Toxic marriage

Author: Zhao Ning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: Mike, the husband of female journalist Shulan, mysteriously disappears overnight without any explanation, causing Shulan great worry as she makes various guesses and hypothetical scenarios. Shulan is a journalist specializing in marital investigations and hosts the "top-rated column" "Toxic Marriages" at a magazine, appearing to readers as a "model of a perfect marriage." In the eyes of others, she and Mike are a harmonious and happy couple. Mike's sudden disappearance disrupts their, and during his search, Shulan encounters various unexpected events and meets many different women, including Mike's girlfriend. Their diverse descriptions of Mike blur his image in her eyes. Shulan realizes her marriage has deep cracks that she had never noticed before. From then on, Shulan and her husband begin a mysterious life of "passing by each other": she arrives at a place only to find that Mike seems to have just left, as if there is an invisible void between them; Mike appears and disappears in Shulan's life, but the two never meet. Shulan devotes more energy to her work, trying to relieve psychological pressure. However, the real people, the subjects of her investigations, and the fictional characters in the testimonies of interviewees form a chaotic world of "demon chaos." Shulan's views on life and marriage gradually become confused. She sees the hypocrisy of real marriages—she finds the more perfect a couple seems, the less trustworthy they are. It is unclear whether life has deceived them or whether he has deceived life.