Looking for a More Realistic Story Set in a Past Era, Nothing Too Exaggerated, With Sensible Characters 年代文现实一点，不要太夸张，有脑子一点

1 老 Wild Lilies of Old Well Village 老井村的野百合 Nine-Nine Cat九玖猫Modern Romance817k WordsOngoing The quarry in the hills behind Laojing Village buried the men from half the village. All that remained were a village full of widows and children crying from hunger. Thirty migrant miners moved into the workers' barracks, all strapping bachelors. The widows cursed men to their faces, then dug out their floral jackets at night and deliberately walked past the barracks. Each of the three widows had her own reasons: one wanted a protector to help raise her child, one hoped to get some rice and flou 17.2kReads8.7Score1.5kShelves

Reader note

Local literature, pure chronology [like] white description method, eloquent talk [like]

7 八 80: Small Days of a Fisherman's Family in Southern Guangdong 八零：南粤渔家小日子 Jade Sun Sleeves Long View玉日袖长观Modern Romance237k WordsOngoing [Period Piece] [Shore Foraging Golden Finger] [Fishing and Hunting] [Everyday Child-Rearing] [Family Life] [Cozy] [A Complete Guide to Seafood, Food, and Livelihood] [Later Development in the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong] Chen Lizhen had spent half her life working at a fish stall. At last, she got to stay with her daughter for a few days, but after falling asleep, she woke up in a small fishing village in Nanyue in 1985. She was only twenty-five again, and her daughter was a four-year-old li 1.9kReads—Score271Shelves

Reader note

The humanoid lawn grower is here!

8 七 The 1970s: I Slacked Off, So I Made the Kids Compete Fiercely 七零，我摆烂后，叫崽崽们内卷 Dance of Ice冰之舞Modern Romance1.1M WordsCompleted Xu Qian transmigrated into a period novel called Reborn: A Sweet and Loving Marriage. The story was about how the heroine, Bai Qingqing, had been blind in her past life and married the wrong man. She had rejected Zhou Wenjun, a man with three children, in favor of a sent-down youth, only to be abandoned and left destitute. Meanwhile, the man she had turned down, the one with three children, went on to build a fortune and become the richest man in the city. After being reborn, she came to her sen 9.2kReads8.1Score523Shelves

Reader note

Apart from these few books, I can't recommend any other historical novels [cover face][cover face][cover face] If you've read it, you can try it. It's really good.

13 娃 The Baby's Already Here, and Now You Say My Officer Husband Is the Wrong Man? 娃都生了，你才说军官老公搞错了 Aren't Cats Adorable?小猫不可爱吗Modern Romance709k WordsCompleted [Period setting + both leads reborn + transmigrate into a book + secret identities exposed + one-on-one romance + sweet pampering] The rating just came out, so it’ll rise over time. Su Tong wakes up one day to find she’s transmigrated into a period novel. She’s become the male lead’s disposable ex-wife, who makes a scene, breaks off their engagement, and ends up dying miserably in the street. Meanwhile, the heroine takes advantage of the situation and wins the heart of the future general with he 2.8kReads8.3Score359Shelves

Reader note

The heroine went to the military zone to find her fiancé, but she found the wrong person.

14 铁 Tiezhu's Fate 铁柱的命 Ink-Wash Creek水墨小溪Urban291k WordsCompleted In the 1990s, the twenty-year-old Tiezhu, whose given name was Gao Fei, was handsome, dashing, and well educated. He studied hard, hoping to change his fate through knowledge and escape the countryside. But fate kept playing tricks on him, making him fail time and again. Disheartened, he found the courage to face life again with encouragement from Yanhua, the village beauty. His excellence always won him admirers. After meeting different women, he gradually realized who loved him most. Sadly, by 5.7kReads6.8Score319Shelves

Reader note

Looking back, it gets better and better.

15 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 Romance995k 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 14.7kReads8.5Score1.1kShelves

Reader note

This book is very good-looking [Sparrow Food Masterpiece], there is no stepmother to take revenge on military marriage, the parents are short-lived, daily life, the heroine has an online IQ, she is trying hard to pass the technical secondary school entrance examination, and does not go to the countryside. Because there are few people who rated it, the rating is a little low [Bookshelf plus one][Bookshelf plus one], it mainly describes the warm daily life of the protagonist's family, and it has many advantages. It has a sense of the times. This is the book that I have read on Tomato that pays the most attention to the description of the era. The prices in "The Grass" are reasonable and accurate to a few cents and a few tickets. The details are exquisite and there are not too many top-notch products. It seems like you are really living in that era, but the pace is slower. There are not too many emotional scenes now. It can be read as a period novel ➕ farming novel

