2025 Reading Notes (Eclectic List) 25年扫文（杂食书单）

1. 1 大 China's Household Products Industry, 1981 大国日化1981 Great River Flows大江流Romance1.1M WordsCompleted Zhou Yu, the director of Huamei Household Products Factory, is reborn in 1981 as a rural university student who shares her name and has been expelled for repeatedly ignoring warnings about dating on campus. Everyone says that since she dropped out of college, no factory will hire her, she won't get a job assignment after graduation, and no one will want to marry her. Zhou Yu: Why bother with a factory? Why get married? In the early 1980s, foreign household-products companies haven't entered Xi 42kFavorites52.2kClicks/ch95.8kGifts

   Curator note

   It's a good read. The career storyline is vividly portrayed, while the romance is only explored in the epilogue and feels somewhat superfluous. The author's writing is superb, and the female lead is incredibly strong; I especially love the way she seems to have everything under control. However, overall, it's not a lighthearted, enjoyable read. The female lead seems constantly busy and striving, with little opportunity for her to enjoy life. Therefore, it got a bit tiring after a while, and it took me several days to finish it, reading on and off.

2. 2 香 After the Hong Kong Policewoman Inherits a Wealthy Family’s Little One 香江小警花继承豪门幼崽后 Tracing Time溯时Romance954k WordsCompleted [The author's next novels are "The Wicked Siblings Open a Detective Agency in Hong Kong" and "Solving Cases in Hong Kong with My Little Sister". Zhu Qing had a tragic background and no money or connections. She worked from dawn to dusk at three jobs a day, graduated from police academy with first-class honors, and became a policewoman. In the original plot, she would meet the original male lead, be rescued and healed by him... then die protecting him while on 66.5kFavorites75.8kClicks/ch182.9kGifts

   Curator note

   It's only around 500,000 words so far, too little. I guess it's only half finished. I'll leave it here for now. But it's really good. It's one of only two crime novels I can actually get into. The cases are logical, and the everyday moments are heartwarming. The last one I read was *Hong Kong Detective*.

3. 3 重 Reborn as a Dance-Group Livestreamer [Livestream] 重生成团舞女主播后[直播] Feng Lian Zhu风敛竹Romance1.0M WordsCompleted [My tendonitis has flared up, and even holding chopsticks hurts. I need to rest for a while. I'll update the bonus chapters once I'm better.] One day, Jiang Linyi is reborn as a marginal member of a dance group and a streamer on the verge of being fired. The original owner of her body had no money or education. After finally landing a contract with her current MCN company on the strength of her looks, she joined a group livestream. But in the five-member girl group, even after a whole month of 8.7kFavorites17.8kClicks/ch56.1kGifts

   Curator note

   Interesting. Writing about livestreamers is a niche genre, and the author's writing is good, with well-developed characters and plot, making it very enjoyable and worth reading in one go. Weaknesses: It's a bit padded; there's not enough time for the later parts. If the author had used a longer storyline in the middle and expanded the plot further in the later stages, it would be perfect.

4. 4 重 Reborn in the 1990s: Rising to the Top of the World [Table Tennis] 重生90年代登顶世冠[乒乓] Jiu Chengjiu酒城九Romance1.3M WordsCompleted [Pre-Release: "Infiltrating a Tycoon Family's Boys' School in Disguise as a Boy" and "I Became a Chief Forensic Pathologist Through My Sense of Smell [1990s]"] [Blurb:] Once hailed as China's national sport, the dream team of table tennis fell into decline after a series of major reforms seemingly aimed at the Chinese team: changing from a small ball to a larger one, replacing the ball's material, switching from best-of-five to best-of-seven matches, and more. They went three consecutive Olym 16.9kFavorites27.3kClicks/ch44.9kGifts

   Curator note

   This is a sports-themed novel. The beginning was amazing, but it got a bit weak later on, hence the one-star deduction. I've read over 900,000 words so far and haven't had any major issues. There is a male lead, but the main story is almost entirely without a romantic pairing; the male lead's feelings are one-sided, so the romance aspect deducts another star.

