Summary
In a twenty-four-hour convenience store before dawn, Lin Xu works the night shift and quietly watches the city’s loneliest strangers pass through: a sanitation worker warming leftovers, a heartbroken girl buying beer, a delivery rider gulping down water before rushing off again.
She thinks she is only keeping the lights on, until she begins to understand how a cup of warm water, an opened microwave door, or a rice ball placed within easy reach can become a small act of mercy.
In the quietest hours of the city, these brief crossings leave behind a warmth that lingers longer than daylight.