Period Pieces, Preferably Lighthearted Stories About Neighbors Gossiping in a Courtyard Compound, with Some Awful Characters 年代文，最好是轻松的，大杂院吃瓜，极品可以有

1. 1 七 The Good Life in the 1970s 七十年代好生活 Sweet Apricot甜杏子Modern Romance599k WordsCompleted Chen Xiangju left her hometown in the countryside and came to the city to stay with her good friend Chen Chunyan. She hoped to find a partner in the city, since she had no intention of returning to the village. Li Gang happened to be looking for a wife. They were introduced and hit it off at once, and Chen Xiangju began her life in the family compound. 12.1kReads9.0Score1.1k14d adds

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   The first book features a female protagonist who moves to the city to stay with her friends, later marrying a divorced man in the same compound. Although the man is divorced, he has no children, but they later have twins. Taking advantage of the economic reforms, they start a small business. It's a simple, everyday story about family life. The second book features a female protagonist who is an only child of a working-class family and marries her childhood sweetheart. They live a simple life in the compound. The third book features a female protagonist who wakes up one day to find herself as a chubby girl in a village. The story is full of the vibrant life of the production brigade, and she later moves to the city for work, bringing her parents with her. She eventually gets a job in the finance department of a military hospital.

2. 2 嫁 After Marrying My Childhood Sweetheart, I Gossip Around the Compound 嫁给竹马后，我在大院吃瓜 Shi Lai莳来Modern Romance627k WordsCompleted [1960s + Siheyuan Courtyard + Gossip-Watching + Everyday Life + Light Ensemble Cast + Cozy, Sweet Romance] On December 2, 1965, Yan Huan and Shen Mingcheng got married, turning their childhood friendship into a lifelong partnership. On December 3, 1965, Tian Huifen introduced Yan Huan to the ten households in the compound. From then on, Yan Huan became a little melon-loving badger in the gossip patch. Shen Mingcheng’s perspective: I’m going to love my childhood sweetheart for the rest of our li 13.3kReads8.7Score1.4k14d adds
3. 3 王 Wang Xiaoli's Sixties 王小荔的六十年代 Scroll Ah卷轴啊Modern Romance627k WordsCompleted Transmigration + golden finger + pocket dimension + period drama + rural Northeast China (Lu Huaijin is an important character, but not the male lead) When she wakes up one morning, modern-day office drone Wang Xiaoli has become the “chubby girl” of Wangjia Village in the Northeast in the 1960s. Her family is dirt poor, and from the start she's burning with a fever and on the brink of death. Luckily, her little pocket dimension has transmigrated with her! Life in Wangjia Village is lively: a tou 18.5kReads8.6Score1.2k14d adds
4. 4 穿 Transmigrating to the 1970s: The One-Shot System Takes Me to New Heights 穿越七零：秒杀系统带我飞 Mu Ran9牧然9Modern Romance1.4M WordsOngoing The rating just came out, so it’ll go up later! 1970: I Have a Golden Finger and a Maxed-Out Family Ding! Your limited-time flash-sale System has been bound! Wen Jingshu, an English major in graduate school in 2024, was halfway through studying for the civil service exam when she transmigrated. When she woke up, she’d become a graduate student in trade and economics in 1970. Her father was a police bureau chief, her mother a section chief at the agricultural bureau, her eldest brother a battalio 64.7kReads8.5Score8.1k14d adds
5. 5 六 The 1960s: After Getting into Technical College, I Secure a Cadre Position 六零：考上中专后，我稳坐干部岗 Don't Know Any Better孬不道Modern Romance999k WordsCompleted [1960s + everyday life + extremely, extremely slow-paced + family squabbles + no rural assignment + vocational school entrance exams + few awful relatives] [This is a female-oriented novel! The heroine is an ordinary person, not a powerhouse heroine. Please don’t read if that bothers you.] Heartbroken and still looking for an internship? To escape reality, senior college student Zhou Yuan casually signed a contract for the full-immersion game Awakening. When she opened her eyes, she had become Z 17.7kReads8.5Score1.3k14d adds

   Reader note

   Is this book any good? It's about everyday family life, lighthearted slice-of-life, and the female lead is working hard to get into a vocational school so she won't have to go to the countryside. The rating is a bit low because there aren't many reviewers. It mainly depicts the warm daily life of the main family. Its strength lies in its excellent sense of the era; this is the most focused on historical setting I've read on Tomato Book. Prices are reasonable and precise, down to the cents and the number of tickets. The details are meticulous, and there aren't too many awful things. It feels like you're truly living in that era. The only downside is the slow pace; there isn't much romance yet. It can be read as a historical fiction combined with a farming/rural life story.

