Stories About the Underworld in the 1980s and 1990s, No Made-Up Distortions of Real People 八九十年代混社会的书，不要歪曲现实人物瞎编的
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1
The Golden Age of the Gangland: A Blood-Red Underworld 黑帮盛世：血色江湖
(Not a mindless power fantasy. Underworld, urban setting, no invincible hero, first person, tight logic, humorous writing. Read with caution if that’s not your thing!) A cursed, tragic fate. A life in the underworld that cannot be escaped. A band of brothers who stand together through life and death, and a dark life longing for redemption. You’ve never endured years of hardship, so of course you can’t understand the underworld in my heart. My story begins after I get out of prison in Ice Cit
112.1kReads9.3Score8.3kShelves
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The Official Road, Starting at Level Three 官道，从三段开始
My name is Bu Qingyun. (I hold a senior government post and have a fortune worth over a hundred million.) Let me tell you a secret. Ever since I was in elementary school, entering politics has been the light of my ideals and the flame of my ambition. It was buried in my heart like a seed, ready to take root and sprout as soon as the soil was right...
18.6kReads7.6Score2.9kShelves
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- 3 Adoption into the Family 过继 This is a novel about a man growing up through blood and tears. Along with the cruelty of reality comes the trickery of fate. But if you’re a man, wipe away your tears and face every hardship. Make yourself tough as steel, unbreakable... 30kReads9.3Score3.2kShelves
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The Youth of Two Generations 两代人的青春
My name is Li Sunan, and I'm a complete... bastard. Please take a moment, settle in, and let me tell you the whole story. From my godfather, Li Zhen, to my second uncle, Cui Lijun, and then to my own dark life. From 1990 to 2020. Thirty tumultuous years in a small city in Northeast China. One act ends, and another begins. Two generations rise and fall, knowing both glory and disgrace. There are no all-powerful crime bosses here. Just a bunch of little people struggling at the bottom... The road
2.2kReads6.9Score103Shelves
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The Pawn Who Crosses the River: Beyond Forgiveness 过河卒：罪无可恕
People who make money through shady dealings need to learn to burn incense and pray to Buddha. Those who move in the underworld have to believe that good things come to those who wait. After the turn of the millennium, Jiang Xinze was kicked off the police force for saving someone. He led his brothers into a world of guns and blades, with blood on their military daggers, riding the winds of a turbulent era to forge a dazzling legacy. If you’ve got a score to settle, settle it. If you won’t back
10.6kReads8.5Score896Shelves
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We’ve Been Around the Block Too 哥几个也混过
We navigate society with feeling, And live our lives by loyalty. When feeling and loyalty conflict, We choose loyalty first. We walked side by side, reveling in the wild abandon of youth through those passionate years. You’re my brother, so we’ll face life and death together.
160Reads—Score—Shelves
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Hong Kong Crossover: From the Start, I Rule Sai Kung 港综：开局西贡清一色
(Hong Kong crime saga + gang member → gang leader → business tycoon → founding a nation) “Chairman Lin, people have given you many titles, such as film and television mogul, logistics tycoon, oil king, one of Hong Kong’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons, and the last godfather of the underworld. Could you share with our magazine’s readers how you went from being a gang member to becoming the ruler of Nanyang?” Lin Bin listened to the question from the Time magazine reporter before him, then slowly
14.6kReads6.1Score533Shelves
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- 8 Underworld Storm: The Uncrowned King 黑道风云：无冕王侯 (First person, period setting, underworld) A big brother? A big brother isn't some glamorous, all-powerful emperor who does whatever he pleases. A big brother is just the guy who picks up the tab. The underworld? It's brotherly loyalty, deceit and betrayal. It's a place that strips the tenderness from gentle-hearted men and hardens them, and turns green young boys into grizzled old gangsters. My name is Zhao Qingfeng. I've been around the underworld, and I was once a big brother! 37.3kReads9.2Score3.9kShelves
