, I didn't have that much time to spare on an idler like her.

I turned off the screen and got back to work, and around the right time, Bill showed up.

I led Bill into the private room.

When the food came out, his face lit up and he said with real feeling, "Boss James, this is genuinely such good value!"

I smiled.

People are good to me, I'm good to them.

He couldn't resist urging me again.

"There are so many customers watching that group of yours. You really won't come out and say a few words? You're just going to let her run her mouth in there?"

Seeing Bill so genuinely angry for my sake left me feeling warm inside.

"Bill, the mouth belongs to her. She can say whatever she wants."

I smiled.

Besides, I wasn't holding back. I was waiting to watch her make a fool of herself.

Lucretia had said it herself at the time, that the person she was treating to this dinner mattered a great deal to her.

Someone she'd rack her brain to impress, could that be an ordinary person?

So whether the food was any good, one bite would tell.

I curved my lips. "Bill, don't you worry. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Bill sighed, unable to hide how much he cared.

Coming out of the private room, I had two more small dishes sent in.

Once that rush was over, I could finally relax and take a sip of water.

Who would have thought, the group had blown up.