An Unconventional Family

Among the many discussions of love and marriage, one thought-provoking saying goes: “If you can still feel a spark for the person beside you in bed for your whole life, that’s true love.” These brief but powerful words capture the ideal of love and marriage. In people’s dreams, love burns like a blazing fire, and marriage is the vessel that keeps it alight forever. Husband and wife spend their lives together, nestled in the warmth of their love, with neither passion nor excitement ever fading. But reality often runs counter to the ideal. When the sparks that once flew gradually die out and the train of marriage reaches the fork leading to divorce, we can’t help wondering: Behind the seemingly final word “divorce,” what kind of winding, moving, and heartbreaking story lies hidden? Was it years of accumulated tension finally erupting, or a clash of irreconcilable beliefs? The story behind it is worth exploring. As Yang Shuchang prepared for her wedding, her aunt Zhang Xiaojing sent her a message revealing the details of her parents’ divorce. Her aunt also made it clear that she would not attend the wedding, because she couldn’t bear to see Yang Shuchang’s father and stepmother, that pair of cheating scumbags. If she saw them, she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t rush over and chop them to pieces to avenge her sister. It was also because of her sister’s unhappy marriage that Zhang Xiaojing developed a fear of marriage and decided to stay single for life. Only then did Yang Shuchang realize the sacrifices her mother had made to protect her and her sister. She had always thought her parents divorced when the girls were in middle school. She never imagined her scumbag father and his shameless mistress could stoop so low.