- 9 Sichuan Gangsters 四川黑帮 What is the jianghu? Everyone has their own answer. But in my more than twenty years of experience, the jianghu is a game of chess, one in which everyone is both a piece and a player. Once you enter the game as a piece, there’s no way out. Once you enter the jianghu, there’s no turning back! My name is Liang Yu. I’ve been a piece, and I’ve also been a player! Note: I’m not Er Ge. I’m a huge fan of Er Ge. If you don’t know who Er Ge is, just search for Healing-Style Dou on Tomato Novel! 92Reads—Score—Shelves
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My Years in the Underworld: Three Fingers 混黑道的那些年：三根手指
(Period Setting + Underworld + Urban + Satisfying Read + Passion + Mockumentary Style + Brotherhood + No Harem) This novel may touch on real underworld events. Any similarities are purely coincidental! The audiobook is officially out now! It's a real thrill! Brothers, dive right in! Northeast China, 1994. A young man cuts off three fingers with a knife and flees to the northwest. His parents are divorced and his family is well-off, but he insists on making his way through sheer ruthlessness. Fol
94.8kReads9.2Score10.2kShelves
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Tales of Xizhou in the 1980s 80年代西州往事
This is a story about youth, and a story about growing up. It is filled with passionate brotherhood, the innocent love of childhood sweethearts, clashes of steel in the streets and alleys, and the struggles and choices people face in the tides of a changing era. Most importantly, it captures the warmth unique to that time: the unreserved sincerity between people, a purity that seems almost like a luxury today.
12Reads—Score—Shelves
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Hong Kong Crossover: The Boss of the Underworld 港综：江湖话事人
Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s was a golden age, and a heyday for the underworld’s powerful figures. Hong Jun was an ordinary transmigrator with no golden finger. Relying on his own intelligence and help from benefactors, he worked his way to the top, one step at a time.
5.3kReads6.6Score249Shelves
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13
The Most Evil Jianghu 极恶江湖
(Realistic fiction, historical setting, underworld feuds, business and political battles. No harem, and not a wish-fulfillment novel! This book is divided into domestic and overseas sections. The domestic section moves at a slower pace and has a stronger period feel, while the overseas section is fast-paced and intensely exciting. You can read either section on its own with no problem.) The evil of the underworld lies in the human heart! Books are full of talk about benevolence and righteousness
23.6kReads8.3Score3.6kShelves
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- 14 The Gangster Tycoon Who Rose from the Hutongs 胡同里杀出来的流氓大亨 Previously published under the titles Dragon City Years and Thirty Years in a Bloodstained Underworld. This is a lawless age where every corner is ruled by a big shot. This is the story of a naive young man who turns into a bloodthirsty beast just to survive. This is an underworld tale full of thrills and passion! Welcome to the 1980s… 40.4kReads9.2Score3.8kShelves
- 15 The Storms of Beicheng 北城风云 Synopsis: (This story is entirely fictional. Its original title was Northern City’s Turmoil.) What is the jianghu? Wherever there are people, there is a jianghu, and wherever there is a jianghu, there is conflict! The jianghu is about fighting, killing, and the law of the jungle, but it’s also about human relationships and social conventions. This book will take you back to the jianghu of the 1980s and 1990s, where you’ll witness the extraordinary path of Chen Yanan, a generation’s ruthless hero 13.1kReads9.4Score1.1kShelves
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Underworld Tyrant: Those Who Follow Me Prosper, Those Who Oppose Me Perish! 黑道暴君：顺我者昌，逆我者亡！
[Class Beauty, I’m out of prison. You’ll pay for what you did!] Framed by the class beauty he loved, Wang Erchui was wrongfully imprisoned for three years. The misery of prison transformed the once-ordinary boy into a hardened man. But it was only after getting out and seeking revenge that he gradually realized there was a terrifying story behind it all. The truth was, it wasn’t that love affair that had ruined his life. It was a vast, carefully woven web of darkness. His enemies had already ris
9.6kReads8.9Score587Shelves
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The Forbidden City's Ultimate Playboy: Du Zhicheng 紫禁城最强纨绔：杜之城
A story set in a parallel world. Not real, yet real. He was born a top-tier second-generation rich kid. He united the powerful second-generation crowd across the river. He traveled far and wide, face-slapping all kinds of powerful figures. At a young age, he stood at the very top. The story of Zheng Ge and Xiao Cheng still lives on in the underworld.
