I Love Feel-Good Reads, but I Don't Like Sugar-Free Cola 爱爽文，但不爱无糖可乐

1. 51 反 Reforming the Villain Couple's Everyday Life 反派夫妇改造日常 Day After Day日日复日日Romance755k WordsCompleted [For publication updates, follow @Jinjiang Ri Fu Ri] The Gu King Yanluo lost his battle against the Sword Venerable Xiaoyang. Mu Zhaoran, the Gu King’s Dao companion, was thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes and Gu worms alongside the despised Poisonous Yanluo, where she was subjected to the punishment of the pit of vipers. At the moment of her death, a vicious female antagonist reform System suddenly descended from the heavens. The System declared that times had changed and mindless female 167.9kFavorites169.4kClicks/ch213.6kGifts

   Curator note

   It's beautiful.

2. 52 军 The Military Compound's Daddy's Girl [Period] 军工大院女儿奴[年代] Huan Ruojun浣若君Romance1.1M WordsCompleted Zhao Lingcheng is the outstanding male supporting character in Fragrance of the Sixties who leaves readers with the deepest sense of regret. He is handsome, comes from a distinguished family, and has three generations of relatives who have all played an important role in the Republic's military industry. Unfortunately, his ex-wife is a piece of work. Her proudest achievements include, but are not limited to, pretending to drown so she could force him into marriage, and drugging him so they woul 104.7kFavorites168.7kClicks/ch183kGifts

   Curator note

   Very good, highly recommended. It's rare for a novel set in this era to mention that soldiers are divided into two types. In this story, characters like Mou Guo and Zeng Feng are on the winning side, while Chen Gou and the female lead, from a working-class background, are defeated despite overwhelming evidence (to avoid suspicion, these two don't engage in the corresponding struggle against the rebels). Zeng Feng repeatedly uses the influence of his father, mother, and father-in-law to achieve practical results (his motivation was promotion, but at least the female lead taught him to be on the side of the masses). However, there are also characters like Mou Guo who use their "influence" for personal gain, such as the various misdeeds of the young Beijing soldier who distorted the true intentions of Wen Ge, and the granddaughter holding her wedding in 2009 where a G-Wagon's wheels passed by. If there's another imported drug that works for at least 5 years, the development of the epilogue might change. If it's adapted into a film or television series, I recommend Huang Xuan to play this kind of internet celebrity character (not a Huang Xuan fan).

3. 53 探 The Number One Scholar's Remarkable Second Sister-in-Law 探花郎的极品二嫂 Red Bean Soup绿豆红汤Romance1.2M WordsCompleted Meng Qing is an ordinary transmigrator, born into the Tang dynasty as the eldest daughter of a paper horse shop in Suzhou, Jiangnan. She has lived a comfortable life for eighteen years and chosen a promising marriage for herself. In an era that favored agriculture and suppressed commerce, Meng Qing is a merchant's daughter. To improve her family's social standing and give her children a chance to study and enter officialdom, she invests in the right prospects and marries Du Li, the second son o 141.2kFavorites159.4kClicks/ch431.6kGifts

   Curator note

   Halfway through, I discovered that the female lead is actually the second sister-in-law of the top-ranking scholar (探花郎), while the male lead is the top-ranking scholar himself. They are clearly uncle and sister-in-law. The author likely designed it this way to avoid a scenario where the woman is stronger than the man. Other authors usually write about husband-and-wife teams, with the man pursuing the imperial examinations and the woman engaging in business, making the romance more compelling. However, this author is very particular about "women's rights," to the point that some plots are utopian and disregard logic and the objective realities of ancient times. Furthermore, the romance within this framework isn't particularly outstanding. I usually drop all of this author's previous works halfway through, but this one is barely readable so far. However, one must especially endure the subtle denigration of the agricultural-oppressive-commerce system in the early chapters. To allow the female lead to easily obtain a "front" in the officialdom, the top-ranking scholar's father is portrayed as utterly dim-witted, making the scholar's dependence and obedience towards her seem reasonable. But is it really plausible that such foolish parents could produce a highly intelligent, emotionally intelligent, poor scholar who becomes the top-ranking scholar? It's simply to make it easier for the female protagonist to seize the fruits of the third-ranked scholar's parents' success. While the female protagonist did provide a lot of help in the scholar's rise to officialdom, the early contributions of her parents and brother are simply erased by the author labeling them as "foolish." Historically, Zhang Juzheng, the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, also had a father of questionable character, but he didn't poison or confine his father at home. This plot is too deliberate and dramatic. The Tang Dynasty's strength stemmed from the accumulation of land, population, and granaries. Merchants could make money, and if they could also support their descendants' education through the imperial examinations, only a fool would endure the hardship of farming. The south, where the female protagonist lived, only had enough people to develop the land and produce silk and porcelain after the An Lushan Rebellion, due to the large-scale migration of people from the north. Therefore, there were no conditions like the Song Dynasty's relaxation of agricultural restrictions. After the An Lushan Rebellion, there were conditions to relax restrictions on commerce to develop overseas trade, but the central government's decreased control over local areas exacerbated regional separatism, enriching military governors and powerful families, and worsening the plight of farmers. Therefore, seeing how the female protagonist's parents, as merchants, felt aggrieved that their descendants couldn't take the imperial examinations and had no future, truly made one feel that these merchants were incredibly greedy and deserving of a beating. The female protagonist's husband endured immense hardship as a farmer supporting his exploitative brother's education. How many farmers possessed both talent and the ability to leverage their family's resources to take the imperial examinations? Merchants could easily earn the money and connections needed for the imperial examinations; relaxing these restrictions would truly leave farmers with no hope of advancement. During the Tang Dynasty, when the division of power among aristocratic families was still unresolved, agricultural policies were relaxed. These merchants, who were attached to these families, would never stage a peasant uprising like Huang Chao's to speak out for the masses. Instead, they would become accomplices to the tyrants, further exploiting farmers and forcing them to abandon their land and become reclusive households.

