Chapter One: The Midnight Menu

The deadline had passed, yet a bell chimed inside, as if someone had opened the door for her. Warm sweetness rolled out. The shop was impossibly deep. Glass cases stretched into shadow, their silver trays holding desserts too beautiful to be food. There were no prices, only cards bearing names—some written in fresh ink, others faded almost to nothing. Behind the counter stood a woman in a dark green qipao. She might have been thirty or sixty; the lines around her eyes changed whenever Zhiwei blinked. “Welcome,” she said. “I'm Madam Wen. Our last customer eats free.” “I'm only sheltering from the rain.” “Every customer says that at first.” The door closed silently behind Zhiwei and refused to move.