In the book, everyone from Yanjin is humorous and can tell excellent jokes. Hua Erniang, the spirit of a widow waiting eternally for her husband, as in Yanjin folklore, will come into people's dreams. In this state she will ask them to tell her a joke. If she thinks the joke is boring, she will instruct them to carry her to a place where she can drink spicy soup. But they die in the effort as she crushes them following her transformation into a mountain. However, if she likes the joke, she will give them a persimmon. As a result, people from Yanjin tell really good jokes.
In the statement for a news conference to promote his new book, Liu says different books by the same author can share a link, and all could form a larger book, which reflects the life of the author. He also says the ability to examine a writer is not the language they use, but in the details, the plot, and the story.
An author at Kirkus Reviews, a book review site in the United States, writes, "Liu has written a masterful tale that will make you laugh even as you despair". Liu's tragedies often have a feature of comedy and his comedies are also like tragedies. He tells many jokes and ridiculous stories in his books, and you will laugh when you read them. However, the truth behind the jokes could be cruel and sorrowful.
Publishers Weekly writes about Liu's novel I Did Not Kill My Husband: "Liu Zhenyun does not lecture, but instead he playfully examines the eccentricities of characters caught up in a farcical web of bribery and shady dealings."
Liu Yulin, the daughter of Liu Zhenyun, adapted her father's award-winning novel Someone to Talk To into a film in 2016. She won the silver medal under the narrative category at the 41st Student Academy Awards.
