Great Short Stories (Under 400,000 Characters) 好看的短篇小说（40万字以下）

1. 1 院 In the Courtyard (GB) 院里（gb） TwentineRomance148k WordsCompleted The story of a kind doctor who makes friends wherever she goes and ends up with herself a husband-king. Theme: Good things come to kind people 43.7kFavorites53.1kClicks/ch35.9kGifts

   Curator note

   The writing is fluent; you can tell if someone is a master when they produce something.

2. 2 今21+ How Well-Done Are You Today? 今日几分熟 Two Different Concepts两个概念Romance215k WordsCompleted 54.2kFavorites59.4kClicks/ch28.4kGifts

   Curator note

   The author's writing is quite good. I rarely read modern urban novels anymore, and this is one of the few recent ones that I could read smoothly in one go. It features a brooding, eccentric man and an honest, perceptive woman. Unfortunately, the ending felt rushed and abrupt.

3. 3 转 A Turn of Fortune [Mystery] 转运[悬疑] Rain Again Today今又雨Romance265k WordsCompleted [Full Subscription Costs Just One Cup of Mixue] [New Bonus Side Stories Only on Jinjiang] [Mystery and Revenge] [Snowbound Mountain Villa] In August, the media reported a wealthy family murder case that shocked the nation. Inside a luxuriously renovated villa, five people had died in five different ways. No one from the Kuang family survived except Kuang Minshi. The eldest daughter of the Kuang Group, Kuang Minshi, who had never appeared in public, showed up and answered reporters' questions w 17.6kFavorites15kClicks/ch15.3kGifts

   Curator note

   This is a relatively obscure suspense novel with minimal romance. The author's writing is excellent, vividly depicting each character's psychology and behavior in a complex yet coherent manner. Recommended.

4. 4 分21+ Breakup Notice 分手预告 Dog Blood in a Wineglass红酒杯里装狗血Romance156k WordsCompleted 37.8kFavorites73.7kClicks/ch16.9kGifts

   Curator note

   The author is quite skilled at writing. The story is simple—it's about a couple encountering and resolving relationship problems—but the author's psychological descriptions are very delicate, making it a very enjoyable read.

5. 5 悬 Beneath the Cliff 悬崖下 Delight in Rivers and Mountains喜河山Romance198k WordsCompleted (Complete, VIP) Another bride from out of town has been sent deep into the mountains to Apricot Blossom Village. Word is, she’s even a university student. The village’s simple-minded girl insists that the college student named Ming Wen is a goddess from the temple, and that anyone who offends her will die. No one believes her at first. But then the people who offend Ming Wen begin dying one after another, while injured animals from the mountains keep seeking her out, and she manages to save th 26.2kFavorites23.7kClicks/ch33.4kGifts

   Curator note

   It's very good. I thought it would be very heavy, but the author's plot design and character development mitigated that heaviness. It's very enjoyable.

6. 6 吾 [Gb] What I Plant with My Own Hands 吾手所植[gb] Hands in Pockets两手揣兜Romance335k WordsCompleted [4i / Older Love Interest / Slow Start, Then a Wild Ride] The only time Cheng Qiulai ever showed a great burst of kindness in her life was when she rescued the lonely, helpless child next door. The child adored her. Again and again, he tugged at her sleeve and asked why she was willing to keep him. She stroked his head, like a kitten's, and smiled faintly. “Because I feel sorry for you.” - The years flew by in the blink of an eye. In no time, the child had outgrown his childish innocence. Hi 4.1kFavorites4.2kClicks/ch2.1kGifts

   Curator note

   It's very good, very delicate.

