Red Rose, White Rose is a novella by Zhang Ailing that delicately portrays the hidden psychology and complexes of people, highlights the tragic lives of women struggling to escape the patriarchal society, and reveals the duality of men at the same time. Zhang Ailing captures the male psyche in this novel quite well and satirizes the ‘right world’ of the male protagonist, Zhenbao. The story of Red Rose, White Rose revolves around Zhenbao and four different women: a prostitute, a free-spirited student, a carefree married woman, and a virtuous wife. Zhenbao categorizes them dichotomously as ‘red roses’ and ‘white roses.’ In the end, this dichotomy backfires on Zhenbao, leading to the collapse of his hypocritical identity. The women, positioned as ‘red roses’ and ‘white roses,’ strike the psychology of Zhenbao. Red Rose, White Rose exposes the hypocritical duality of Zhenbao, an idealized contemporary Chinese man. On the surface, Zhenbao wants to be perceived by others as a diligent and exemplary figure, but in his invisible inner mind lies a man driven by his instincts and desires. This duality reflects the inherent nature of humans living in contemporary society, who are conscious of their exposed faces and the eyes of others. Such a dual nature distorts human essence, as individuals become hypocritical through self-imposed control and repression. Therefore, people must focus on their true selves and resist hypocrisy and pretense to find the genuine mind. This paper aims to explore the dual desires expressed by the male protagonist, Zhenbao, in the reality shaped by social systems and norms.