11.2kReads7.4Score552Shelves
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Be the Fiercest One 做最凶的那个
Lin Yu had always been troubled by a question: Why must good people endure eighty-one trials to become Buddhas, while bad people only need to lay down their butcher's knives? Fairness has never been something the poor get to talk about. If you want fairness, there's only one way: make yourself strong enough to create it. This world has both light and darkness. It won't treat you well just because you're kind. His father was unable to repay his debts and eventually took his own life. The creditor
778Reads6.3Score—Shelves
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- 19 The Endless Underworld 黑道无尽 (Period setting, underworld, gritty realism, high-octane) A savage era. An unconventional underworld boss. A story of the jianghu written in blood and tears. So much happened in those years. You can only see it clearly through blood-tinted glasses... 2.8kReads7.7Score283Shelves
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Crouching Tiger 卧虎
A hidden dragon rises from the depths and devours all things; a crouching tiger commands the mountains and guards a thousand frontiers! When I was little, the strange older girl next door always asked me to help wash her. When I got a little older, she taught me how to be a real man! Twenty years of flashing blades, eighteen years of changing seasons. The black throne may change hands, but true kingship belongs only to madmen who dare to dance with the devil!
14.6kReads7.7Score2.9kShelves
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A Village Wife's Quest for Love 乡村少妇追爱记
On her wedding night, Bai Xiaoman is dismayed by her husband Jiang Fugui's impotence. Then her domineering, old-fashioned mother-in-law, Wan Jinhua, starts picking on her for no reason, making her life miserable. The chaotic atmosphere of Xiaoyao Village only adds to her suffocating oppression. But after uncovering her mother-in-law's enormous secret, she is filled with courage and confidence. She begins to dream of leaving the mountains to seek true love, and takes her first brave steps...
5.7kReads—Score388Shelves
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- 22 Jade of Passion 艳玉 In the 1980s, Qiu Yuyu, a beautiful young woman from a mountain village, entered city life by chance and embarked on a career in government. But she soon became trapped in a mire of worldly entanglements and twisted romances, unable to pull herself free… The men and women in this story are not bad at heart, and they all had their original ideals. But they could not resist the temptations of worldly desires, and strayed further and further from their paths. In the end, none could avoid the danger 1.1kReads6.8Score153Shelves
- 23 Tales of Liangzhou: Underworld Turmoil 梁州往事之黑道风云 The jianghu has never been just about fighting. It is about navigating human relationships and weighing the pros and cons. After years moving through the gray areas, I have seen the warmth and coldness of human nature, and witnessed betrayal and scheming time and again. With no one to rely on in my youth, I endured a bitter, hard life. Some took a wrong turn and ended up behind bars, their lives ruined before they were halfway through. I clawed my way up from the very bottom of society, swallowi 141Reads6.3Score—Shelves
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The Jianghu: What Is It, Really? 江湖，到底是什么？
[Pure Underworld] [The Jianghu of the 1980s] Where there are people, there are grudges; where there are grudges, there is a jianghu; people are the jianghu! It used to be called the jianghu, but now it's called society! When the storms had passed, Lang Aowen knelt once more before the sacred image of Guan Yu, holding three sticks of incense high above his head. Only one question remained in his heart: The jianghu, what exactly is it? [Serious Warning: The characters and plot in this book are
1.7kReads—Score101Shelves
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The Pearl River Delta Rises: The Man in Charge 风起珠三角：话事人
[Decisive and Ruthless] + [Sharp-Witted] + [Brotherhood] + [Industrial Tycoon] Pearl River Delta, 2004. It was the best of times: assembly-line machines roared day and night, and gold seemed to lie everywhere. It was also the worst of times: the urban villages were a tangled mix of people, and might made right. Chen Jun had been driven to the edge of a cliff, with a group of poor brothers who had nowhere else to go behind him. "The rules around here need to change. From now on, I'll be the one m
41Reads—Score—Shelves
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Southwest Storm: Turmoil on the Black Sea 西南风云：黑海沉浮
When I was eighteen, I met someone who led me down a certain path. Some describe this path with the idealistic word “jianghu.” But the jianghu you actually find yourself in is better summed up by a rather funny saying: “After all this time, I’ve made no friends, only learned lessons.” My name is Lin Dongxia, and I’ve learned my fair share of lessons.
