At dawn in a provincial town, a young North Korean woman slips out of bed and prepares for another day of working the fields with her neighbors. The morning weather forecast plays on the radio as she gets ready, but flickers off during a sudden power outage.

She worries about her sick father in need of medical care. To get his medicines, she will need to barter for medicine at the market or spend some of her family's valuable Chinese yuan. The government promised a new clinic years ago, but construction still hasn't started. Meanwhile, she’s heard rumors that her brother has been dispatched to Russia, though the military has provided no details about what for.