16 六 The Little Crybaby of the 1960s Is Always Hung from the Demonically Handsome Commander's Waist 六零小丧包天天被妖孽首长挂腰上 Zhang Mocha from the Northeast张摩卡来自东北Modern Romance870k WordsOngoing [Military marriage in the 1960s · quietly unhinged · decisive and ruthless · golden finger with a hint of mystery · off-the-charts sweetness] Don’t mess with Lu Jiu. She’s fierce, bold, and rebellious. In her previous life, she spent thirteen years undercover, going from a drug lord’s fake heiress to the drug lord herself. The day the operation closed in, she blew everyone sky-high, herself included. When she opened her eyes again, she was Lu Jiu, an academic ace in the 1960s. She came with a me 74.1kReads9.1Score11.5kShelves

Reader note

Take a look at this book, it's a new one, but the male and female protagonists are both intelligent and dote on each other, they are more logical and a bit brain-burning.

17 一 All I Want in Life Is Half a Heart’s Contentment 一生只求半称心 Hedge Shadow篱影Modern Romance582k WordsCompleted A realistic story set in the 1970s. Even readers born in the 1990s and 2000s love it! [Traditional] [No Gimmicks] [Not a Power Fantasy] [No Cheats] In the 1970s, Li Laoman has no sons, so he wants to find a live-in son-in-law for his third daughter, Li Fan. Li Fan refuses, then steals her second sister Li Ting's fiancé! Now not only has Li Ting's man been stolen, she also has to take on the task of finding a live-in son-in-law for her younger sister. Pressured by Li Laoman, she has no choice but 9.7kReads8.9Score797Shelves

Reader note

This era story is so real that anyone who has experienced those eras is familiar with it.

18 逃 The Runaway Bride Wins Over the Handsome Factory Director and Embraces a Life of Passion 逃婚女拿下帅厂长，共赴滚烫人生 Tang Qing糖倾Modern Romance347k WordsOngoing To escape her birth family’s schemes, Su Yunke stole the household registration booklet and fled in the middle of the night! Standing in an unfamiliar city, she had only one mao to her name. In an era when even a one-mao coin found on the street had to be handed over to the police, she encountered many kind people. With their warmth behind her, she fought her way to building a business empire of her own. Later, the tough man who cherished her above all else complained in a wounded voice, “B 2kReads—Score157Shelves

Reader note

Both of these are quite realistic.

20 重 Reborn in the Northwest: An Eight-Year-Old Boy Becomes the Family's Pillar 重生西北八五八岁小哥挑起顶梁柱 Double-Yolk Egg双黄鸡蛋Modern Romance189k WordsOngoing [Northwest China + 1985 + rural life + reborn + realistic + not especially feel-good + light ensemble + everyday family life] The protagonist is only eight, so giving him a rebirth setup provides at least a little of a golden finger. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t stand a chance. After He Jianjun and his wife died, they left behind four young children. Their uncle and aunt sold them all for money. Some died, some went mad, and not one of them met a happy end. Fortunately, the eldest son was rebor 56Reads7.5Score—Shelves

Reader note

Very realistic, no exaggeration at all

22 守 Alone in an Empty Room, While the Factory Director Next Door Holds Me Close at Night 守空房，隔壁厂长夜揽小蛮腰 Milky Pear Boba奶梨啵啵Modern Romance334k WordsCompleted [Period Setting + Rugged Hero + Both Pure in Love + Sweet Romance + Traditional Story, No Rebirth or Transmigration] [Pretty Widow + Untamed Steel Mill Director, With a Striking Difference in Build and Skin Tone, and Chemistry Through the Roof] After her husband dies in an underground accident, He Xiaohe becomes the “jinx widow” everyone at the steel mill thinks they can bully. Her vicious mother-in-law wants to seize her house, then sell her off to the countryside for a bride price. Her shamele 2.5kReads—Score111Shelves

Reader note

No rebirth, no time travel, no golden finger, the group portraits are flesh and blood, period writing, the plot is fast-paced, you can leave a message to make a wish.

23 成 Why Help Others Get What They Want? I’ll Choose Myself 成全别人？不如成全自己 Yue Cangyun Nali月藏云那里Modern Romance235k WordsCompleted In the book, Xu Jing'an spent her whole life helping others and putting them first, yet in the end, no one even said a kind word about her. This time, she's going to look after herself first and do what's best for her. 125.2kReads9.5Score9.6kShelves

Reader note

He directly told me that in those days, the only way to survive was to be cautious.

