Jason | "An Unusual Cold Buffet"
One year, I’ve already forgotten which year it was, probably 2015. The Midnight Diner was already very busy because Sister Hua had arrived, and the People’s Road, which was where people would compete for stalls, was no longer suitable for her. Shuyang was idle in Dali, often coming to make fish and chips during the day, while Wang Yang had already gone to the United States.
Honghong received a phone call from an event planning company asking if she could do a cold buffet. A certain international sports brand had donated a basketball court to a remote, impoverished village in Dali, and they were holding an inauguration ceremony with some senior executives from the Asia-Pacific region attending. Perhaps there weren’t many Western restaurants in Dali at that time, or maybe it was the trendy name "Manolito's Fish & Chips" that gave them hope. In fact, Wang Yang and Honghong opened this restaurant because they didn’t know much about cooking but wanted to start a restaurant in Dali, so they chose fish and chips, the simplest dish. The idea came about a year before moving to Dali, when we often went to a newly opened fish and chips shop on Yongkang Road.
The event company asked Honghong if she could do the cold buffet for 80 people, and she said: "Yes." She also took on the floral arrangements for the event. Most people would likely hesitate or not dare to take such a job, but Honghong didn’t hesitate, and the event organizers didn’t waver either. After the call, she told us that she had taken the job but wasn’t sure what exactly to do, how to do it, and she obviously didn’t have any staff since she was running the fish and chips shop on her own. We were all stunned.
On the day of the event, the staff consisted of all of us from the Midnight Diner, plus Luo Tingwen, Du Xiaofu, Shuyang, Sasa, who was visiting, and Monkey, a regular at the shop. After finishing the night shift, we took a nap and, before dawn, set off in two cars driven by Luo Tingwen and Shuyang. A total of 10 people. We loaded up the cold buffet that Honghong had learned to make on the spot, along with some desserts, fruits, flowers, and the plates, bowls, and cups from the shop. She even bought black shirts online to serve as uniforms. We drove 60 kilometers to the village. After getting into the mountains, the ride was bumpy for quite a while.
In the classroom at the school, some of us prepared fruits, some made sandwiches, others moved things and set up the table, while some acted as waiters, walking among the crowd or standing by, ready to provide service. To our surprise, everything was completed in an orderly manner. Afterwards, we were very excited, tidying up the props, taking photos, and playing around for a while. That day, we didn’t pay much attention to who the important people were or the significance of the event. We were too busy playing the role of professional cold buffet providers.
At the time, when we first heard that Honghong took on the job, we all thought it was unbelievable. But in the end, with Honghong’s determination, it was successfully completed. Of course, what was even more unbelievable was that two years later, Honghong had become a professional cold buffet supplier, able to make both beautiful and delicious cold dishes. And she was still doing it on her own, with her close friends helping out.
Looking back now, we were all like amateur actors, following Honghong into a strange, yet youthful, play. At the time, we thought it was just part of everyday life, but now I know it was far from that. My memory is getting worse, but I can still clearly remember that day.
