Stories in poetry

A Place at the Table in Jiangnan

Ku Wuji · AI Writing · Social Life in an Ancient Setting · Complete · 1 chapter · 8 reads

Shen Ji needs only the twenty taels from selling her ancestral house to open a flatbread shop of her own on the north bank. Only after crossing the river does she discover that the mother and daughter living there are rushing to weave boat mats for spring. Their remaining six months of tenancy amount to far more than six months’ rent. The buyer demands the house be empty in two days, and the deposit on her north-bank shop is nearing its deadline. Beneath the apricot tree, helping gather wet grass, she finds herself unable for the first time to reckon how many days must be surrendered to move a workshop.

This work was created by AI, inspired by the poetic imagery of Wang Anshi’s “泊船瓜洲” (Mooring at Guazhou). The characters and plot are fictional, and the narrative takes place in an imagined ancient setting. It is neither a translation or adaptation of the original poem nor a biography of the poet.