It could be that the story has a lack of clear resolution. Maybe some loose ends are left untied, leaving readers confused or unsatisfied.
It might be a conflict between the main characters. Maybe they have different goals or values that cause tension.
In a social story, a big problem can be the breakdown of community spirit. This can lead to isolation and lack of support among people. It may be caused by rapid urbanization or other factors. A small problem can be someone not following the social norms in a small gathering. Regarding the big problem, community - building activities need to be promoted. As for the small problem, gentle reminders can usually solve it.
One problem with short stories could be their limited space for character development. In a short story, there's not much room to fully explore a character's background, motives, and growth. For example, in a novel, a character might have an entire chapter dedicated to their childhood, which can greatly influence their actions in the present. But in a short story, this has to be condensed or even omitted, making the character seem less complex and perhaps less relatable.
The story of the problem was from the third chapter of the fourth book of the Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty. In the story, the protagonist Zhang Sheng was going to the capital. His wife and elders went first, but Zhang Sheng and the young lady did not come. This story mentioned breaking the topic, which referred to the theme of the old test post poems and eight-part essays in one or two sentences. Therefore, the story was actually describing the separation and longing between Zhang Sheng and the young miss.
A story problem in math is a real-life or fictional situation described in words that requires you to use math to solve it. For example, 'If Mary has 5 apples and John gives her 3 more, how many apples does Mary have in total?'
A common problem is a character's quest for something that seems unobtainable. For instance, a scientist is searching for a cure for a rare disease. She faces numerous obstacles such as lack of funding, skepticism from the scientific community, and the complexity of the disease itself. This problem makes the story interesting as readers wonder if she will succeed.
One possible problem in a story could be a character's internal conflict. For example, a young artist who is pressured by his family to pursue a more 'practical' career but has a strong passion for art. This creates a problem as he struggles between following his heart and fulfilling family expectations.
The 3 - body problem's real story is about the challenges in predicting the motions of three interacting objects. For example, in a solar system - like setting with a star and two planets. In the past, people expected there would be simple formulas like in the 2 - body problem (e.g., the Earth - Sun system which can be modeled relatively simply). But with three bodies, it turned out to be much more difficult. Numerical methods are often used nowadays to approximate the solutions. And this problem also has significance in other fields like plasma physics where charged particles interact in a similar complex way.
Finding a unique idea can be a problem when writing a short story. With so many stories already out there, it's hard to come up with something that hasn't been done before. You might start with a concept, only to realize it's too similar to an existing story.
I'm not entirely sure which specific 'Cell 13' story you're referring to. There could be many stories with such a title. It might be a mystery about something that happened in cell 13, perhaps a prison cell or a cell in some sort of institution. Without more context, it's difficult to say more.
If it's the problem of a square - shaped house with space issues, they could consider building an extension. Simple as that.