4. 54 退 A Demobilized Woman Soldier Heads South to Strike It Rich [The 1990s] 退伍女兵南下淘金[九零] Clear Ripples, Bright Moon清澜皓月Romance1.1M WordsCompleted After leaving the army, female soldier Wen Qing is assigned to a workplace on the brink of bankruptcy. Wen Qing has only her one-time demobilization payment, less than 2,000 yuan. It is 1993, so she simply buys a train ticket south and prepares to make her way in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Theme: Hard work changes your fate. 6.3kFavorites12.6kClicks/ch20.2kGifts

   Curator note

   This one is better than the previous one, and not as greasy so far. However, the core of the story leans towards contemporary romance, with a strong male lead and a weak female lead. The male lead supports the female lead's career but is coy and hesitant, and the materialism is also more pronounced. But at least it's more palatable than the previous one, which focused on rent-seeking and power struggles. It makes one wonder if the previous one was a satirical work that smeared those in power. As for the main plot, the previous one was about opening supermarkets frantically for earthquake preparedness, and it was all about various forms of rent-seeking and flaunting the status of a privileged second-generation official. This one seems to focus on how the female lead, with the male lead's support, builds a business and becomes richer than him. I'm looking forward to it.

5. 55 萌 The Adorable Detective [The 1990s] 萌探探案[九零] Fan Jiangjiang范江江Romance620k WordsCompleted After the three-year-old autistic daughter of Dai Yu, captain of the municipal bureau's criminal investigation squad, goes missing, a nearby police station finds her. A miracle happens! The child is no longer autistic and can speak. She tells everyone to call her Ancestor. Rushed to the hospital for an examination, she scores an IQ of 65... The “mentally disabled” child who follows her father around accidentally creates yet another miracle for the police. In a murder case with no clues, the chi 10kFavorites15.9kClicks/ch25.5kGifts

   Curator note

   Highly recommended, it's fantastic. The cute kids and the career storyline are great, but the romance is practically nonexistent.

6. 56 林 Lin Niangzi's Everyday Market Stall 林娘子的摆摊日常 Yan Zheng言徵Romance697k WordsCompleted Lin Qiuran transmigrates to an ancient farming village. Her original body's husband died in battle, leaving behind his parents and the child, just over two months along, in her belly. Luckily, her mother-in-law is reasonable. She says she'll prepare a dowry so Lin Qiuran can remarry, and that it would be fine to end the pregnancy too. She's relieved Lin Qiuran isn't expected to give birth. Lin Qiuran agrees. The next day, her mother-in-law goes out and finds a lingzhi mushroom, which she sells 57.7kFavorites85kClicks/ch49.5kGifts

   Curator note

   It's a traditional Chinese fairy tale, but the female lead is a bit of a Mary Sue—she's all-powerful, incredibly lucky, and faces no major obstacles. The plot lacks twists and turns; she finds gold at the beginning, and the biggest crisis seems to be a neighbor reporting her tax evasion, which the male lead miraculously resolves by becoming a high-ranking official. The female lead isn't particularly strong (solving the problem herself), and the male lead isn't portrayed as having much charisma. Therefore, while there is a romance, it feels bland. The second male lead is strangely written; a businessman suddenly stops pursuing profit after falling for the female lead, while the female lead portrays him like a saint. His sudden change in attitude is absurd; it would have been better to portray him as someone whose respect for the female lead stems from a mixture of self-interest and admiration. After about 80% of the story, the rest felt like a waste of time (and a rather agonizing one at that).

7. 57 重 A Reborn Child Raises Me: Everyday Life [Period] 重生娃养我日常[年代] Moon Over the Empty Mountain空山澜月Romance729k WordsCompleted My next book will be Building a Home in the Fifties. Please add it to your reading list! About this story: Her daughter went abroad and lost contact. Before she died, she never got to see her one last time. Her son is quiet and reserved, and once he got a wife, he forgot his mother and resented her deeply. Until the day she died, Zhao Ruyue couldn't understand how she could have given everything to her children and family, acting as both mother and father, only to end up like that. After anothe 5.5kFavorites12.7kClicks/ch6.5kGifts

   Curator note

   It's alright. Among cute baby stories, the cute baby plot is passable, but the setting is 2000 years in the past, and the local customs and culture are described as if it were set in the 80s or 90s. I only realized it was the 21st century after reading 20 or 30 chapters. Maybe the region where the male and female protagonists live is too backward and feudal, which made me feel a bit out of place. The readability decreases after the male and female protagonists become wealthy.

8. 58 娘 My Lady, Let's Work Together (Crime-Solving) 娘子，求合作（探案） October Sea十月海Romance569k WordsCompleted 18.2kFavorites36.7kClicks/ch20.6kGifts

   Curator note

   The early work is somewhat rough. The family ethics in the early stages are briefly mentioned, and the focus is on solving the cases. However, the female lead is a new police officer who has only graduated a few years ago. She has too much of a cheat code in the sub-specialties of forensic medicine, trace evidence examination, criminal psychology and so on.

