Despite the demystification of the defect of counterfactual marking in Chinese, little is known about the form-function mapping of Chinese counterfactuals. This inquiry uses a constructionist approach to counterfactual language in Chinese and explores the pairing of counterfactual constructions with specific discourse functions in ordinary communication. The assay illustrates the affective force and interpersonal functions of counterfactual language, and validates the human relevance and importance of counterfactual reasoning.