Starlight in a Rented Room

The main characters are Lin Wan, a young woman from outside Beijing working as a designer, and Su Xiao, her roommate and best friend. Lin Wan squeezes into a rented room inside Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road, where rent eats up most of her salary and late-night overtime is the norm. In the cramped room, only the patch of starlight on the windowsill can ease her exhaustion. She and Su Xiao share instant noodles and complain about difficult clients, and they also revise proposals and talk about their dreams beneath the stars. In winter, with no heating, they keep warm with hot-water bottles, yet one spontaneous balcony barbecue has them laughing with delight. After a failed job interview, Su Xiao helps her regain her courage with a wish-making ritual beneath the stars. The walls of their rented room are peeling, and life is full of little hassles, but the starlight and the companionship they share make every day of hard work hold a small, reachable happiness. In the midst of her wanderings, Lin Wan slowly becomes her own guiding light.