33kReads9.3Score3.2kShelves
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- 27 Southwest Turmoil: The World of Muye 西南风云：天下牧野 (The author isn't Er Ge, just a fan. Don't get them confused.) What is the jianghu? I think there's a saying that puts it well: Wherever there are people, there are grudges. Where there are grudges, there is the jianghu. People are the jianghu. Everyone has a jianghu of their own. For some, the jianghu is a matter of having no choice. For others, it's a world of fighting and killing. And for some, it's all about human relationships and worldly affairs. My jianghu, though, is more like a stage. T 6kReads6.5Score388Shelves
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Chop First, Ask Questions Never 拎刀就砍之无法无天
This book was originally titled Life and Death Are Fated, Righteousness Comes First. It is the first installment in the Life and Death Are Fated series. An ensemble-focused story, with a fast-paced plot and lots of hilarious Northeastern Chinese banter. There is very little depiction of the police in this book. The story follows several poor boys who grew up being fed by their neighbors. After accidentally killing someone in Northeast China, they have to flee south to a city called Nan'an. Th
662Reads6.9Score109Shelves
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The Boss of the Underworld 江湖话事人
[Not many readers, so the rating just won’t go up] One wrong turn brought me into the jianghu. Watch as I summon storms with one hand and calm them with the other. Starting from nothing, I’ll carve out a path through the jianghu. They say you become what you eat, so if you want to climb higher, there’s only one thing to eat...
2.7kReads7.8Score203Shelves
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Tales of the Northeast: Women Who Climbed Over the High Walls of Grand Estates 东北往事之翻过深宅高墙的女人们
In 1946, on the black soil of Northeast China, Chunxiang, daughter of tenant farmer Wang Mazi, marries Liu Laogen, the landlord's son. Her father receives several acres of good farmland and dozens of silver dollars as a handsome betrothal gift. She thinks she has married into wealth and will live a secure life as a young madam, but Liu Laogen has a hidden ailment, and their marriage proves to be one in name only. Chunxiang is determined to escape the prison that has trapped her, but her greedy f
55.2kReads8.7Score3.1kShelves
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Dragon Head 龙头
For the sake of the goddess, I crossed the big shot in the county. To stay alive, I fought my way up, one step at a time, until I became the boss... One day, the hidden dragon will find the rain it needs. With a single roar, it will shift the mountains and rivers and move the Big Dipper. Stories of the underdog rising to the top will always set the blood racing.
27.2kReads9.0Score2.7kShelves
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Underworld: My Childhood Friend and I Rule the Middle School 黑道：我和发小，制霸初中
[Positive Energy] [Underworld Intrigue] [Brotherhood] [Decisive and Ruthless] Some say brotherhood has no place in this day and age. That was, until they laid a hand on my childhood friend... Xie Wendong: A man of few words and a ruthless streak, he’s always the first to grab a brick when his childhood friend is bullied. Liu Chuang: Hot-tempered and never blinks when taking a bullet for someone. Xie Wendong is the only man he’ll ever follow.
128Reads—Score—Shelves
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- 33 The Bloody Underworld: Thirty Years of Organized Crime in North China 血色江湖：华北黑道三十年 [Underworld + First Person + Period Setting] What is the underworld? It’s a place where even if you win in the end, you still feel like you’ve lost. No matter how much you gain, it can never make up for what you’ve lost. My name is Jiang Qiyao. I witnessed thirty years of the underworld’s rise and fall across North China, watching one boss after another rise to power, then fall. After thirty years in that world, I can’t call myself a good person, but at least I haven’t become completely rotten. 3kReads6.7Score133Shelves
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My Dongguan Dream: Sister Mei 我的东莞梦：媚姐
Sister Mei's advice to me: The women at entertainment venues are just for looking. Don't get serious with them. Sister Mei also said: Don't get any ideas about me, either. [A story about working for a living, perhaps with a little of me, you, and him in it.]
