The Winter Solstice has been for the Chinese an important family occasion; however, will this time-honoured tradition become obsolete? The children head back to their family home in the country to see their elderly mother. All seems well on the surface, but each faces their own crisis and difficulty: The eldest brother struggles to raise several kids; the well off second sister plans to leave Hong Kong; estranged from her husband, the younger sister keeps up appearances; and the youngest brother commits to the difficult career as a farmer. The cheerful, animated conversation at the dinner table is overshadowed by simmering anxieties.

Lai decides to take a walk on one sleepless night. The scenario is all so familiar, where skater boy is being swept away by the security guard, and gang members getting night snacks at the convenient store. But this night is meant to mean something to Lai which leads her to Shadow, a teenage girl who is having a fight with her boyfriend on the street, and her cat Blacky. The cat helps the two of them to run away from his violence. Shadow may seem too young to know about the world, but not until that moment of encounter, does Lai find her way out.