9. 59 大 The Big Shot Was Reborn and Now Wants to Save Me 大佬重生后要拯救我 Lin Mianmian林绵绵Romance457k WordsCompleted [Main story complete, bonus chapters updating] After her boyfriend dies unexpectedly, Wen Xue spends half a year drifting through a miserable, aimless life. One night, her roommate tells her that a man named He Yan is waiting for her downstairs. She pauses. He Yan is her boyfriend's older brother. They've barely met. What could he want with her? - Before he was reborn, He Yan had met Wen Xue four times in all. The first time, she and his younger brother came to Xicheng for a trip after thei 35.4kFavorites46.7kClicks/ch45kGifts

   Curator note

   It's alright, I guess.

10. 60 重 Reborn Without Getting Any Smarter 重生不涨智商 Yu Shi榆莳Romance625k WordsCompleted Lin Yun was observing an experimental field one moment, and the next she was thrust into a household-intrigue drama. The senior student of the agricultural college marched into the Great Zhou dynasty full of confidence, ready to make her mark and realize her potential across time and space. Three days later, Lin Yun died suddenly at home, and the Lin residence was draped in mourning. When she opened her eyes again, Lin Yun was back three days earlier. This time, she'd be careful and do her bes 111.2kFavorites134kClicks/ch121.6kGifts

    Curator note

    It's an infinite flow novel, but it doesn't feel overly like typical historical fiction. Generally, I'm averse to historical novels where the male protagonist rises to a high position at a young age, especially those set in fictional Song or Ming dynasties. Before that, the Tang dynasty was characterized by numerous powerful families and hereditary power, while later, the Qing dynasty saw monarchs arbitrarily appointing officials at the height of their power; even Heshen rose to a high position at a young age. In this story, the male protagonist becomes the second-in-command in his early twenties, while the youngest official in Ming dynasty history was only in his thirties. However, the author's writing style isn't awkward, making it readable.

11. 61 错 After Accidentally Marrying the Big Shot in a Period Novel 错嫁给年代文大佬后 Lemon Nine柠檬九Romance750k WordsCompleted Yan Xue had terrible luck with transmigration. While still young, she had to travel far beyond the pass to get married in order to escape her circumstances. She'd heard her prospective husband had lost his family backing, but he was capable, tall, handsome, and a fine-looking fellow. Yan Xue was reasonably satisfied. That day, heavy snow blanketed the logging camp. She had taken a long-distance train and then a local train, and her hands and feet were frozen stiff. Through the swirling snow, s 217.9kFavorites275.5kClicks/ch238.1kGifts

    Curator note

    It's beautiful.

12. 62 换 Making a Fortune After an Arranged Marriage [The 1970s] 换亲后的发家日常[七零] Ning Yan宁彦Romance870k WordsCompleted When Wang Ying hears her younger sister Wang Hui insist that she wants to marry Du Jianguo, she knows that Wang Hui has been reborn too. In their previous life, Wang Ying married Du Jianguo. They had modest circumstances but built a successful business together. Wang Hui married Zhao Yunsheng, who had better prospects, but they divorced, and Wang Hui also destroyed Wang Ying's marriage. Their parents favor Wang Hui and indulge her, so they let her swap husbands with Wang Ying. Wang Ying, mean 5.2kFavorites9.6kClicks/ch4.4kGifts

    Curator note

    A hidden gem of an article.

13. 63 九 Following My Husband to the City in the 1990s 九十年代随夫进城 Fourteenth Month of Winter冬十四月Romance555k WordsCompleted Coming soon: "The Child Bride of the 1950s" and "The Gold-Digging Girl of the 1980s". Please add them to your reading lists! Synopsis: Gu Ruo and Meng Tian grew up together. When they were children, Meng Tian was the village’s young master, with delicate features and fair skin. Back then, Gu Ruo only ever played with him. Later, Meng Tian’s family suffered a sudden upheaval, and he left home to find work after graduating from junior high. Gu Ruo chased after his train, crying for a long time 8.6kFavorites8.6kClicks/ch6.2kGifts

    Curator note

    A rare and enjoyable period drama recently.

14. 64 八 My Educated Youth Husband Came from a World of Cultivation 八零知青丈夫是废世穿来的 Ginger-Simmered Wine姜丝煮酒Romance464k WordsCompleted Blurb: “I suspect my husband isn’t human at all.” In 1983, Jiang Hongguo said this to a police officer visiting the countryside beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance. A bolt of lightning struck the tree, and Jiang Hongguo ran home in fright. After that, she didn’t dare say her husband wasn’t human anymore. In 1983, Gu Chan 9.9kFavorites21kClicks/ch4.4kGifts

    Curator note

    The ending was a bit confusing, but the rest was alright.

15. 65 舍 Abandoning Mother 舍娘 Spring Is Not Green Yet春未绿Romance364k WordsCompleted She rises from being the second daughter of a minor official to becoming a princess consort, then a regent’s wife, and eventually the empress who rules the realm. Everyone thinks she’s incredibly lucky and has a perfect life. But Pei Sheniang can’t help feeling that even the parts of her life that seem perfect leave much to be desired. Though she was born into the prestigious Hedong Pei clan, both her parents were born of concubines. She was only the second daughter of her family, and received l 26.9kFavorites36.3kClicks/ch23.1kGifts

    Curator note

    This book is more concise, but the early parts are still enjoyable. The author consistently strives to make the protagonist's actions and thoughts logical, rather than forcing them for the sake of plot development. However, in this book, both the romantic storyline and the protagonist's psychology during the usurpation plot feel somewhat illogical and abrupt, which is why it ended so quickly. Furthermore, the author doesn't explicitly state the female protagonist's age in her previous life before being reborn into this one. The male protagonist endured until his seventies or eighties with the female protagonist in their previous life, but the female protagonist should have been reborn in her forties, which would align with her current psychological state. However, this creates a logical flaw in the timeline, failing to explain why the female protagonist was reborn in her forties, and who the male protagonist was in his seventies or eighties in his previous life who allowed his nephew to usurp the throne.