198.5kReads8.9Score9.7kShelves
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The Game of Fortune: My Life in the Underworld with the Girls of Dongguan 富贵棋局：我和东莞姐们的江湖路
In the 1990s, who ruled Shenzhen’s underworld? That would be Shenzhen King Jia Dai! I was just a hotheaded rookie fresh to the scene, but to protect my beloved Sister Qingshuang, I beat up Zuo Shuai, who was in a wheelchair. Zuo Shuai was Jia Dai’s lifesaver and sworn brother. He’d just had his legs crippled in Macau, and now I’d gone and beaten him up too. Jia Dai promptly put out a hit on me...
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- 36 My Days of Being Bullied at School 校园被欺负的日子 The main characters are Wu Ming, Zhang Qiang, and Zhou Yao. This isn’t a brainless power fantasy, but a bumpy story of growing up. When my brothers fight, I run; I’d never touch a friend’s wife, but if my friend’s away, anything goes. A life of gaming on credit and gambling for tokens in the arcade. 11kReads8.2Score671Shelves
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The Thirteen Guardians of Tang City 唐市十三太保
The Tang City Underworld Duology, Part One: The Thirteen Guardians The bigwigs of Tang City’s martial world fell one by one during the 1983 crackdown. But wherever there are people, there will always be a martial world, and new forces are already stirring! Who will become Tang City’s next underworld boss? The story of the Thirteen Guardians of Tang City begins after Qin San, Wang Wu, and Ma Liu witness their father’s execution by firing squad!
965Reads—Score—Shelves
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- 38 I’m No Punk: Three of Us Together 我不是小混混之三人行 Determined not to become a thug, he knows that those who walk different paths cannot work together. Brotherhood, and the revival of the Eight Gates of the underworld. Is a sinister force behind it all, or is something far worse on the horizon...? 307Reads—Score—Shelves
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Tales of Dragon City: Stories of a Small Town 龙城往事之小城故事
A realistic portrayal of northeastern China from the late 1980s to the present, full of grudges, grievances, and social change. Follow a group of impressionable young people as they face a host of challenges and opportunities and discover what it means to grow up. Realistic fiction, not a wish-fulfillment story, with a slow build.
102Reads—Score—Shelves
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The Jianghu: No Shore to Turn Back To 江湖：回头无岸
Years later, Cheng Yuan had left the jianghu behind and planned to become a businessman, living out the rest of his days in peace. But an old acquaintance's verdict dragged him back into the blood-soaked mire of the underworld. Once, they had ridden proudly through the world, putting brotherhood first. As the years passed, they either rode the crest of the tide or plunged into the depths. In the end, none of them could withstand the unstoppable current of the times...
23Reads7.0Score—Shelves
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Underworld Tales: One Hand Shrouds the Heavens 黑道往事之只手遮天
[Realistic, not overpowered, no harem, no System, not reborn] A novel about the southern underworld, telling the story of several young men who avenge their brother and gradually rise to become crime bosses. Whether it is the underworld or organized crime, it is all just a game of chess, a set of rules, fraught with danger and human cunning, and driven by power and desire. Behind the bustling city lies a shadowy underworld filled with darkness and desire, where power and money intertwine, and te
413Reads8.6Score—Shelves
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- 42 The Rise and Fall of Rongcheng: A Life of Gambling and Dust 蓉城浮沉：半生赌与尘 Set in Chengdu from 2005 to 2025, this novel follows the life of Xiao Bei, an ordinary man swept up in the tides of the times. The story revolves around secondhand home sales, gambling at arcades, jianghu feuds, real estate investment, and business rivalries. Woven through it all are Xiao Bei and Xiao Bai’s rise to success and fall into hardship, alongside vivid characters like Yejigong, Bang Ye, Long Ge, and Su Wan. Facing the clash between desire, loyalty, and human nature head-on, the novel c 5Reads—Score—Shelves
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The Happy Years I Spent in Dongguan 那些年我在东莞的幸福往事
[Urban everyday life] + [multiple heroines] + [first person] My name is Hao Jian. I'm a college graduate who left a small inland county to make a living in Dongguan. A female classmate who'd been quite a flirt back in school introduced me to the city. I thought I'd find a factory job and earn some money, but things didn't go as planned. I ended up in a bar, and that's where my life took an unexpected turn.
