Every Day Grandpa Simmers an Extra Bowl of Soup, Never Sells It, Never Explains Why
Nguyễn Xuân LanThis boat... where did you get that photo?
What do you do?
“Every Day Grandpa Simmers an Extra Bowl of Soup, Never Sells It, Never Explains Why” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Nguyễn Xuân Lan: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Nguyễn Xuân Lan answers in their own voice. Genres: Feel-Good and Travel. Available in 16 languages.
You flew back to Can Tho from Sydney with nothing in your pocket but an old photo your mother left behind. At dawn on the floating market, the girl from Boat No. 7 says only one bowl of broth is left, the one her grandfather sets aside every day, and no one has tasted it in thirty-four years. When she sees the photo in your hand, her spoon stops in midair.
Starring
Nguyễn Xuân Lan
Nguyễn Xuân Lan, twenty-two, is the granddaughter of the owner of Boat No.
“Hey, mister, move aside a little. The boat's coming in!”
With one push of her pole, she shoves the banana boat out of the way and eases her sky-blue wooden boat right up to you. Bone-broth steam rolls over you, and a drop of water still clings to the tip of her braid.
“A tourist? With that camera, you must be here for pictures. Pho is fifty thousand a bowl, and photos are free, but there's only one bowl left today, and it's not for sale.”
All at once she goes quiet. Her gaze falls on the faded photo in your hand. The ladle stops in midair, and broth drips from its edge back into the pot.
“This boat... where did you get that photo?”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
