At 2:17 a.m., Elena finally shut down her computer. Only the dim glow of the emergency lights remained in the entire office building. She walked across the empty lobby in her high heels; beyond the glass doors lay the silent night of the city.
As she turned the corner, the lights at that grocery store were still on. Warm yellow light spilled out from between the shelves lined with instant noodles and canned goods, like a forgotten sugar cube. Elena pushed open the door, and the wind chime tinkled once.
The old man behind the counter looked up—his hair streaked with gray, reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He was mending the frame of an umbrella, thin copper wire winding back and forth between his fingers.
“The usual?” he asked.
Elena nodded and sat down on a plastic chair by the window. The old man poured a cup of hot tea from a thermos, and the scent of jasmine immediately filled the air. This had become her habit over the past six months—whenever she worked late into the night, she’d come here to sit for a while. The first time she’d come, it was simply because she was hungry, but it had gradually turned into a kind of ritual.
“You’re twenty minutes later than yesterday,” the old man said, continuing his work. “Still can’t balance the books?”
Elena gave a wry smile. The financial statements she was in charge of were off by three cents, and she couldn’t leave work until she found the reason. Three cents—no one would even pick them up if they were dropped on the ground—yet they had cost her three extra hours. “How do you know everything?”
The old man smiled, wrinkles gathering at the corners of his eyes. “I’ve run this shop for forty years. I’ve seen so many people walk in late at night—nurses just off the night shift, students rushing to finish their papers, husbands who’ve just had a fight and are seeking refuge… Everyone’s story is written all over their face.”
Elena sipped her tea, the warmth flowing from her throat down into her stomach. She noticed a few new pothos plants in the corner, their leaves gleaming under the light. “New additions?”
“Yes, a young woman who’s a regular gave them to me. She said the place was too drab and needed some living things.” The old man opened and closed the repaired umbrella to check that it worked smoothly. “She got a promotion last week and came by just to tell me. In this shop, I’ve seen many people climb their way back up from rock bottom.”
The wind chimes rang again, and a delivery rider in uniform walked in. He bought a can of hot coffee, nodded briefly to the old man, and left. Elena recalled her own early days in this city, when she, too, had spent countless late nights alone, swallowing her exhaustion. Back then, the city had felt vast, and she had felt tiny—like a grain of sand that could be blown away at any moment.
“I found the mistake,” she said suddenly. “I typed a number wrong.”
The old man took off his reading glasses. “That’s good. Go home and get some sleep.”
Elena stood up and placed the money for her tea on the counter—the old man never accepted payment from her, but she left it there every time. Before pushing open the door, she turned back. “Tomorrow… I might come back tomorrow.”
“The shop’s always open,” the old man said, picking up another umbrella that needed repair. “I can’t sleep anyway.”
The door closed, and the wind chime tinkled once more. Elena stepped out into the night and glanced back to see that warm yellow glow still shining, like a gentle beacon in the urban forest. She suddenly felt that when she reconciled her accounts tomorrow, those three cents might not seem so daunting after all.
Some lights aren’t meant to illuminate the way home, but simply to tell those walking through the night: there’s still a world awake here.