5.4kReads6.0Score485Shelves
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Dragon Head Supreme 龙头至尊
The campus beauty he'd loved for three years was brutalized and killed! Chen Xuewen, who had done nothing, was framed and sent to prison! His honest, hardworking parents both died horribly while seeking justice for him! After nineteen years of living by the rules and obeying the law, Chen Xuewen finally saw the true face of the world. “Those who kill and burn their way to riches wear golden belts, while those who build bridges and roads leave no bones behind!” “If others can kill and burn, why
200.4kReads9.1Score12kShelves
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45
Searching the Underworld for My Missing Son, I Clean Up Crime and Clear My Father's Name 失子入江湖扫黑恶，父冤得伸
(Passionate urban action, a comeback! Multiple female leads!) Also known as "Lost Son Enters the Underworld to Fight Crime, Father’s Wrongful Conviction Finally Overturned" I am the son of a soldier. After getting lost during a sorrowful journey, I was raised to adulthood by a kind rural couple surnamed Ye. I thought it was pure chance that my master taught me peerless martial arts. From then on, I became the greatest martial artist in Nan Yue! Later, to improve my family’s financial situation,
5.8kReads8.8Score384Shelves
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- 46 Black Desires of Youth 黑欲青春 (Not a wish-fulfillment story, and the hero isn't invincible. Enter at your own risk.) A youth stained with blood, vows made without regret, inexperienced love, sincere friendship, the cruelty of society, and the complexity of human nature. An unforgettable, turbulent era! A piece of underworld lore passed down to this day! A band of brothers who shared honor and disgrace, life and death! An unmatched era, with a flag-bearer standing at its peak! Laughing as we watch the tides of fortune, marchi 47.7kReads9.4Score4.3kShelves
- 47 My Dad's on the Straight and Narrow, I'm in the Underworld 白道爹，黑道我 [Not invincible! Not invincible! Not invincible!] The martial world is a road of no return, and its people are pawns that have crossed the river! Where will the drifting ship in this forbidden zone finally end up? Watch as this wandering youth stirs up a storm! Black side: I've got countless brothers! White side: My backing is powerful beyond belief! Money is just something you can't bring with you when you die! [Entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental!] 100.1kReads9.0Score7.3kShelves
- 48 1870: From Coolie to Underworld Emperor 1870：从猪仔到地下皇帝 The Gold Mountain of Jinshan, the Nine of Chen Jiu. Cast into exile overseas from the start, with nothing but the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, how can he carve out a path to survival amid the anti-Chinese tide? Chinese tong factions fighting among themselves, Irish gangs closing in, officials signing discriminatory laws... Beneath this immigrant city flows a river of gold that devours all who enter it. The anti-Chinese tide is rising ever higher. Chen Jiu's six thousand disciples 13.8kReads9.3Score1.9kShelves
- 49 The Underworld's Turbulent Road 黑道风云江湖路 What is the Dao? It does not arise because of one person's goodness, nor perish because of one person's evil. Good and evil are determined by people; rise and fall are determined by fate. The people of the world think they are fighting for money, power, or pride. Only in the end do they understand that they were fighting for nothing but illusion. The Dao knows no black or white. All living beings are within the game. (Note: This book is extremely realistic and even somewhat oppressive. Re 136.5kReads9.2Score9.4kShelves
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Learning Feng Shui from Third Grandpa 跟着三爷爷学风水
Born into a family of Feng Shui practitioners, I became someone who defies fate the moment I entered the world of Yin-Yang Feng Shui. As one strange event after another unfolded, I learned to recognize fortune and misfortune, ward off disaster, and handle everything with ease. To all the brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties passing by, please leave a book review here! Remember to comment, too! Thank you! If you like learning, remember to bring your brain along. There’s plenty of useful informa
34.1kReads8.8Score2.9kShelves
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