Night 48: Ling, Baijiu with Side Dishes
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
"Like I said, this woman could hold her drinks!" In Lungmenese Hoshiguma shouted, knocking on the table while shaking the shoulder of the operator next to her. The poor guy's face was all red, and it stretched all the way down and into his shirt collar. He couldn't even open his eyes. There were quite a few like him around the table too. The better of the lot could still send themselves to the bathroom on shaky feet, while the rest had already curled up underneath the table.
"Ey pretty lady, another shot! Bottoms up!" Hoshiguma raised the shot glass in her hand and clinked it with that of the other woman's. It was then she realised that there was no more spirit inside. "Eh...No..No more drinks..." She swirled the shot glass, then put it down. Slowly she rested her head down on the table atop her arms. Within only a moment she felt into slumber like an exhausted burdenbeast.
The other woman finished her drink and let out a wine-scented breath. She sighed again with a hint of resignation.
"Miss Ling, what did they say about you again?" The Chef took out a jar of baijiu and poured her another cup "Wasn't there a phrase of Yan that describe people like you? How goes it again...'Never fallen even after a thousand cups'?"
"'T'was not the spirits that intoxicated, but the things within the hearts of the drinker.' So it was said. " Ling picked up her shot glass and sniffed. "Aged Maiden Red. Good. Just that it was not aged for long. The taste was not quite there yet."
"Maiden Red above twenty years was more expensive than a Sankta's guardian gun on the black market." The Chef changed her shot glass with a wide-rimmed clay bowl and poured the baijiu in. The amber coloured liquid sparkled in the greyish bowl, looking quite more enticing than when it was in a shot glass. "What would you like for side dishes?" The Chef inquired. He had quite a few side dishes made ready just in case Hoshiguma started an impromptu drinking match in the Diner. From braised peanuts and edamame to soy-sauce basted beast trotters and fowlbeast feet, he had prepared all kinds. Although most had not the chance to sample them before getting drunk under the table. Ling was the only one left to have the fortune to partake in these side dishes.
Ling slightly shook the bowl in her hand, and narrowed her eyes while examining the side dishes in the display cabinet. By the end she shook her head and smiled. "I'm here for the drinks. You can choose the side dish for tonight, boss, As long as the drinks are good, I don't mind what food to go with them."
"Ah well, if you consider yourself a true connoisseur for Yan baijiu, I should refute what you just said." The Chef took a small plate and placed some glutinous rice stuffed lotus slices and a few chunks of drunken crab on it. "The ingredients of brewing differs in each region, and the method of brewing are also different. If one pair the Maiden Red of Jiangnan with boiled hornbeast meat from Yumen, then—"
Ling picked up a slice of the stuffed lotus and sent into her mouth. The porous soft lotus root was filled with sweet glutinous rice. There was also a slight hint of sweet osmanthus flower flavour. She felt as if stepping into a lovely painting. In there was an endless lake of lotus flower, and a maiden singing the folk songs of the fishermen was carried upon a thin boat and slowly drifted into the depth of the lake. Then she sampled a piece of drunk crab – the strong taste of Yellow Wine and the sour taste of green plum mingled together into one flavour, while the sweet taste of crab meat and roe as well as that of the rock sugar that used in its making was released instantly. As the flavours lingered in her mouth, Ling downed another gulp of Maiden Red. "Ah, yes. You are right." She said while savouring the sweet and pleasant taste of the food and baijiu "It would indeed ruin the wonderful taste of the dishes and the wine. Another bowl, please!"
The jar of Maiden Red was soon depleted. The Chef then took out a jar of Bamboo Green. When the Bamboo Green was gone he switched to Five Grain Spirit, until the sky outside the side window glowed in the faint light of the day and the Diner was about to close for the night. There was still not a single sign of tipsiness on Ling's face. When she asked the Chef to fill up her bowl yet again, the Chef took a tall clear glass bottle from the top of the the wine cabinet. The moment he opened the lid, a bold yet pleasant scent of strong liquor rushed out. The Chef only poured her a shot glass worth of it, then passed her a small saucer of meat. Ling sniffed again, and let out a heart-felt admiration. "Good Phoenix Wine!"
"'One taste of the Phoenix was worth that of a hundred wine.' It was said. Even vast as Rhodes Island, there might only be a handful on board who could develop such a taste." The Chef said, caressing the bottle like a treasured gem. "I heard from the Yanese that one had not taste true baijiu if they had not travelled to Yumen and sampled the Phoenix. What's your take on that, Miss Ling?"
"'The desert outside Yumen., with a lonely smoke under the setting sun'." Ling shook her head." A long time ago, someone said something similar to me. Maybe it was in a dream. I asked him then, what's difference between the endless sand outside Yumen and the so called 'civilized realms' . He told me that I'd only know once I travelled there and find it out myself."
"A faraway place like that...It's a length only a truly dedicated one like Miss Ling would go." The Chef poured himself a shot glass too and downed it with a few fried peanuts. The Phoenix tasted sweet, with even a hint of fruity aroma. Yet once it flowed down the throat it burnt like wild fire and cut like a thousand daggers. The aftertaste lingered long after the baijiu had settled in the stomach. It was if a strong wind carried dry sand blowing into one's face, however with the pleasant scent of great millet. "I am a cook." The Chef said. "It's not wise for me to open a restaurant in the middle of the desert."
"You'd only know once you are there." Ling took the bottle from the Chef's hand and poured herself a shot glass. It was strange. None of the strong liquors from all nations of Terra had left a single trace of intoxication on her, yet only after three shots of the baijiu Phoenix rosy colour blossomed on her cheeks. "A famous Yanese poet once said that one would 'seek the pleasure of life in between the tastes, and keeps on living whether or not they would find it meaningful'. So boss, I am glad you ought to share such fine drinks with me tonight. How about a gift for your generosity?"
Ling's calligraphy was highly sough-after on board the land ship. There was no reason for the boss to refuse such offer. Ling took out her ink well and a blank scroll. Using her long tail as a brush, she painted on the scroll in her distinct style. Soon it was completed. The Chef held it and read it over and over, yet was still unable to decipher its content. "What did you write, Miss Ling?" He asked.
"'Let me take up the water of West River for wine,
and use the Great Dipper for a glass.
As all of creation before me,
shall be my guests.'"
With that said, Ling disappeared at the end of the hallway with her wine gourd.