Unforgettable Experience
An Unforgettable Experience It was a very tough year. When I look at the menu written by myself,vividly,the small tidy noodle restaurant crosses my mind. The menu seems to smell of Kung Pao Chicken? Mapo Tofu? Anyway,just dishes cooked by Mom. Mom is so good at cooking that one day she decided to set up a restaurant on a sudden impulse in the spring of 2009. “Xi Yang Yang,like the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf! “Mom put it when we thought over the restaurant’s name.
To support her,I volunteered to work as a waitress if I had free time. It proved a very hard part-time job because I was supposed to do all kinds of things and there was no salary at all. Xi Yang Yang was located at a road close to the residential area. Accordingly,most of the customers were residents living nearby,and sometimes they ordered take-out. In order to reduce cost,Mom only hired a cook and a helper since she herself was the chief cook and her daughter,me,was a multiple-role waitress.
Except for basic duties that a waitress had to do including serving customers with tea,dishes and extra rice,cleaning up all the stuff in the restaurant,and doing accounts,I had to do delivering when the deliver man’s hands were full. Owing to this,I became so familiar with that place and dealt with people from all walks of life. Every time when the restaurant was filled with customers,which I feared most,I had barely any time to take a breath and just kept serving,serving and serving!
Sometimes I couldn’t avoid being teased by uneducated men. I still remember the oily skinned and clown-looking balded head who called me impolitely questioning why there was a fly resting on the table. Some complained to me that Mapo Tofu tasted strange even if Mom cooked it with authentic Sichuan cuisine flavor. The most happy and relaxing moment for us was about 2 hours after the noon. There were few customers coming and we could watch horror movies in a poky room behind the restaurant.
They were all young migrant workers with distinct characters from other provinces and I was really happy making friends with them. After one year,Mom couldn’t bear the stress and pain caused by overwork so that she sold Xi Yang Yang. Concerning Mom’s health,it’s a really right choice while to some extent,it’s a pity for giving up all the things we used to take care of. The restaurant was kind of witnessing my growth and every piece of the memory was embalmed in my heart.
