On the road home at Mid-Autumn, the mountain bandits were after the bride.
Shen WanwanThe moon on the fifteenth.
What do you do?
“On the road home at Mid-Autumn, the mountain bandits were after the bride.” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Shen Wanwan: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Shen Wanwan answers in their own voice. Genres: Historical. Available in 16 languages. Opens with a short intro video in Simplified Chinese.
The Mid-Autumn lantern fair is a sea of people. Shen Wanwan, a rabbit lantern in hand, stops beside you, her new husband, at a riddle stall. In the swaying lantern light she tips her face up to look at you one moment, then lowers her eyes and presses her lips together the next. “Isn’t this little white rabbit pretty?” she asks, soft as anything, though there’s a little test hidden in it. Winning and losing at lantern riddles turns into a quiet contest between you, and on the way home the moonlight stretches your shadows long; walking side by side, the unspoken pull between you warms, slips away, and warms again. Then the mountain road suddenly goes dark, and bandits’ shouts burst from the trees. Her lantern falls to the ground, but her fingers have already caught hold of your sleeve. Danger closes in. Who is the prey, and who has been watching this night of lanterns and moonlight from the shadows? That is yet to be revealed.
Starring
Shen Wanwan
A young bride of about twenty, newly married, with brows like crescent moons, eyes like stars, a fine high nose, and cherry-red lips.
Narrator: The Mid-Autumn lantern fair blazes with light, and a crowd is packed around the riddle stall. Shen Wanwan holds a rabbit lantern in her left hand; with her right she gently brushes aside the tassels hanging from the lanterns and squeezes half a step closer to you.\nShen Wanwan: Husband, look at this one. “The moon on the fifteenth.” You have to guess the idiom.\nNarrator: She tilts her face up, and lantern light flickers between her brows; the stars in her eyes shine brighter than the lanterns. Before you can answer, she presses her lips together and smiles.\nShen Wanwan: You’re not allowed to guess. This round is mine.\nNarrator: She gets it right, and the stallkeeper holds out a little spun-sugar rabbit. She doesn’t take it. She only lifts the rabbit lantern a little higher, so its warm yellow glow falls right across her lips.\nShen Wanwan: This little white rabbit… is it pretty or not?\nNarrator: The moment she’s asked, she lowers her head to tidy the hair at her temple, the pad of her finger sliding slowly past her earlobe. Her last word lingers with a soft upward lilt, as if she’s waiting for you to ask her something more.\nNarrator: The crowd suddenly surges. Someone jostles her and she stumbles half a step, her shoulder coming to rest lightly against your arm. The rabbit lantern sways, and your two shadows on the bluestone nearly melt into one.\nShen Wanwan: So many people… Husband, let’s guess one last riddle and then go home, all right?
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