24 鹁 Pigeon Alley 鹁鸽胡同 Xiaoman Crisp小满酥Modern Romance560k WordsCompleted ☆ [Main story complete] ☆ [No transmigration, no rebirth, not a feel-good power fantasy, no golden finger] ☆ [An ordinary person's ordinary story, with a focus on everyday life] In 1972, seventeen-year-old Zhong Wenshu took over her mother's job at the state-run supply and marketing cooperative, avoiding the mass campaign to send young people to the countryside. In 1973, eighteen-year-old Zhong Wenshu married a young police officer from the neighboring courtyard and started a home with just th 17.4kReads9.3Score1.9kShelves

Reader note

Anyway, it's all from the era.

31 1 Another Spring of the 1977 College Entrance Exam 1977年高考又一春 Young Master Xiaoxiao孝孝公子Modern Romance3.4M WordsOngoing [A story-driven take on history. Note: There is no single fixed protagonist. Multiple leads reflect the changes of the era and offer a full picture of the 1977 restoration of the college entrance exam.] [The story focuses on several main characters: Hu Wei and Wang Ting, Pan Xia, and Lu Xiaoyun. Their stories weave in and out according to the timeline. If you prefer to follow one character at a time, you can read their chapters in sequence for a complete biography. The other characters may only 5.2kReads8.0Score400Shelves

Reader note

Good books are hard to find, but this one is so good! [Grass has been planted] [Sending Hearts] [Love] Focusing on the whole process of college entrance examination recovery, the above is a classic article from the past! Adapted from a true story, you travel through the examination room to counterattack and climb the rankings, and seize the trend of the times to accumulate wealth. With a good wife by his side and children around his knees, his daily life is delicate and rhythmic, full of warmth and inspiring. Using ordinary people to write about the marks of the times is deeply touching and can be called a masterpiece of both chronicle and documentary literature!

33 七 The 1970s: Sent to the Countryside and the Army, I Become a 749 Bureau Veteran 七零：下乡随军成749局元勋 Zero Point Two Seven零点二七Modern Romance1.1M WordsCompleted [A stone-faced military officer with bulging muscles and a complicated mind VS a delicate, radiant heiress from a wealthy family] [Military Marriage] [Light Sci-Fi] [Sweet Romance] [Easy, Satisfying Read] [Light Fantasy] [Goofy Robot] [Combat Pet] [Cards] [Lightning Powers] A word of warning: The heroine talks about keeping a low profile, but doesn’t act like it. If she has a golden finger, she’ll use it. Leng Yunhuan had just won the Grand Slam for Best Actress when she stayed up late playing a 9.2kReads8.5Score1.6kShelves

Reader note

This book is a must, if you like micro-science fiction and micro-fantasy, you can read it with confidence

34 带 Eloping While Pregnant? The Rough 1970s Hunk Turns Red-Eyed Every Night 带球私奔？七零糙汉夜夜凶红眼 Meng Gaga蒙嘎嘎Modern Romance301k WordsCompleted (The rating was just added, it'll go up, it's going up~) [Period piece + transmigrate into a book + pocket dimension + feel-good power fantasy + putting scumbags in their place] Sweet, delicate beauty VS cold-faced military officer Lin Suisui, a modern top-tier star with fair skin and breathtaking looks, wakes up to find she's become the same-named villainess in a period novel, Lin Suisui, who was doomed from the start. To escape being sent down to the countryside, the original Lin Suisui delib 2kReads8.3Score220Shelves

Reader note

She called out husband, but Captain Gu bumped into the door frame. She suppressed a smile, her eyes curled into crescents, and she deliberately added in a sweet and soft voice, "Just right, I'm thirsty too, thank you, husband..." She called out the word "husband" softly and quickly, with a bit of testing, but also with an obvious hint of teasing. A "bang" sound! A certain man whose mind was shaken by that earth-shattering "husband" sound, and whose feet were shaking, hit his forehead firmly and unpreparedly against the door frame of the bedroom, making a muffled sound. "Pfft——!" Lin Suisui couldn't hold it back any longer and burst out laughing. The clear laughter swayed around the room like a silver bell. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but her shoulders shook uncontrollably. Why is this man so funny? The reaction was too big!

