Universe Infinite Canteen

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"......"

The two diners, suspected to be hired by the Meiping Website, didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Anyhow, if you happen to see the boss of Meiping Website, please pass on a message for me. Tell him to keep those lapdogs of his away from my restaurant.

"Of course, since you two have no connection with Meiping Website, just forget I said anything and enjoy your meal," Ma Lu said, ready to turn back to the counter when the voice of the female diner followed him.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure about what?"

"As the owner of a restaurant, are you sure you want to challenge the most popular food rating website among the youth, with 80 million active users? What good does it do you?"

Ma Lu stopped in his tracks, "Is that a threat?"

"No, consider it a piece of advice from a peer."

"But within this company, which is most popular among the youth and has 80 million active users, there's someone I really can't stand," Ma Lu said, spreading his hands.

"......"

"Did that guy say that? He said there's someone here he doesn't like?"

Mike's face darkened. He recalled the last time he edited the article submitted by Yu Yitong, adding a few lines to divert traffic to the bigger restaurants.

Mike felt there was nothing wrong with what he did. Back then, Ma Lu was just a flexible employment youth who shamelessly set up his stall at the school gates, just lucky enough to catch a wave of short-video popularity.

Mike had seen too many such Internet-famous stalls and stores; they were mostly flash-in-the-pan, only hot for a moment before quickly dying.

Therefore, Mike wasn't worried about offending Ma Lu back then. What he was thinking about was how to use this wave of popularity to direct traffic to both the Meiping Website and its advertising clients.

The Meiping Website was for rating restaurants, not snack stalls, so naturally, Mike also encouraged the readers to pay more attention to restaurants in the conclusion of the article.

After being protested by Yu Yitong a few times, Mike initially wanted to use the situation to teach her how to work. However, as Yu Yitong was not obedient, he got irritated and marginalized her in the group.

Later, Mike remembered that Yu Yitong and Ma Lu were apparently alumni. It was very likely she told Ma Lu about it, and for that reason, Ma Lu resented him.

Under normal circumstances, this was no big deal. Meiping Website held the power to judge restaurants. Their ratings could make an unknown small restaurant explode with popularity overnight, or make a century-old establishment deserted.

For those restaurant owners, the Meiping Website was like God, holding sway over their fate.

Even if Ma Lu's snack stall hadn't fallen through and he had managed to establish a storefront in the future, what would follow was nothing but a reconciliation as if burying past grievances with a smile.

After all, doing business isn't about street fights; it's about valuing peace and making more friends rather than enemies.

But Mike hadn't anticipated someone completely disregarding conventional wisdom.
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How dare that guy? His store had only been open for so long, and yet he was so brazen as to challenge the Meiping Website. Was he crazy?

Whether Ma Lu was crazy or not, Mike didn't know, but he himself was going mad.

Because the Universe Infinite Canteen had become too famous, so much so that even the senior executives of the company had heard about it.

```

The meeting was called overnight to decide on including it in the website's food map.

According to past practice, the company would assign at least three food observers to visit the target restaurant anonymously and give it a rating.

Afterwards, the media operations department responsible for content would also produce an exclusive interview.

Now, this exclusive interview had fallen to Mike's team, the reason being quite simple, they had previously conducted an interview with The Universe's Number One Snack Stall.

The boss probably felt they were familiar with Ma Lu, so the new interview was handed over to them.

But the issue was that the last interview had ended on a sour note.

Mike sought help from a colleague in a neighboring department and got a hold of one of the observer's phone numbers who participated in the rating, to understand Ma Lu's attitude first. The call, however, only delivered bad news.

It seemed the guy held quite a grudge, referring to the two observers who went this time as lackeys of the Meiping Website.

Upon hearing this, Mike knew the exclusive interview was likely off the table. If unrelated individuals were being insulted to such an extent, him being the main culprit, showing up might just result in a full-scale brawl.

Handing it off to someone else in the team was clearly not an option, as Ma Lu was now averse to anyone associated with the Meiping Website.

Mike then thought of Yu Yitong, but he had already spoken to her, and this time, her stance was exceptionally firm, absolutely refusing to agree.

She even claimed that their relationship was average at best, and they no longer kept in touch.

Mike didn't buy this nonsense for a second, thinking Yu Yitong simply wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

What a joke, if their relationship was so average, why would Ma Lu agree to the interview last time, and why remember him with such rancor now? It was clear that it was Yu Yitong who had tipped him off.

But he was a bit at a loss with Yu Yitong now as he had marginalized her, and surprisingly, Yu Yitong did not panic this time, as if she had already braced for the worst.

She earnestly completed her work every day, clocked in and out on time, and Mike had a few of her colleagues who were close to her inquire privately. It seemed Yu Yitong had already started sending out resumes, looking for a new job.

However, Mike only hoped Yu Yitong would submit to him, following his orders, and he didn't really want to drive her away.

So, Mike had to come up with a solution himself.

He said to the food observer on the other end of the phone, "Chef Wang, that kid is so arrogant, we have to show him some colors. What score are you planning to give them this time?"

After a pause, Chef Wang replied, "4.7 points, I guess. The decor is nice, but there's room for improvement.

"Besides, the experience of waiting for the meal is not good; the line is too long. But to be honest, once you've eaten their food, these aren't problems at all."

"What, so high!" Mike exclaimed in shock. The Meiping Website worked on a 5-point scale, and unlike its competitors where everyone could easily get a 5-star rating, there were fewer than 30 restaurants in City B with a rating above 4 points.

Not to mention the monsters above 4.5 points.

The most crucial point was that this was the score given by Chef Wang after being insulted by Ma Lu. Chef Wang was not a pushover; she had her own temper.

Being inexplicably scolded, she would certainly consider docking some points to vent, but after deducting, it was still 4.7; if she hadn't docked any points, wouldn't it be a perfect score?

Now Mike became anxious. He had hoped Chef Wang would score low so that he would have leverage in negotiations with the other party, so he said, "Is there any chance you could lower it a bit more?"

Chef Wang responded somewhat helplessly, "I can't lower it. Food doesn't lie; the restaurant's dishes are indeed delicious.

"Besides, when I agreed to be a food observer for Meiping Website, it was understood that I would be solely responsible for the scores and would not accept outside interference."