5. 5 总 The New Intern in the CEO's Office 总裁办新来的实习生 Coconut Pancake椰香薄饼Romance407k WordsCompleted As someone who just wants to lie flat, Shen Yan’s greatest ambition is to waste her days, live off others, and wait to die. But her parents insist that she get a stable job. After pushing Shen Yan to try and fail to get a government job, her parents take matters into their own hands and find her a respectable office job at a major corporation. With her classmates looking on enviously, Shen Yan gets an offer from a well-known publicly listed company in S City and reluctantly begins her working 132.9kFavorites169.6kClicks/ch91.4kGifts

   Curator note

   Although this book doesn't have much of a career storyline, the romance is written so delicately. I love the male and female leads so much; I really love the unpretentious female lead and the down-to-earth male lead. It's very well written.

6. 6 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

   Both the romance and career storylines are well-written, and the female lead is an exceptionally well-developed character—intelligent and with high emotional intelligence. I especially loved the slow-burning romance between Dr. Xu and Dr. Cao, which brought a touch of pure love to our fast-paced world. It's easily over 400,000 reads and is still ongoing.

7. 7 八21+ A Little Chronicle of Married Life in the ’80s 八零夫妻人生小记 Chen the Landlord陈财主Romance1.6M WordsCompleted 32.3kFavorites41.2kClicks/ch79kGifts

   Curator note

   Both the male and female leads have their own careers, which they pursue steadily and diligently, and the romantic scenes between them are written quite naturally.

8. 8 流 After Being Exiled, I Became a Han Merchant in Dunhuang 流放后，我在敦煌当汉商 Red Bean Soup绿豆红汤Romance1.4M WordsCompleted “Listen to your auntie. Once you’re dead, everything will be clean. Don’t be afraid. Auntie will go with you.” When Sui Yu suddenly regained consciousness, those were the words that came to mind. She struggled and fell from the white silk. A pair of embroidered shoes dangled before her eyes. She hadn’t been strangled to death, but she was nearly scared to death instead. Looking up, she saw a little boy sitting on the bed, frozen in terror. The original owner’s family had been implicated by the 101.6kFavorites162.4kClicks/ch250.8kGifts

   Curator note

   The business scope is quite good, with a very novel background in trading in the Western Regions.

9. 9 北 A Little Maid in Northern Song 北宋小丫鬟 Spring Is Not Green Yet春未绿Romance1.0M WordsCompleted As the saying goes, where there are people, there is trouble. That certainly held true for Lord Zhou, a court official in the Secretariat in Bianjing. Whatever his wives and concubines were like, he had four daughters between his legitimate and illegitimate children, and they all loved competing with one another. The eldest was a scheming beauty, the second was short-tempered, the third was fiercely competitive, and the fourth was a suspiciously cunning fellow transmigrant. Jin Niang thought she 74.2kFavorites92.5kClicks/ch190.5kGifts

   Curator note

   It's a refreshing read from the moment the female lead stops being a maid; she has both career and love, and the map-changing aspect is quite interesting.

10. 10 十 A Nineteenth-Century Seamstress 十九世纪女裁缝 Frozen Orange冻京橙Romance477k WordsCompleted Please check out my upcoming novel: The Nineteenth-Century Department Store Princess Blurb: She transmigrated into a Western novel as a female side character with a tragic fate. Before Eloise lay Manhattan, New York, in the Gilded Age. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was a glittering world of luxury, with a bustling harbor. But the original owner was still a little girl, living with her younger brother at her aunt’s house. Five people crammed into one tiny room. The walls leaked, t 96.1kFavorites134.1kClicks/ch112.5kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a good way to pass the time; the subject matter is decent, and the female lead's career storyline is alright. It's a bit short, though; it could be expanded upon to explore the later developments in her career.

