Late-Night Convenience Store: What Are You Doing, Customer?

Lin Mo thought the worst thing about working the night shift as a cashier at Nan Cheng Huimin Convenience Store was having a teammate go 0–8 in ranked, until he met the old woman in floral pajamas. She clutched a chipped enamel mug and bought only two bags of frozen dumplings and a packet of QQ candy. Her coins were caked with dirt, and she insisted he “cook the dumplings.” Then a hoarse voice called in an identical order, laughing so hard Lin Mo could feel his upper gums go cold. The creepiest part? A note written in red suddenly appeared at the register: “If you don’t cook the dumplings tomorrow, you’re next!” Lin Mo’s hand trembled as he stuffed the QQ candy into his pocket. “Don’t panic. If it really is a ghost... I’ll shove the candy in its mouth.” But as the “ghost orders” kept piling up, from a faceless man buying expired milk to a transparent figure who paid only in cash and a stray cat that always lingered by the freezer, Lin Mo realized the secrets hidden in this 24-hour convenience store were even more intense than teammates feeding the enemy. He had to watch out not only for “ghosts,” but also for surprise inspections by his manager, gossip from the barbecue stall owner next door, and his own terrible habit of being “a coward who talks tough.” When the frozen dumplings turned out to contain something other than meat, an address was hidden in a twig inside the enamel mug, and a disappearance case proved connected to the convenience store’s former owner, Lin Mo was forced to team up with Su Xiao. He complained, “I don’t want to work another day of this shift,” while clutching QQ candy as a “talisman” and hunting down the people or “things” behind the “bizarre orders” on Nan Cheng’s streets at midnight. After all, who would have thought that taking a job would mean bargaining with “ghosts” and keeping dumplings from growing legs and running away?