6. 6 红 No. 66 Hongyan Alley 红延胡同六六号院 Dimension Mender次元缝补匠Modern Romance527k WordsCompleted [Period setting + ordinary people + native male and female leads + transmigrated female lead as the second heroine, with no golden finger + a touch of ensemble cast + no relocation to the countryside, no poverty relief, no subsidizing others + no military marriage, no rough-and-tumble hero + 1v1] Excerpt One: “Damn it!” Xu Hongmian cursed, tightening her grip on the corn bun. It was one thing for Xu Junqing to eat at the school cafeteria, but Xu Hongqiao wasn’t coming home either? That girl had 3.4kReads8.4Score32714d adds

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   Microgroups are like everyday life, watching the drama unfold.

7. 7 穿 Transmigrate Into a Book: The Little Extra’s Everyday Gossip 穿书七零：小炮灰的吃瓜日常 Seven Spirit Jade七灵玉Modern Romance524k WordsCompleted [Period setting + transmigrate into a book + Beijing courtyard compounds + gossip + taking down scumbags + everyday family life] Wen Zhi wakes up one day to find that she has transmigrated, and her wedding is just around the corner! As a servant born into the Wen household, marrying is undoubtedly her best chance to escape. But when she arrives at her in-laws’ home, she discovers that she has transmigrated into a book! Now things are getting interesting. In a little courtyard compound, there’s t 8.5kReads7.5Score69514d adds
8. 8 五 The 1950s: A Transmigrated Dad and His Transmigrated Kid 五零：穿越的老爸，穿越的崽 Douqiqi豆齐齐Modern Romance224k WordsCompleted The rating just came in, and the author’s… well, anyway, readers passing by are welcome to give it a little try. [Light ensemble cast] [Two male leads] Born into the 1950s, Gu Sheng became the only child of the Gu family. Looking at his fortune-telling grandmother who fiddled with her fingers, his capitalist grandfather, his maternal grandfather with power and influence, his father who had transmigrated just like him, and his sweet but clueless mother, Gu Sheng sighed silently. The Gu family rea 3.3kReads8.2Score35814d adds

   Reader note

   Historical fiction, featuring two male leads, and a gossip-filled story.

9. 9 七 A Laid-Back Life in the 1970s 七零年代的摆烂日常 Douqiqi豆齐齐Two Male Leads437k WordsCompleted I was reborn. No big deal, this is already my third time, so I’m used to it. Wait, what? I didn’t get reborn, I transmigrated into a book? No big deal. The male lead isn’t me anyway. As long as I still have my space and supernatural abilities, nothing can stop me from coasting through life, eating and drinking for free. The author’s imagination and writing skills are limited, and pretty much everything else is limited too. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave. The author is just a simple, w 11kReads8.5Score98114d adds
10. 10 颠 After a Life of Madness, I Became Even Crazier 颠死一生后，更颠了 Lu San潞三Modern Romance1.0M WordsCompleted (If you don’t like the pairing, move on. Don’t overthink it or hesitate. You deserve the best. Daily life + a touch of ensemble cast + going off the rails + feel-good power fantasy) After being switched at birth, betrayed, cheated on, and abused, Shen Fangchu went from a proud swan to a turtle hiding in its shell. When she opened her eyes again, she was back at the turning point of her fate, wavering every day between getting revenge and giving up on everything. Then she met Chen Jianwen, a toug 2.5kReads7.1Score21914d adds

    Reader note

    Absolutely gorgeous, so beautiful!

