Don't be fooled by how good the workers made it sound, saying things like "unlimited refills of rice and soup," and that they could even get more of the main dishes if there were leftovers.
In reality, they couldn't possibly eat that much. A single, full bowl of the hot and sour tofu soup weighed over a pound. The five dishes combined were another pound or so, and add to that a large, packed box of rice, the total weight definitely exceeded four pounds.
Even as hungry and big-eaters as they were, eating over four pounds of food in one sitting was pretty much their limit. A few with larger builds and appetites might ask for another scoop of rice, but that was about it.
The main reason they said those things was to reassure their wives and families, to let them know they were doing well.
These middle-aged men, in their forties and fifties, might not be eloquent at other times, but when it came to reporting only the good news and hiding the bad, they were absolute masters.
