Chapter 548 Endorsement
There is a saying that goes something like this: beautiful women can deceive people, and the more beautiful they are, the more likely they are to deceive.

But this sentence obviously doesn't say that beautiful women won't be deceived...

When having dinner in the room on the second floor of the restaurant before dusk, Miss Olivia had already been successfully led astray by Lina.

It seems as if several partners of the detective agency are tinkering with some kind of "Justice Investigation Team" that specializes in investigating wrongful convictions and "speaking for the rights of the living and for the dead."

At this moment, the unfinished exterior wall of the restaurant's first floor has been temporarily sealed with vertical wooden boards. With the help of the maid team, the hall has also been cleaned again.
However, such a "construction site" is still not suitable for receiving potential sponsors as important as Miss Olivia.
So the detective agency temporarily moved a dining table and chairs over, put a tablecloth on it, and placed a vase on it, which was barely considered "up to standard" in the eyes of the housekeeper.

The space was limited, and only the eldest daughter and three partners could sit at the small dining table. Even Emma had to be taken to Willy first.

This happened to become an "information cocoon", temporarily locking Miss Olivia inside.

"I see. Although you've already ascertained the facts and the murderer has privately confessed, you currently lack sufficient evidence to overturn the conviction. That's why you need to resort to other methods to gather evidence."

Miss Olivia quickly accepted the instructions and seemed to have a bit of a public-spirited spirit. "It's a pity that when my father came here this time, he specifically instructed me not to let any of our family members get involved in Virginia's local affairs without permission. Otherwise, I would have liked to help."

Wayne was not surprised by Miss Olivia's "enthusiasm".

After all, this young lady had a history of contact with the "Underground Railroad" organization and was kidnapped because of it. It is normal for her to feel sympathy for the dead and the wronged.

He hadn't actually thought of involving the Fisk family in the first place - the favors of these old wealthy families might be "easy to borrow" but not necessarily "easy to repay", as there would be a lot of people behind them to help "give advice" and "check".

But just at this moment, the housekeeper and the team had just finished serving the dishes. Looking at the sliced luncheon meat that was served on the big plate and made to look like something ordinary people couldn't afford to eat, Wayne couldn't help but join the team of "overdrawing favors":
"Actually, if Miss Olivia wants to help, you don't have to use the family name. Why don't you try this dish first and see how it tastes?"

Upon hearing this, Miss Olivia gracefully used her knife and fork to cut the already small luncheon meat into small pieces, then dipped them into the sauce that had been cut with a spoon. "Hmm... This should be a pastry made from some kind of meat. It has a unique texture and a rather novel flavor..."

Translated, this is probably a subtle and respectable way of saying "not so good".

After she finished speaking, she looked over, as if waiting for Wayne to continue.

Wayne was a little disappointed with the young lady's evaluation, but he continued according to the predetermined script:

"I plan to name this thing 'Luncheon Meat', reduce the meat content, and increase the starch content, making it a meat substitute that people with limited financial resources can more easily purchase. I then promote it in the docklands. If I can arrange for someone to visit under the guise of promoting this product, it should be helpful for the investigation."

The so-called "lunch meat" in this era actually refers to the cold cuts of meat eaten at lunch by people above the middle class, such as sliced ham or smoked meat, which is considered a "high-end enjoyment" - the working class these days usually don't eat lunch much, or just make do with a few bites, and meat usually appears in the evening meal.

Giving a product name like "meat-containing starch food" is actually a deliberate attempt to "steal traffic" and try to enhance the quality of this thing.

After hearing this, Miss Olivia thought for a moment and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"You don't have to do anything," Wayne explained. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get your authorization. For example, we'd like to promote it as 'Miss Olivia's recommended delicacy' for better promotion. We're not selling it to make money, but we can take a portion of the profit as your endorsement fee."