16. 66 六 A 1960s Beat Cop Who Loves Gossip and Her Job 六零小片警爱吃瓜爱工作 Fragrant Crisp Chestnut香酥栗Romance2.9M WordsCompleted Starts August 27 at noon. Du Juan, a second-generation transmigrator, graduates from high school, takes over her father’s job, and becomes a proud little community police officer. On her first day at work, she gets accidentally hit on the head and acquires a “system.” Big or small matters, family squabbles, chaos and commotion: there’s never a dull moment. To the east, a widower abandons his children and elopes with a widow, only to get swindled out of his money. Du Juan rushes to the scene. To 70kFavorites134.6kClicks/ch411.5kGifts

    Curator note

    A good, entertaining story about gossip and drama.

17. 67 我 My Husband Is a World-Destroying Demon 我夫君是灭世魔头 Fu Meng扶梦Romance545k WordsCompleted [The print edition is out, with a new bonus chapter. Available on all platforms!] Qin Yingran is the daughter of a tutor, and she marries a scholar. After they marry, the scholar gives her everything she asks for. They aren’t rich, and they argue now and then, but their life is peaceful enough. Yingran thinks they’ll go on living a quiet, ordinary life forever. Until one day, a group of people storms into their home, shouting, “We’ve found that demon Xu Liling’s hideout!” Yingran hides at a di 489.6kFavorites569.3kClicks/ch540.9kGifts

    Curator note

    Yes, it's a rare slice-of-life cultivation novel. It's not as unrealistic as older cultivation novels, nor does it have as many elements of powerful families (cultivation families) as most cultivation novels nowadays.

18. 68 五 A Woman Military Doctor in the 1950s 五零年代女军医 Half-Moon Rose月半蔷薇Romance624k WordsCompleted New novel, The Republican-Era Writer, is now underway~! April 1950 Widow Xu Hehua found a skinny eight-year-old girl in the hills behind her home. Xu Hehua couldn't read, and peach blossoms were in full bloom behind her house, so she simply named the girl Taohua. The neighbor, Dr. Cao, was an educated man. He called the name vulgar and said that April was late spring, so she should be called Wanchun instead. Xu Hehua had always admired educated people, and she was good at taking advantage o 92.2kFavorites123.6kClicks/ch166.6kGifts

    Curator note

    Nice.

19. 69 抛 The Educated Youth Who Left Her Husband and Child 抛夫弃子的女知青 Lingxi铃溪Romance528k WordsCompleted Please add my upcoming novels, Zombie King Becomes the Eldest Sister in the Seventies and Reborn in the Seventies After Her Son Murders Her. Their blurbs are below. Blurb: Yi Wan transmigrates into a period novel as the original wife who abandoned her husband and child. She arrives just as the original body is foolishly looking for a way to return to the city. Yi Wan swiftly kicks the man in front of her and races home to take her feverish son to the hospital. Because he gets treatment in time, 5.8kFavorites14.3kClicks/ch1.9kGifts

    Curator note

    The opening is as captivating as ever, and the romance is more engaging than in previous works. However, the writing style remains rushed, as if it were rushed to completion. It seems the author isn't prone to procrastination, because someone who's good at getting things done doesn't feel pressured to start. The novel's framework is good, but like the previous book, it suffers from the same cliché: the female lead goes abroad to win awards and flaunts her wealth at the end. The last ten or so chapters tend to feel flat. The male and female leads' careers develop too quickly and too well; due to a lack of detail, their career advancement seems even faster, and suddenly they lack any sense of crisis in their lives. Because of this lack of a sense of urgency, the domestic drama in these ten or so chapters feels perfunctory, making it difficult to continue reading.

20. 70 丧 After Eighteen Years as a Widower, Dad Is in Love 丧偶十八年的父亲恋爱了 Summer Sips酌夏Romance404k WordsCompleted My widowed father has fallen in love for the first time in eighteen years. I don’t actually oppose him getting married again. In fact, I’ve been hoping he’d find a wife who cares for him and treats him well. After all, my mother died from postpartum complications right after I was born. For the past eighteen years, my father has stayed faithful to her. No matter how many women threw themselves at him, he paid them no attention. For a middle-aged man who’s extremely wealthy and takes good care 24.9kFavorites41.4kClicks/ch13.1kGifts

    Curator note

    It's rare to find a story that doesn't have a strong career focus yet still keeps readers reading. The author is a master of romance, and the plot is logically sound; truly a veteran author.

21. 71 重 Back to the 1990s to Make My Fortune 重回九零发家致富 Above the Clouds尚云端Romance831k WordsCompleted Two upcoming stories: Springtime for the Firewood Girl and The First Thing I Did After Making It Ashore [The 1970s] Jiang Aihua was reborn, back in the year she turned eighteen. Her youngest sister was only one. Her father could barely hold his head up in the village after having three daughters in a row. Her mother was timid and hardly dared to leave the house. Her second-youngest sister was in middle school and right in the middle of her rebellious phase... This was the very beginning of her 11.3kFavorites19.2kClicks/ch15.3kGifts

    Curator note

    It's very good. The side story is like a short story, and it's also very enjoyable. It's rare to be able to read a long side story with supporting characters all the way through. The author has also made the supporting characters very vivid, which makes people interested in continuing to read. This is a period drama with a compelling love story and career arc, and the plot doesn't falter logically. The career arc doesn't simply copy the success stories of various business tycoons; it's written with originality. While the female lead's career stalls a bit due to marriage and childbirth, the author cleverly incorporates the male lead's career crisis there, making the reading flow smoothly. The plot avoids excessive revenge for the sake of satisfying the reader, nor does it become overly sentimental for the sake of harmony; it maintains a perfectly balanced level of suspense. The writing is superb, but I don't understand why it doesn't match the subscription numbers.

