i settled for the 2lb bag of carrots since they were out of stock of the 5lb bags at food lion. i was hungry, and china palace was in the same strip so i decided to grab a bite there. they closed at 10:30pm, but i was good since it was 8:45pm. i walked in expected to be greeted by the gentleman who always took orders whenever i went. it’s been a minute though, so when i walked in and got sat, i thought he was going to be my server. he was the only server as the restaurant is of a manageable size. instead, a girl who seems to be around my age came out and was my waitress. i was the only one in the restaurant. it was dead quiet, and the television was playing a program on cnn called the president vs the press.
china palace was the first restaurant my parents and i ate at when they dropped me off at my dorm freshman year 7.5 years ago. 4 years later when my parents came to visit for my birthday, we went to china palace and he remembered my parents and where we sat! impressive!! at the end of my meal, i asked the girl where he was at and she quickly said he hasn’t been here for 3 years. 3 years??? has it been that long since i’ve been here?? she walked away hella fast so i couldn’t ask where he went, but i blocked my mind from going to a darker place by analyzing my fortune.
-ratha, 9:44pm, 1.26.19