Midnight Diner (深夜食堂)

Every city

has its own midnight diners.

Every midnight diner

has its own stories.

As dusk falls on this city

and the people are on their way home,

yet my day

has just begun.

Excuse me,

what's the WiFi passcode?

There's none.

We can't put up a wechat moment post then.

The entrance.

WiFi signal is good there.

It's crazy to eat on the entrance.

Some are returning customers living in the neighborhood,

while the others are young people passing by.

Excuse me,

menu please.

"Set meal of the day: 40 yuan beer: 15 yuan liqueur: 10 yuan/shot,"

"three rounds per person”

stir-fried shrimps with longjing tea leaves.

Guys,

what would you like?

What would you like?

Shrimps.

The customers' expressions

enable me to make an educated guess

about what they'd like to eat.

I'll probably work overtime everyday this month.

I won't even have time to sleep.

No more beautiful skin.

These kiddies work in the advertising industry.

How come you call us kiddies?

You have pretty good hearing.

As the years go by,

many people passing by

eventually chose to

stay and

become

our regular customers.

Is this for the customer that always drinks longjing tea?

35 yuan.

Hang on a minute.

That's enough.

I'll wait for you tonight.

Chef's cooking is so good.

It'll be awesome to dine here every midnight.

How about we finish work a little earlier

for a change?

By the way,

I can't

travel back to kunshan tonight.

Will need to stay at your place again.

No problem.

You can stay at my place too.

That's fine.

I'll stay overnight at fan's place.

I've left a lot of clothes there.

Don't get us wrong.

She'll sleep in my room,

I'll sleep in the living room.

I didn't get you wrong.

I always thought you are all sisters!

Sisters, exactly.

Would you like to join us, uncle zhong?

Lian,

you're here.

Would you like me to start cooking?

No hurry.

Let's start with some liqueur to clear my palette.

Drinking too much with empty stomach

is not good for your body.

Though you're a man,

you don't look manly at all.

Way too girlish.

How about if I introduce to you

a real macho guy to train you up?

Sounds good.

As long as he's not an alcoholic like you.

Wow,

this girl

has some guts.

I like you.

Wait a minute.

Let's be wechat friends?

Horrible mom,

sneaked out on me for a drink.

Horrible kid, never stop nagging after me.

Give me a break, don't you know you are drinking way too much?

Getting drunk is better than getting beaten.

You're crazier than any women at your age.

What are you staring at?

Eat if you want to.

Fine.

Go home as soon as we finish this.

Stop drinking.

How does my son look?

Though he's not some kind of super talent,

he is big and strong.

Full of muscles.

Mom,

I'm over 30 years old,

stop hitting me on my head.

Then hurry up eating.

Chef,

sorry for the trouble.

Watch your step.

Focus on your walking!

Alright.

I almost vomited.

Mixing water into the liqueur

has been a little secret between lian and I

for a long time.

Tattletale.

Yuan was always bullied

at primary school.

Luckily, he had a classmate called hu

who stood by him no matter what.

Hu became a professional boxer

and

introduced yuan

to be his sparring partner.

Fall down.

Fall down right now!

Hu has recently

lost a few important bouts.

His anxiety has built up.

What the heck are you doing?

In recent trainings

he seems to have lost control.

Why were you not this tough during the bout?

If you have guts,

take a training session with me.

That's it for today.

Yuan, are you alright?

You've done well recently.

I'd like you to set you up with a friendly match arranged by a club.

Why are you all standing?

Keep training.

Hu is done for the day.

Not yours.

Move it!

Sorry about today's training.

It's okay.

I knew you were anxious.

I got knocked out on round three!

It was just a bad day.

I'm not sure if I can still keep competing after this failure.

I'll be your sparring partner as long as you need.

I'll stand by your side too.

Hungry?

A little bit.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Yuan.

Yes?

Have you ever dreamed about doing a real fight?

Aren't we doing real fights everyday?

I mean the real ring,

and fight with a real boxer.

Sure, I am fighting a real fighter every day.

I'm not joking with you.

Amateur boxers like me

are literally nothing comparing to

professional boxers like you.

Where there's a will there's a way.

Whose sparring partner will you be after I retire?

Muhammad Ali once said,

we got to keep going no matter what hardship we encounter.

He needs to be your role modal

are you mentioning Ali and I in the same breath?

Did Ali use a helmet like this?

I'm already very satisfied to be your sparring partner.

I mean it.

Come on.

Yuan,

I'll figure out a way for you.

Thank you, uncle zhong.

Come on.

I'll be your sparring partner

starting from tomorrow.

Come on.

One two

one two

one two one two

Uncle, smoking will harm your body.

Uncle, is that where you live?

That's his diner,

which is not opened yet.

Do you sell sweet lotus root?

No.

I mean no fresh lotus root in stock.

I'll buy some now.

Come over when school finishes

and I'll make you some.

Okay.

This is beautiful.

How does it taste?

It's the second-best sweet lotus root I've ever had.