Warren immediately smiled with a compliment on his face and said, "Mr. Brook, how can you be so modest? We're the ones who should treat you to dinner."

Daniel insisted, "No, it's just one meal. After all, it was me who came here and wasted a whole morning of the time of so many of your senior management."

He didn't give Warren an opportunity to say no. Turning to his assistant, who was sitting nearby, he said, "Go and call a restaurant nearby and make a reservation right now."

The assistant closed his notebook and pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose with a flicker of doubt in...