7. 7 困 The Trapped Bird 困鸟 Ji Ying纪婴No CP112k WordsCompleted * The fair-skinned, slender convenience-store clerk downstairs was gloomy and taciturn, and had been bullied by thugs more than once. Moved by compassion, Jiang Rou stepped in to help. In the quiet of the night, their eyes met. The clerk’s ears turned red as he shyly thanked her, like the start of a story about salvation. Until one day, Jiang Rou realized he might well be a serial killer who had kidnapped and brutalized several women. To find evidence she could take to the police and rescue th 22.2kFavorites19.4kClicks/ch18.6kGifts

   Curator note

   A short story: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

8. 8 赤 Mo Xiaobei, the Crimson Flame Madwoman, and the First Love She Won't Admit To 赤焰狂魔莫小贝和她不承认的初恋 A Night with Friends有朋之宵Romance73k WordsCompleted I'll say it again!!! There is no unresolved heartbreak!!!! There is no unresolved heartbreak!!!!!! [My Own Swordsman] [Mo Xiaobei × Qiu Xiaodong] Maybe there really are too many things in this world that don't go your way, But life goes on, even when the road is bumpy. The Red Flame Devil, Mo Xiaobei, has had Qiu Xiaodong from Class 2, Grade 3 tied to a mill in the back courtyard of Tongfu Inn since they were kids, making him do her homework. Childhood classmates growing up together through al 13.6kFavorites61.2kClicks/ch3.3kGifts

   Curator note

   Because I like "My Own Swordsman," I'm adding this book.

9. 9 是 It's Him 是他 Delight in Rivers and Mountains喜河山No CP160k WordsCompleted (Complete. The author’s other book, No One Kills Me, is now underway.) Our homeroom teacher disappeared, and the police came to school several times to ask questions. I was worried because our homeroom teacher had always been kind to me. I went home and told my mother. She smiled and said that good people would be blessed. I thought that someone as good as our homeroom teacher would surely be all right. The next day, I found our homeroom teacher in the basement of my house, tied up from head t 102.3kFavorites108.7kClicks/ch69.4kGifts

   Curator note

   This is highly recommended. It's a story about several people who come together by chance to seek revenge. It's short, concise, and an excellent work.

10. 10 长 Married in Chang'an 长安嫁 Recluse Among the Chrysanthemums东篱菊隐Romance268k WordsCompleted Blurb (the tearjerker version): She was getting married, but the bridal sedan chair was heading in a direction she never wanted to go. He was taking a wife, but the bridal sedan chair carried in someone who wasn't the woman in his heart. And he stood alone on Chang'an Street, watching the bright red bridal sedan chair recede into the distance. (It looks pretty tragic, huh? Actually... haha.) New story: [Ever Since That Owl Called Her Dad] (click here) Theme: 3.4kFavorites25.1kClicks/ch1.1kGifts

    Curator note

    The author's style is very unique; a sad story is hidden beneath a humorous expression.

11. 11 第 The Words of the Number One 第一辞色 Li Qingran黎青燃Romance271k WordsCompleted Published in print Jiang Jiuqing is an illegitimate princess of a fallen kingdom. Her extraordinary intelligence lies hidden beneath an unremarkable appearance, unknown to everyone. And she doesn't want anyone to find out. She stays out of things; wanting nothing is her normal way of life. But she has a white moonlight, someone she hasn't seen in years. He's completely turned dark and keeps getting into trouble: Ji Yu, the most eloquent persuader in the Nine Provinces, a peerlessly elegant young 167.9kFavorites175.8kClicks/ch53.1kGifts

    Curator note

    It was good, although I've forgotten the plot.

12. 12 深 Hidden in Plain Sight 深藏不露 Retreating Halberd退戈Romance289k WordsCompleted Simplified Chinese edition available for preorder. One day, the refined and studious Fifth Young Master accidentally revealed his astonishing martial arts skills, able to hit a target a hundred paces away and unfathomably powerful. The Third Young Lady, raised on the frontier and never one to stand on ceremony, showed off her literary talent, holding her own in a debate against a crowd of scholars. Everyone was astonished to discover that these two had been hiding their t 238kFavorites541.4kClicks/ch178.1kGifts

    Curator note

    This is quite fun, and it's one of the older books.