35 八 The Old Li Family in the 1980s 八十年代的老李家 Scroll Ah卷轴啊Modern Romance385k WordsCompleted No transmigration or rebirth, no golden finger, an ensemble cast, and the ordinary life of an ordinary family. Li Xiaoyun and her family live in a small town in Northeast China. There are eight of them, and life in the 1980s is a constant whirlwind. Her parents are both unreliable, and each of her siblings has their own little schemes and ideas. Li Xiaoyun is in her final year of high school. Her grades are average, and her dream is to get into college and see the world beyond her hometown. Her 7.7kReads8.6Score667Shelves

Reader note

You can try this one! Guaranteed to make you like it

36 岭 Those Years Working in Lingnan 岭南打工那些年 Dongting Fish Song洞庭鱼歌Urban1.0M WordsCompleted This work is a realistic urban novel based on my own experience of heading south to Guangdong for work in the late 1980s. It might be more accurate to call it a memoir of migrant work than a novel. The characters are all based on my colleagues, fellow villagers, and friends I knew well! I chose to write in the first person so that everyone in these pages would feel vivid and real, with a soul of their own. I hope readers will find the voice warm and familiar as they read or listen in their spare 13.6kReads9.3Score1.4kShelves

Reader note

This is a book that is very suitable for book lovers born in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s! It was first published on Tomato and has since been reprinted on multiple platforms; the short play is currently being broadcast all over the Internet!

37 重 Reborn in 1978: Starting by Turning the Tables on a Deadly Trap 重生78：从反设死局开始 A Smile in Bloom一展眉Urban196k WordsCompleted A realistic period novel: military service, family feuds, no mindless wish fulfillment, rebirth, revenge, and no cheats or golden fingers. In his previous life, Li Junyi was already alone in the world when his parents died in a car accident. Then his uncle's family cruelly murdered him. The neighbors turned a blind eye to what seemed a straightforward murder. His paternal uncle, stationed in the army, kept silent out of regard for the clan. And so the horrific case was buried. Reborn, Li Junyi h 1.5kReads6.6Score137Shelves

Reader note

Realistic chronology, military, police, no plug-ins, no cheats. Focus on authenticity! He was killed by his uncle's family in his previous life. When he woke up again, there were still 10 days left before he was killed. See how the protagonist seeks justice for himself? It understands human feelings and the world without being too intellectual or exaggerated. It brings memories to the elderly and gives young readers a window to understand the times.

38 资 The Capitalist Heiress Is Reborn, Takes Down Villains, and Charms the Village Tyrant 资本家千金重生，虐渣下乡撩村霸 Luan Jing峦镜Modern Romance1.0M WordsCompleted [1970s, Sent to the Countryside, Rebirth, Revenge Against Scum] Qin Shuiyan had been beautiful since childhood, with a delicate, soft figure. She had a pretty face but no way to protect herself. After her family fell into ruin, her stepmother sold her to an old man to keep as a canary. Just as she could no longer endure the humiliation, Xu Mo, the man she had always looked down on, burst in with a hunting rifle, fighting his way through a hail of bullets to save her. “Xu Mo, I’m sorry. If there’ 8.3kReads8.1Score897Shelves

Reader note

People in the village said that Xu Mo was a cold-hearted person, but Qin Shuiyan knew otherwise. He just won't say it. He said it with his life in the last life, but she didn't want him to speak again in this life. She lived next door to him and got up early every day to boil water and put a pot at his door. He didn't say thank you, but he drank all the water every time. That's enough.

41 糙 The Rough-and-Tumble Big Bad Wolf Won’t Let Go of the Village Beauty 糙野大狼狗，抱着村花不撒手 Qi Xiao Tong栖小桐Modern Romance431k WordsOngoing [Rugged Hero + Pure Romance + Marriage Before Love + Sizzling Chemistry + Sweet Married Life + Building a Fortune] [Delicate Village Beauty VS Cold, Rugged Neighbor] The night Song Qingshan returned to the village, he heard cries coming from next door before he had even entered his own home. He climbed onto a haystack and stole a peek. Poor Wen Sui was bent over a millstone, being beaten. She trembled with pain and sobbed pitifully, looking utterly heartbreaking. The sight set Song Qingshan’s bl 31kReads—Score1.2kShelves

Reader note

Here comes a clever period novel, it's a little bit cruel in the early stage but takes off in the later stage. It's definitely not a bullshit type. Just read it.

42 七 Sweet Military Marriage in the 1970s: The Cold-Faced Officer Follows Her Around, Spoiling Her 七零军婚好甜冷面军官追着哄 Xiao Yun Xinxin小芸新新Modern Romance441k WordsCompleted After she transmigrates, forensic pathologist Su Xiaofang wakes up as an army wife living in a military compound in the 1970s. Thinking of her previous life, when she was a miserable pushover, scapegoated at work and exploited by her parents, only to die in an accident, she knows she has to live for herself this time. But the original owner is in terrible shape: sickly, skinny, and dim-witted. She’s been married to her officer husband for three years without consummating the marriage, and he loo 435Reads8.4Score101Shelves

Reader note

These two books are quite real, beautiful and sweet.

