Rooted in the lives of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty, this story paints a vivid, lively, and absurdly funny portrait of life in Jiangnan through the eyes of an “atypical” protagonist. At its heart are subversion and culture clash: a military officer from the provincial capital who longs to lie flat despite his life in the army, and a small village near Poyang Lake, where the people are simple yet remarkably resourceful. The logic of a modern mind collides comically with the rules of Song society. Setting aside traditional heroics, the novel links together the protagonist's many adventures as he settles down in Duchang and becomes part of the local community, using jokes drawn from everyday life to reveal the real workings of grassroots society and the varied lives of ordinary people in the Great Song.