22. 72 明 Tomorrow as Bright as Day 明日如昼 Suihou Zhu随侯珠Romance732k WordsCompleted Also known as... The Road That Made a Rich Woman - Ming Xi felt her life perfectly matched Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When she had only a few coins in her pocket, all she wanted was enough to eat. When she had a few hundred yuan, she learned about love and sharing. When she had tens of thousands, she started thinking about how to use money to make even more. When she had hundreds of thousands... she learned how to look rich on the outside, too! When she had several million, tens of millions, e 132.9kFavorites141.6kClicks/ch147.6kGifts

    Curator note

    The beginning was good, but in the later stages, during the female lead's career takeoff, a time-lapse was implemented, and the hardships of the early stages of entrepreneurship and the sense of accomplishment from resolving crises were lost. The romance also felt contrived, with the brief coverage of the career storyline, the delayed romance, and the apparent resolution of the female lead's career and personal crises (which the author actually omitted), making it unreadable later on. The author claimed to be writing about the path to becoming a wealthy woman, but the initial acceleration phase was omitted. Perhaps the author wanted to emphasize the equal footing between the female and male leads, avoiding a romance between them before the female lead became wealthy, thus omitting the three years of her rapid career development to make the romance seem more coherent. It would have been better to have a humble male lead working together to build a career, then finding someone experienced and from a good family, and forcing an equal footing between the two leads—there's too much of a focus on the strong and powerful, with very little warmth.

23. 73 八 80s: Come and Pick Up Your Wife and Kid 八零之快来接你媳妇孩子 Flowers in the Rain雨中花慢Romance580k WordsCompleted My next novel, A Research Scientist in the Northwest in the 1960s, is now available. The main story is complete. Warning: the bonus chapters are an alternate-timeline modern AU. If you don’t want to read an alternate timeline, stop here. Shu Yuan transmigrated to the 1980s and found herself at a matchmaking meeting. The matchmaker was practically spitting as she raved, “Just look at this pretty girl! She’s back from the countryside and has never dated anyone.” Shu Yuan thought that couldn’t be 56.7kFavorites86.9kClicks/ch32.1kGifts

    Curator note

    Four and a half stars, minus half a star for the bonus chapters. At least it's relatively short. I paid extra to buy it just to mark it as read, but I really couldn't finish it. This book continues the author's signature sweet and refreshing style, with a more exciting career storyline, a slower-paced romance, and a better-written child-centric storyline than the previous one. Looking forward to the next book.

24. 74 极 The Villainess Extra Is Here for the Gossip 极品女配，在线吃瓜 Glorious Age, Pure Song盛世清歌Romance835k WordsCompleted [Please follow my author page in the upper-right corner! My sweet and satisfying new novel, The Fresh-Faced Brat's Unreasonable Stepmother, is now underway.] Jiang Zhi is breathtakingly beautiful, a wealthy society wife with a handsome husband and a house full of children. What a winner at life. Then one day, she hits her head and suddenly realizes she is actually the female supporting character meant to serve as a foil. The heroine is an utterly ordinary ugly duckling, and Jiang Zhi's beautiful 36.7kFavorites132.3kClicks/ch25.4kGifts

    Curator note

    The title is "Eating Melon," but it actually involves eating melons through 10 books; the plot design is quite interesting.

25. 75 墨 Ink-Stained Days of the Republic of China 墨染民国 Jue Jue决绝Romance891k WordsCompleted Sang Jingyun transmigrates to Republican-era China and becomes the daughter of a down-at-heel merchant family, with creditors demanding payment at her door. Her father is an opium smoker, her mother has no backbone, and she has several younger siblings who are still growing up. Unable to afford enough to eat, Sang Jingyun picks up her pen and writes herself a splendid future. Reading Guide: 1. A farming-and-family-life story, mainly about the heroine writing novels, building wealth, and worki 72.1kFavorites104kClicks/ch196.1kGifts

    Curator note

    This isn't the first time someone has used this meme, but the author really enjoyed writing it.

26. 76 五 Five Years of Marriage, Living Apart the Whole Time [The 1970s] 五年婚姻，一直分居[七零] Halfway Through the First Month元月月半Romance1.5M WordsCompleted Ye Fan worked hard for decades until she had a house and a car, then suddenly died and returned to a time more than fifty years earlier. Three paths lie before her: join the army, go to the countryside, or get married! Ye Fan doesn't want to work too hard, so she chooses to marry a well-paid officer and have him support her. After the wedding, Ye Fan lives with her parents. They help care for the children, while she enjoys good food and drink on her husband's salary. Ye Fan thinks her life will 41.4kFavorites130.6kClicks/ch78.2kGifts

    Curator note

    It's alright. The way the kids and parents interact is a bit like bickering and arguing, which is kind of a unique feature. The early chapters were decent and satisfying, but the house-hoarding plot started to feel like a sugar-free drink. It felt like it should have ended, but they kept writing over 700,000 more words. After reading a few tens of thousands more, I couldn't keep up. It went too far off-topic and was meaningless. The male and female leads had stable social status and lived carefree lives. Without a sense of crisis, the plot was just a bunch of loose sand. I lost interest as soon as the wind blew. Except for those who like to read stories about showing off wealth.

