“I am not at the frontline, but it is very meaningful for me to do my best and send warm homemade midnight snacks to the volunteers on the night shift,” said Cheng Caiyan, an ordinary villager in Datuan Town, Pudong. From Feb. 7, at 10 pm every day, she and her family sends prepared food to people at the intersections, rain or shine.

(Cheng Caiyan and her mother-in-law)

To offer more kinds of food to the volunteers who are on guard at the intersections fighting against the epidemic, Cheng has racked her brains. Her 72-year-old mother-in-law, Wu Caijuan, has helped her a lot. Wu is good at making pancakes with pickle stuffing, glutinous rice balls, dumplings, and wontons.

Almost all members of the family have been mobilized. Cheng’s husband is in charge of buying ingredients and coordinating. Then Cheng’s son packages the snacks and delivers them to the volunteers.

After a few days of making Chinese snacks, Cheng wanted to make something new. At first, she saw many of her friends posting nice-looking homemade snacks on WeChat Moments, so she learned from them. Then she downloaded many cooking apps on her mobile phone to learn from other netizens. Now she is able to make Western-style food, like Windsor bread and sweet red bean paste bread.

Each time she learns a new type of food or dim sum, she asks her family to taste it in advance. Only after it gets approval will she make large quantities for the volunteers in the village.