Strictly speaking, this still takes advantage of the value of the "Fisker family", but "personal preference" and "family certification" are two different things after all. It is not too much of a bully, and it is also easy to cut.
If it weren't for the fact that there weren't household names back then, and the poor had no chance to see musicals, Wayne wouldn't have considered using the "upper class lady" moniker to boost sales—if that didn't work out, he'd just go for it himself, calling it "delicious food recommended by the great detective," but it still felt a bit off. Miss Olivia seemed to realize this, and hesitated slightly. "Will this really help clear up the wrongful conviction?"

Wayne didn't hesitate. "Of course. The docks are so large, there must be more than one or two small gangs here. If things go smoothly, not only can the truth of this case be revealed, but we might also be able to uncover evidence of other gangs' crimes, crack down on more crimes, and fundamentally prevent similar injustices from happening again."

Looking at Wayne's determined expression, Miss Olivia pondered for a moment, "If that's the case, then I'm willing to help. But you can only advertise it as my personal recommendation, and you can't use our family's name."

"Thank you very much!" Wayne continued, "So, regarding the proportion of the endorsement fee..."

Considering the Fisk family's fame and status in the south, this is probably similar to the food story of "Emperor Qianlong's Journey to the South of the Yangtze River".
Fast food restaurants intend to rely on "taste" and "quality" as their selling points and do not need such gimmicks. On the contrary, the temperament of "lunch meat" is more in line with this style.

The eldest lady obviously thought that this kind of thing wouldn't sell very widely, and didn't care about the small amount of money. "No need, and I can also help you promote it at social dances. But I think... it might not be particularly popular."

Wayne was already content with this. He smiled and nodded, "This is more than enough. If the profit is indeed substantial, we can discuss the endorsement fee later."

……

The reason for eating dinner early was to take care of Miss Olivia's schedule. She was very busy these days and had to attend a dance in the evening.

However, the eldest lady was indeed reliable. She asked the housekeeper to pack up the remaining luncheon meat, saying that she planned to bring it to the dance for everyone to taste. This way, when Wayne and others promoted it later, it would not sound like a one-sided "rumor."

After sending the young lady and her group away, Wayne took Parker to the kitchen to continue researching the recipe for a cheaper version of luncheon meat.
The meat and the cured ham used to enhance the flavor can be made of cheaper scraps in the future, and can be further improved later, but the specific recipe can be improved and compared now. If the chef could not tirelessly grind the meat into a paste, this step alone would be exhausting.

However, watching Wayne constantly adding flour to the mold, and even throwing peeled potatoes directly into the bowl and asking the chef to mix them into a paste,
Several recipes resulted in finished products with a bland meat flavor and a soft, mushy texture. The chef's culinary instincts were undoubtedly challenged. "Sir...why don't you go back and rest? I can handle the recipe research..."

Wayne insisted on his own ideas. "I've roughly calculated that the meat paste processing also involves mixing and stirring. We can rent a windmill and use modified equipment to do this, which will reduce the cost even further. However, the meat content must not exceed the ratio I set, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the planned cost target. You can only improve the taste based on this requirement."

Inissa and Lina were also in the kitchen, but they were sitting at the preparation table a little further away from the stove.

While Wayne was busy supervising the chef, he would jog over when he had time to share with them the results of today's investigation.

After initially confirming that the intelligence from both sides roughly matched—the physical features of the "suspicious individual" described by the witness were similar to those of the small gang leader—Inessa was a little puzzled as to why Wayne was suddenly so eager to tinker with something new. She turned to Lina and asked, "Is this a new product you're planning to launch in the fast food restaurant? You've even asked Miss Olivia to help promote it."

"This should be something else," Lina shook her head, then rolled her eyes twice, "but I have a rough idea of what he wants to do."

Inesa was always curious, so when she didn't understand something, she asked, "Just like he said, attacking the gangs from the side?"

Lina smiled slyly, "I guess after taking a look around today, he found that the gangs there are not big enough and the people are not strong enough. Now he probably wants to become the 'King of the Docklands'."

(End of this chapter)