27. 77 下 My Sister Returns from the Countryside 下乡的姐姐回来了 Clear Ripples, Bright Moon清澜皓月Romance2.2M WordsCompleted Yu Duo's parents are both gone, and from a young age she has to get by with her older brother and sister-in-law, who took over the family home. After witnessing how her older sister was sacrificed and abandoned (when their parents had to choose which of their two children would be sent to the countryside, they gave the job her sister had been promised to her sister-in-law), Yu Duo starts planning from childhood to secure a job and stay in the city. Even if going to the countryside is no longer 34.8kFavorites97.1kClicks/ch77.2kGifts

    Curator note

    The beginning was indeed well-written, with a good reading experience, and the author was very reliable in finishing the book. I recommend it, but only for the first 60-70% of the chapters. It got too long and lost its flavor later on, emphasizing the style of a Beijing tycoon too much. In the later stages, it felt less like a period drama and more like a story about high-ranking officials in Beijing's elite circles. The female lead went from being a proletarian to a wealthy woman, and after her career took off, she started flaunting her wealth. Moreover, the portrayal of Machiavellianism wasn't handled well, sometimes appearing too greasy and worldly-wise. The process of cultivating relationships and maintaining connections wasn't glossed over; it was given too much attention. The yearning for and sycophancy towards the powerful was subtle, and while the underlying message was valid, it was overemphasized. The previous book's female protagonist at least had a main plot about earthquake prevention to keep the reader engaged, which was a positive example of giving back to society and made people feel that such a person deserved to be rich. However, this book became less interesting as it progressed. After her career took off and she became numb, it was just a simple display of wealth. The romance plot centered on admiration for the powerful was also uninteresting and rather pointless. In terms of plot development, the female protagonist's relatives were all subservient. After the old grandfather, who was supposed to take care of her in her old age, married a young woman and had a son, his character arc dimmed. As a reader, I really didn't care whether his eldest son would come back or not. This suspense hook lost its appeal. Later on, I became very annoyed and even felt that the female protagonist was on the opposite side, making me want to hate the rich. This is because too much of the text describes how the female protagonist lives a classy life, and this kind of class is really outdated. In modern China, where cultural confidence is gradually increasing, such worship of foreign things and promotion of Western food and Christmas is really not a good value orientation. The filter of studying abroad has really shattered, at least for me. The female protagonist in the story still yearns for it, but now those who go to Europe to study and then just coast through don't have much of an advantage when looking for jobs. Before, it was just a prestigious experience, but now I really don't think there's anything better abroad.

28. 78 重 Returning to 1995: Contentment with Modest Prosperity 重回九五之小富即安 Pork Belly Hot Pot酥肉锅Romance786k WordsCompleted [Complete! I have several completed novels on my author page. Please follow me!] Jian Li died after suffering a heart attack from working overtime at a 996 job. On top of that, she was dieting and hadn't eaten, so her blood sugar plummeted and she couldn't catch her breath. After dying, Jian Li realized one thing: in her next life, she absolutely wasn't going to push herself so hard. All that matters in life is food and drink. No more dieting: 90.1kFavorites156.3kClicks/ch279.9kGifts

    Curator note

    Before reading, I wanted to see just how bad the romance plot would be. After 200 chapters, it felt like being forced into a restaurant where abalone (plot) had to be served with cornbread (romance) as part of a bundled deal. Overall, the plot was decent; the career storyline was above average, but the female lead's career path was too formulaic and unoriginal: publishing articles and comics to gain fame and capital, then getting it adapted into a film, Kuku buying a house, and the fact that she absolutely had to get into Peking University (the stereotype that female leads in period campus novels must attend Peking University and not Tsinghua University seems to have formed out of nowhere). This kind of formula is basically a must-have for female leads in period campus novels; the romance plot was just an add-on (a poor-quality one). Normally, when the protagonist in a period novel achieves a smooth life, a successful career, and transitions from proletariat to wealth, the plot starts to subtly flaunt wealth and power, which can become tedious. Adding such a terrible side dish at that point makes it impossible to finish and leads to abandoning the story. Overall, it's a reasonably satisfying read with a high level of enjoyment.

29. 79 卧 I Went Undercover So Well, the Suspect Asked Me to Join the Team [The 1990s] 卧底太成功，嫌犯求我去上班[九零] Moonsea Demon Queen月海妖后Romance3.1M WordsCompleted An audiobook of the same name is now available on Ximalaya. Completed career-focused novels: Reborn in 1988: The IT Queen; Reborn: The Rise of a Marketing Queen; Reborn in 1920: The Fashion Queen Wang Xuejiao transmigrates into the body of a police officer and is assigned to an undercover operation. She sets up a stall by the roadside selling rice topped with braised dishes, and is chased away by city inspectors. She's worried the suspect will get away. To her surprise, the suspect runs after 109.2kFavorites165.1kClicks/ch407.2kGifts

    Curator note

    Super fun and hilarious.