11. 11 记 After My Memories Awaken, I Gossip, Raise Kids, and Make Money 记忆觉醒后，吃瓜养崽赚钱钱 Zhimo芷沫Modern Romance1.0M WordsCompleted Ji Shuya had a dream, and it felt incredibly real. In it, her cousin tricked her into going to the countryside. As soon as she arrived, she was schemed against, and her life became miserable. She died young. She woke up terrified and sprang out of bed, immediately setting about finding a job and going on blind dates. She'd rather die than go to the countryside. If she did, she'd lose her life... After so many disastrous blind dates she nearly gave up, she finally met the right person. After get 1.3kReads6.5Score10014d adds
12. 12 大 Gossiping in the Compound Is So Much Fun 大院吃瓜真香了 Ling Ling Zi苓菱子Modern Romance1.3M WordsCompleted Lin Qing had a terrifying dream. In it, she was a frail young aunt whose niece, born the same year, had stolen her engagement. Afraid Lin Qing would try to reclaim the match, the niece flaunted the man she'd stolen in front of her every day, until Lin Qing was finally angered to death. Lin Qing jolted awake in fright. What kind of vicious dream was that? If the niece wanted the man, she could have him. Why did she have to anger Lin Qing to death, too? Just when Lin Qing thought it had all been a 13.9kReads8.1Score1k14d adds
13. 13 六 The 1960s: The Alley Couple's Daily Gossip 六零年代胡同小夫妻吃瓜日常 Qiqi the Cat Who Drinks Coffee喝咖啡的琪琪猫Modern Romance2.0M WordsCompleted A married couple from the 1990s transmigrate to the 1960s. No TV, no internet, no phones. No problem. They don't need any of that. There's so much gossip here they can't keep up with it all. Seriously, there's just too much to gossip about. Their daily life: gossiping, making money, and raising kids. They have to manage all three without dropping the ball. 8.4kReads7.2Score49414d adds
14. 14 换 Swapping Marriages Led Me to the Right Man, and Check-Ins Let Me Thrive in the Compound 换亲嫁对郎，靠打卡在大院躺赢 Monster Meow Meow怪物喵喵Modern Romance520k WordsCompleted [The Sixties + Gossip + Check-In System + Love After Marriage + Family Life + Devoted Husband + A Few Selfish Relatives + Getting Rich Later] Song Yu transmigrates into Song Jiayu, a member of the old Song family in Lushan Village. She knows that her cousin next door is making a huge fuss about swapping marriage partners, and that the man she's supposed to marry is sickly but incredibly handsome. So why wait? For a face-lover like her, looks are everything. Besides, with her check-in System, she 8.9kReads8.9Score81514d adds
15. 15 六 The 1960s: I Thrived After Marrying a Scrap Collector 六零：改嫁废品收购员后我赢麻了 Qi Baochen柒宝宸Modern Romance1.4M WordsCompleted [Period setting + reborn + seemingly useless wood-type supernatural ability + pocket dimension + everyday family drama + fake and real heiresses + contrasting counterparts] Yuan Hui and Yuan Yin were reborn. They returned to the day they left the mountain to resume lay life and were assigned blind dates by their organization. In their previous lives, senior sister Yuan Hui married a driver for the transport team, while junior sister Yuan Yin married a good-for-nothing street loafer. Unexpectedly 8.8kReads8.9Score1.1k14d adds
16. 16 我 The Days I Happily Enjoyed Gossip in the Crowded Compound 我在大杂院快乐吃瓜的那些日子 Hehe's Grain何荷的禾Modern Romance1.4M WordsCompleted [Period] [The Sixties] [Light Ensemble Cast] [Book Transmigration] [Pocket Dimension] [Feel-Good Story] [Everyday Family Life] [No Going to the Countryside] Cheng Ying discovers that she has transmigrated into a Period novel. She has four older siblings, some sharing only her father and others only her mother. The whole family is set up as a foil to the female lead, who lives with them in the same crowded compound, and they all meet tragic ends. Known throughout the compound as the tigress who c 294.7kReads9.0Score44k14d adds
17. 17 对 Life in the Courtyard: The Sisterhood of the Comparison Group 对照组姐妹的大杂院生活 Yunyang Peach Cake云阳桃片Modern Romance505k WordsCompleted Lin Wanqiu transmigrates into a book. In the story, she defies her mother's objections and marries Wu Lian'an, just as she wished. But the Wu family is all appearances and rotten to the core. Her husband, Wu Lian'an, is weak-willed and hiding secrets; her mother-in-law is domineering, her father-in-law is a hypocrite, and her sister-in-law is a constant troublemaker... Lin Wanqiu decides she can't spend another day living like this. Unexpectedly, her cousin Lin Jing, who should have lived to see 1.3kReads6.8Score11414d adds
18. 18 穿 Transmigrated to 1970, Suddenly a Mom of Nine 穿越1970，喜当9个孩子的妈 A Cha in the Misty Rain阿茶烟雨Modern Romance1.4M WordsOngoing Main characters: Zhao Wenting and Li Sixi [Period Setting + Information System + Transmigrate + Everyday Family Life] Zhao Wenting has transmigrated. There’s one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. The good news: she has a golden finger, an Information System. The bad news: she has nine kids from the start, more than the Calabash Brothers. Looking at the three children who are about to be sent to the countryside, Zhao Wenting rolls up her sleeves and starts toughening them up. As a res 17.7kReads8.3Score1.3k14d adds

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    [Laughing and crying emojis][ ...]

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