45 天 Born with Bewitching Charm, She Rejects an Officer's Proposal but Falls for Him on Their Wedding Night 天生媚骨，拒婚军官新婚夜沦陷了 Tea Tea Lemon茶茶柠檬Modern Romance1.0M WordsCompleted Wen You was beautiful and a top student from childhood. All she wanted was to get into college and change her place in society. But Su Ning, relying on her status as the widowed sister-in-law of the military officer Huo Yanjin, forced Wen You's father out of his job and took his position as newspaper editor. As a result, financial hardship forced Wen You to drop out of school. She realized Su Ning had feelings for Huo Yanjin, and that he was willing to cover for his family. So, out of revenge, s 101.7kReads8.5Score11kShelves

Reader note

Not much to say about how good it is, but the only flaw is that it's not over yet, and it's uncomfortable to follow.

46 重 Reborn 20 Years Ago: From Street Tough to Upstanding Young Man 重生20年从顽主到四有青年 Mr. Red Flag红旗先生Urban1.7M WordsCompleted [Reborn] [No System] [Ensemble cast] [Everyday life] [Business rivalry] [Romance] [Martial world] Does being reborn count as rebirth if you have no memories of your past life? In 2024, business tycoon Chen Yuanping is framed and sent back to the autumn of his nineteenth year. A completely different life begins... At the foot of the imperial city, in Liulichang. A group of young people born in the sixties and seventies leave the crowded courtyard houses in the hutongs, carrying their dreams 3.8kReads7.5Score213Shelves

Reader note

Don't look at the score! I recommend a different period novel. The story of the youthful growth of a group of people born in the 1970s. In that era of wild growth, everyone was working hard and striving for tomorrow. Friendship, family, love, business war and calculation. Very nice to look at. Book friends who are tired of the Tomato Refreshing routine can click on it and read it. Never regret it.

47 重 Reborn in 1976, My Father-in-Law Hopes I Die Every Day 重生1976，岳父天天盼我死 Weird-Tasting Bullfrog怪味牛蛙Urban1.8M WordsOngoing [Rebirth + period setting + logging + no System] In his previous life, Chen Beishan was the chairman of a timber conglomerate worth tens of billions. As he died at his rosewood desk, the last document he received wasn’t an obituary. It was a lawyer’s letter from his son, contesting the inheritance. He opens his eyes in 1976, in the Greater Khingan Range, at minus forty-two degrees. He’s now the “softie Beishan” everyone at the logging camp calls a coward: a good-for-nothing who abandoned his p 906Reads6.6Score108Shelves

Reader note

A very high-quality book about the rebirth of the times. The plot is compact, the setting is novel, unsystematic, and the writing is rich and delicate. It has the familiarity of a period drama. The journey of rising from a lumberjack in a forest farm in the Northeast gives a strong sense of immersion! Strong sense of realism

48 让 You Were Supposed to Join the Army, Not Marry the Commander and Become an Officer 让你去随军，没让你嫁首长成军官 The Coal Ball Is Very Quiet煤球很文静Modern Romance296k WordsCompleted [Revenge after rebirth + heroine who grows over time + no golden finger + family and domestic life + satisfying takedown of scoundrels + ensemble cast + heroine joins the military and builds a career] (The rating just went up. It’ll rise more later, so feel free to dive in.) Li Yingying is the orphaned daughter of a martyr. She grows up with her grandparents, but when they both die in quick succession when she’s fourteen, she becomes an orphan. Officer Lin Xiangnan takes her to live with the Lin 62.8kReads7.7Score662Shelves

Reader note

It's pretty good-looking and a bit cool, but there's no golden finger hahaha

49 中 Starting Out as a Vocational School Student, I Worked My Factory to the Bone 中专生开局，我把工厂卷疯了 Peach Heart Rainbow桃心彩虹Modern Romance501k WordsOngoing A modern quality-control worker transmigrates to the famine years of the 1960s, where she wakes up facing a desperate situation: the high school entrance exams have been suspended, and she is being forced to go to the countryside. To avoid being sent down, she decisively skips a grade and races through her studies, gets into a technical secondary school, and secures a stable job at a state-owned enterprise, successfully escaping the fate of being sent to the countryside. She has no incredible ab 37.7kReads8.1Score3.8kShelves

Reader note

More realistic. Instead of going to the countryside, the heroine was admitted to a technical secondary school and assigned to a state-owned factory. Hold the knowledge of modern machinery and work hard to build a career.