30. 80 炮 The Cannon Fodder's Guide to Getting Rich 炮灰暴富手册 Chen Yin臣音Romance515k WordsCompleted [Signed for print publication. Updates on progress at Weibo @Jinjiang Chen Yin] Wen Shuangbai transmigrates into a book and becomes a poor artifact cultivator. Not only is her family broke, she even has a fiancé. Her fiancé has a delicate, pretty face, and the beauty mark at the corner of his eye is especially captivating. Unfortunately, he's a lovesick male side character who adores the female lead. He'll brave any danger for her, then abandons his wife in the end to prove his love. Wen Shua 191kFavorites247.8kClicks/ch260.8kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a lighthearted read, but lacks a compelling core. It leaves you wondering what the female lead's motivation is. Initially, it could be explained as earning money, but her extreme poverty is clichéd, and her rapid wealth is just another example. The author then introduces inflation, a patchwork of financial manipulation where the richer you are, the more you spend, trying to maintain the character's financial insecurity. However, this extreme poverty feels unbelievable. So, is her wealth and power-ups for the school's glory? For the factory's commission? For revenge against the original male and female leads? All these interpretations feel weak. The ending suddenly and forcefully addresses the theme: saving the world. Well, that's alright, isn't that typical of fantasy novels? In short, it's like sugar-free cola, but the author cleverly crammed sucralose into it.

31. 81 和 Transported Five Years into the Future with My Boyfriend's Older Brother 和男友大哥一起穿到五年后 Lin Mianmian林绵绵Romance405k WordsCompleted Ji Qingyu had finally won over her rich second-generation boyfriend, but on the day she was supposed to meet his parents, an accident sent her and her boyfriend's big brother five years into the future The good news: She successfully married into a wealthy family and became Mrs. Feng. (Confetti.jpg) The bad news: Her husband was her boyfriend's big brother. (Shocked.gif) Apparently, her husband was famous in their social circle for doting on his wife? Apparently, their relationship was wonderf 164kFavorites311.2kClicks/ch141.4kGifts

    Curator note

    It's alright, though the timeline isn't very logically sound. The focus is mainly on the plot and romance, with little emphasis on career development. The romance, as always, is high-quality, sweet and engaging.

32. 82 如 How to Stop the Male Lead from Going Mad 如何阻止男主发疯 Stir-Fried Cucumber爆炒小黄瓜Romance352k WordsCompleted The print edition has been retitled How to Stop Him from Falling. Presales begin on February 24, 2026 (the eighth day of the Lunar New Year) at 7:00 p.m. [This story is based on the original work’s characterizations, but does not use its plot. You can read it as an original story.] [This is a derivative work, but the characterizations, plot, and backstories contain a great deal of personal interpretation and transformative writing, with a very distinctive personal style. Please do not treat the 593.5kFavorites573.3kClicks/ch503kGifts

    Curator note

    Sure, I finished watching it while struggling with my values. Watching the female lead gave me the feeling of watching a female fan of an American murderer.

33. 83 变 After I Turned into a Zombie, My Ex-Boyfriend Caught Me 变成丧尸后被前男友抓住了 Zhu Yu蛛于Romance320k WordsCompleted In her third year as a zombie, Xue Ling was mingling with a wandering horde when she came face-to-face with a convoy sent to exterminate zombies. What a coincidence. Wasn't the man standing on the roof of the vehicle, pointing a gun at her, her ex-boyfriend Wen Jiuze? Theme: Never give up hope. 296.7kFavorites502.1kClicks/ch328.9kGifts

    Curator note

    This dog food is so sweet it's giving me cavities! It's sweet and refreshing, but also has a bit of a glassy edge. And then there are those unexpected jokes from the author that make you laugh out loud.

34. 84 感 Romance Scenes Cost Extra 感情戏是另外的价钱 Silk Marionette牵丝偶Romance420k WordsCompleted Qin Le has always thought of herself as a director of romance films, but her fans don't agree. One fan's comment has become a running joke in the industry: “Director Qin, trust me, you film romance scenes really well. Just don't film them again, okay? ORZ.” To redeem herself, she takes on a documentary about the federal army. Before it premieres, she assures her fans that the romance between the leads is deeply moving. The next day's interstellar headlines feature a heartfelt question from her f 22.2kFavorites39.8kClicks/ch26.3kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a satisfying and enjoyable read, and the director's lack of skill in handling romance scenes somewhat reflects the author's own experience.

35. 85 急 Emergency Room 120 急诊120 Golden-Faced Buddha金面佛Romance545k WordsCompleted Next novel: Reborn in the Nineties: Making a Fortune (A working woman's journey to success in the nineties: better to rely on yourself than on a husband or children.) After Ye Song fails her graduate school entrance exam and can't find a job, she happens to discover that the 120 ambulance service is hiring doctors. He Yong is forced to retire from the army due to an injury. After hitting dead end after dead end, he gets drunk and is taken to the hospital by the 120 ambulance service. She has no 3.4kFavorites8.8kClicks/ch7.5kGifts

    Curator note

    The career storyline is rich and engaging, but the main plot is weak, giving it a comedic core with a tragic element. It leans towards a sitcom, and like the sitcom "Home with Kids," it's easy to finish one episode without watching the next. If you stop watching midway, the suspense and appeal are limited. The main female lead's goal is to get into graduate school, but this goal isn't actually that difficult. Medical school admissions are extremely high, and master's degrees are everywhere. Even when she mentors a PhD student, she's still marginalized and ostracized. There's no story of a PhD graduate or someone returning from studying abroad automatically carrying the show; it's just a thin ticket to success. The male lead is from the lower class, owns a house but lacks formal education, and is relatively hardworking and ambitious. Compared to the overused "rich and beautiful" Mary Sue characters and the clichéd chief physicians and professors in medical novels, he's quite relatable and doesn't overshadow the female lead. The insistence on portraying the mentor as the male lead feels a bit jarring, like watching an old man's phone on the subway after seeing so many realistic academic dramas. Unfortunately, that's just the market's taste.

