Jason | A Rather Strange Cold Buffet

One year, I've forgotten which year, probably 2015. Midnight Diner was already busy, because Hua Jie had already come, and Renmin Road, where vendors had to compete for stalls, was no longer suitable for her. Shu Yang was idle in Dali, often coming during the day to make fish and chips, and Wang Yang had already gone to America.

Honghong received a phone call from an event company that needed someone to do cold catering. Because an international sportswear brand had sponsored a basketball court in a remote impoverished village in Dali, and an unveiling ceremony was to be held, some senior staff from the Asia-Pacific region were coming to attend. Probably at that time there weren't many Western restaurants in Dali, or perhaps it was the fancy name 'manolito's fish & chips' that gave them hope. Actually, Wang Yang and Honghong opened this restaurant because they didn't know how to cook much, but wanted to run a restaurant in Dali, so they chose fish and chips, the simplest category. This idea came about a year before coming to Dali, when we often went to a newly opened fish and chips place on Yongkang Road.

The other party asked Honghong if she did cold catering, for 80 people. She said: Yes. She also took on the flower arrangement and decoration at the event site. For an ordinary person, they probably wouldn't dare to take it, or perhaps hesitation would also make the other party hesitate. After hanging up the phone, she told us that she had taken a job, but still didn't know what to do or how, and of course had no staff, as she was running fish and chips by herself at the time. We were all stunned.

When that day came, the work force was all of us from Midnight Diner, plus Luo Tingwen, Du Xiaofu, Shu Yang, Shasha who was traveling, and Monkey who often played in the shop. We finished the night shift and took a nap, and before dawn, we set off in two cars driven by Luo Tingwen and Shu Yang, 10 people in total. We loaded up the cold dishes that Honghong had hastily learned to make, some bought desserts, fruits, flowers, and utensils like plates, bowls, and cups from the shop, and put on the black shirts she had bought online and just arrived as uniforms, then hurried to the village 60 kilometers away. After entering the mountains, we jolted along for a while.

In the school classroom, some of us prepared fruits, some made sandwiches, some moved things and set up tables, some served as waiters, moving through the crowd or standing there ready to provide service. Surprisingly, we completed it in an orderly manner. Then we were very excited, clearing props in the classroom, taking photos, and playing for a long time. That day, we didn't pay much attention to who the outsiders were or what the significance was; we seriously played our roles as professional staff of a catering company.

At that time, when all of us heard that she took the job, we all thought it was unbelievable, but in the end, it was successfully completed under Honghong's fussing. Of course, even more incredible was that two years later, Honghong had already become a professional cold caterer, able to make beautiful and delicious cold food. And, she was still alone, then found her good friends to help.

Now that I think about it, all of us were like amateur actors, following Honghong to perform a play, bizarre and full of youth. At that time we just thought it was ordinary life, but now we know it was far from that. My memory is getting worse, but I can always remember that day.

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