11. 11 闻 A Lifetime Upon Hearing This 闻此一生 Ning Long凝陇Romance785k WordsCompleted [Typos and updates: please ignore.] Wen Tingli said nonchalantly, “My goals have never changed, not for a single day: fame, mountains of money, and a handsome, obedient man...” “Has Lu Shicheng heard you say that?” Meng Qiguang asked with a sneer. “Would the young master of the Lu family, the Hongye family of Nanyang, be happy knowing that in your eyes he’s just a ‘handsome, obedient man’?” Wen Tingli raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t care about that. He’s not like you.” “Is that so? If he unde 96.1kFavorites103.4kClicks/ch134.6kGifts

    Curator note

    It's alright. This author isn't purely career-oriented; their career is just an embellishment within the romance novels.

12. 12 路 The Side Character Is a Total Powerhouse 路人她超神了 Long Qi龙柒Romance553k WordsCompleted [Complete] Ling Yi is a renowned bounty hunter in a wasteland world. During a mission, she gets transported to the future. Ling Yi’s original world has been turned into a full-dive game, and people all over the world are enthusiastically taking part. She has no interest in it and just wants to lie flat and live like a slacker. But everything in the future costs money, and Ling Yi can’t afford decent food or clothes. As she worries about whether she should go back to her old line of work… An ad 82.7kFavorites116.8kClicks/ch121.4kGifts

    Curator note

    It has its own worldview, which is ultimately established, but it is still somewhat limited and has a short word count.

13. 13 大 The Feisty Young Lady [The 1970s] 大小姐好凶[七零] Four Single Shop四单铺Romance845k WordsCompleted Liang Dalong, a powerful tycoon who rules Hong Kong City, faces a crisis with no heir. By chance, he learns that he has a granddaughter in mainland China. Twenty years ago, the Liang family's heiress eloped to the mainland and gave birth to a daughter. But she never knew that her child had been switched at birth with her cousin-in-law's daughter. * Liang Kefeng, a top-tier spy, transmigrates into the role of the cannon-fodder female lead's older female cousin. She comes to Hong Kong with her you 77.3kFavorites130.1kClicks/ch79.5kGifts

    Curator note

    This is probably the best one recently. The female lead has her own business empire and personal charm, and her career is steadily progressing. However, there are still many flaws in the story, but these do not detract from its overall excellence.

14. 14 绑 After Binding with the Domestic Entertainment Sister-in-Law System 绑定内娱嫂子系统后 Strawberry Pearl Cake草莓珍珠蛋糕Romance1.5M WordsCompleted *The main story is complete. *An entertainment-industry novel about an actress. The heroine is fiercely ambitious and focused on her career. [Do you want to become the girlfriend of a male celebrity?] Ling Suisui transmigrates and gets bound to an entertainment-industry girlfriend System. The System says her goal is to become the ideal girlfriend coveted by the fans of male celebrities. [The perfect celebrity girlfriend gets to enjoy the male lead’s most devoted love, and a harem of admirers 69.8kFavorites118.3kClicks/ch211.3kGifts

    Curator note

    It's pretty good, but the later episodes got a bit padded, with similar scenes being repeated over and over again.

15. 15 嘘 Hush! I'll Build a Mogul! [Period] 嘘！豪门由我造！[年代] Four Single Shop四单铺Romance787k WordsCompleted After three years of cultivating in the world of immortality, Su Yuehe was struck by heavenly fire and sent back to her original world. After returning, she learned that she had originally been living inside a historical novel. In the book, she married an educated youth who abused her and ended up killing herself. Su Yuehe swept the plot aside. She would start over and change everything! Liang Zhengfeng was a cold-faced army officer who cared only about his career and not about women. At a matc 48.2kFavorites117.5kClicks/ch35.7kGifts

    Curator note

    It's alright, I have both a career and a love life.

Other lists with China's Household Products Industry, 1981