36. 86 完 Perfect Compatibility [Male Alpha, Female Omega] 完美耦合[男A女O] Nine-Level Magic Square九阶幻方Romance681k WordsCompleted The complete two-volume print edition is available on all major platforms. For publication details, visit Weibo @Ma Zi De Jiu Jie Huan Fang~ The text has been revised and expanded several times during serialization and after completion. Unlike pirated copies, the latest complete version is only available on Jinjiang. Please add my ongoing novel, In His Domain [Guide and Sentinel], to your reading list. Blurb: Lin Zhi transmigrates to the interstellar age and becomes a female Omega. The origina 154.8kFavorites239.8kClicks/ch187.4kGifts

    Curator note

    The plot and romance are about equal; it's a space-themed story, so it's alright.

37. 87 穿 Reborn as the Saintly Female Side Character in the Apocalypse 穿成末世圣母女配 Nine-Level Magic Square九阶幻方Romance592k WordsCompleted Previously titled Reborn as the Holy Mother Female Supporting Character in Another World. The revised version is available only on Jinjiang. Thank you, dear readers, for supporting the official edition. My latest post-apocalyptic novel, Level One Silence, is complete! Blurb: Bei Nuan discovers she has entered a post-apocalyptic novel with no romance, becoming the saintly female supporting character who constantly drags the team down and eventually sacrifices her teammates to save an entire city. 151.7kFavorites385.5kClicks/ch87.5kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a post-apocalyptic zombie story, not frustrating at all. Just when you think the villains are still going to cause trouble, they get their comeuppance, which feels a bit unsatisfying. The romance is interesting and has a rich, layered flavor, not artificially sweetened. In short, it's like a bottle of high-sugar cola that's gone flat a little too early.

38. 88 寂 The Lonely Whale 寂寞的鲸鱼 Han Yan含胭Romance653k WordsCompleted The print edition of Lonely Whale is now available. -- Blurb: Zhan Xi's requirements for a partner had always been simple: he didn't need to be tall or handsome, just healthy and steadily employed. Most importantly, he had to be interesting enough to make her laugh with his wit and eloquence. After all, she was a pretty dull person. But after looking and looking, she found someone who didn't meet a single one of her requirements. He was tall and handsome, made a living crafting handmade accessor 131.6kFavorites170.8kClicks/ch123.6kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a story with a touch of harsh realism, yet also has a hint of urban fairy tale elements; it's a good read.

39. 89 回 Back Before My Husband Castrated Himself 回到老公自宫前 Orchid Boat at Dusk暮兰舟Romance851k WordsCompleted In the lonely, treacherous Forbidden City, when a palace maid and a eunuch become husband and wife, their arrangement is called a "fooding marriage." Wei Caiwei married a eunuch who had been castrated to avenge herself. The couple married first and fell in love later. Together, they weathered every storm in the palace, always supporting one another and never giving up. In the end, the eunuch became the head of the Eastern Depot, wielding immense power at court. He helped her get revenge, then re 93.7kFavorites193.5kClicks/ch113.3kGifts

    Curator note

    Beautiful and meticulously researched.

40. 90 豪 After My Tycoon Husband Went Bankrupt 豪门老公破产后 Spring Is Not Green Yet春未绿Romance321k WordsCompleted After graduating from college at twenty-one, Ruan Yan married into a wealthy family and soon had a child. She lived a carefree life of luxury, and no one expected everything to change when she turned twenty-seven. Her husband, a CEO hailed as a golden boy of the business world, had somehow lost every last penny. The family of three was thrown out with nothing to their name. After finally finding a place to rent, Ruan Yan realized what their biggest problem was. She glanced at the little tyke hol 23.4kFavorites69.4kClicks/ch7.4kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a good read. I hope the author writes more modern and contemporary stories like this to change things up; there are too many similar alternate history stories.

41. 91 片 Queen of the Set 片场女王 Qing Hou轻侯Romance432k WordsCompleted [New upcoming novel: Fragrant Harbor Detective [1990s]. Reborn in 2014, Lin Tan had decided she was going to spend this life working... A feel-good workplace novel. Romance takes up a small part, but it’s sweet. [Tan: the tan in tan hua yi xian, meaning “an ephemeral bloom”~] [Completed novels: Fragrant Harbor Detective, The Prairie Veterinarian, The Little Secretary System, Reborn as a Great Painter] Theme: Strive for the future, press on, and creat 10.7kFavorites27.3kClicks/ch14.8kGifts

    Curator note

    The career storyline became rather simplistic towards the end, and the romance was also rather bland. While the film emphasizes the main content, it lacks any subplots, making it difficult to discern whether the work is truly engaging.

42. 92 予 Give Me Myself 予我自己 Shi Xiaozha师小札Romance191k WordsCompleted Love and life, for myself. Theme: Love yourself, love life. 4kFavorites8.1kClicks/ch1.1kGifts

    Curator note

    Nice.

43. 93 媚 A Kitsch Novel 媚俗小说 Divine Nap神圣午睡Romance356k WordsCompleted Zhang Lin, an overworked woman in her thirties, transmigrates into a baffling dream and becomes Su Qianqian, the spoiled rich girl and wicked supporting character in a clichéd romance novel. At first, all she wants is to enjoy her life of luxury. But the dream has rules of its own, and she discovers that she has to complete a certain task. Drawing on her workplace skills, she gradually gets it done and gains everything she could want, only to wake up just then. As she wrestles with her disappoin 3kFavorites5.5kClicks/ch1.6kGifts

    Curator note

    A great article worth watching for premium content.

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