13. 13 女 Female A Survival Manual 女A生存手册 Zhu Yu蛛于Romance305k WordsCompleted Wang Luan came from Blue Star, where she had lived as a woman for over twenty years. After transmigrating into an ABO world where humans had six genders, she became a female Alpha who could get people pregnant. The traumatized Wang Luan looked at her body, so different from what she was used to, and grimaced in pain. Wang Luan: Help! As the good-for-nothing eldest daughter of the noble Wang family, she was assigned a male Omega with an SSS rating as a partner. This beautiful Omega, Yan Qiongyu, 117.3kFavorites199.9kClicks/ch96.9kGifts

    Curator note

    This book is great, especially the part where the female protagonist escapes her family and becomes a repairman on a small planet—it's practically my dream life!

14. 14 灼 Radiant Sun 灼灼烈日 Retreating Halberd退戈Romance311k WordsCompleted For publication updates, follow my Weibo account @JinjiangTuige. [Born in the mire, heart turned toward the sun.] Before getting to know Fang Zhuo, Yan Lie thought she was poor, ill-tempered, gloomy, and so sensitive that no one could get close to her. She seemed like a shadow. After getting to know Fang Zhuo, Yan Lie discovered that she was meticulous to a fault, steadfast and never willing to turn back, and so hardworking she never stopped. She was a little sun, radiating vitality at every mom 182.4kFavorites319.3kClicks/ch194.3kGifts

    Curator note

    It's a very cute story; the male and female leads, as well as some of the supporting characters, are all adorable.

15. 15 你 You're Just Lusting After Him [Interstellar] 你就是馋他[星际] Together We Return, the Fishermen Are Gone同归渔尽Romance312k WordsCompleted [Complete. The whole book costs less than eight yuan. I want milk tea, sob~] [Please add my next romance novel, After Being Matched with a Boyfriend Against My Will, to your favorites] After a long war, the planet Falein became the most powerful planet in the universe. The greatest heroes of the victorious war, the three female marshals of the Falein Empire, were all scarred by the conflict. One lost the use of her legs and would spend the next several hundred years in a wheelchair. Another we 4.6kFavorites14.8kClicks/ch1.5kGifts

    Curator note

    It should be pretty good, judging from the fact that I've subscribed to the whole thing. It's a story about a female general and a male slave.

16. 16 真 [Titanic] True Love Lasts Forever [泰坦尼克]真爱永恒 Sky Full of Vines漫空Romance318k WordsCompleted The unluckiest thing in life isn’t transmigrating a hundred years into the past and becoming a penniless homeless man on the streets of England. It’s knowing that ship is called the Titanic and still having to board it. This is a story about setting out to save the protagonist for the sake of a blanket, only to end up on an irreversible path of love and mutual destruction with the second male lead. Main characters: Emily and Cal Hockley I’m going premium on Saturday, so don’t wait for an upda 96.9kFavorites153.8kClicks/ch28.8kGifts

    Curator note

    I absolutely love it! The author's romantic scenes are so captivating; I reread it every now and then.

17. 17 傲 Pride and Prejudice 傲娇与偏见 Qiu Xiao Jiu秋小九Romance323k WordsCompleted Serious version: Draco Malfoy: "Has the Longbottom family really become so poor they can't afford a new wand that costs seven Galleons?" Beneath Longbottom: "The new wand in your hand only proves that the Malfoys have seven Galleons more than the Longbottoms. Are you very proud of that?" Snarky version: Neville Longbottom: "Malfoy! Your sister!" Draco Malfoy: "Exactly, I'm eloping with your sister!" Actually, this is a story about a Miss Longbottom doing her best to study hard and improve 20.5kFavorites71.7kClicks/ch1kGifts

    Curator note

    I like this one. It has an original female protagonist who is paired with Draco, and the author's writing is quite good.

18. 18 蔷 The Name of the Rose 蔷薇之名 Purple Star, Flowing Years紫微流年Romance336k WordsCompleted The worst of eras, the most beautiful of souls, the cruelest game of fate; The tangled uncertainties of the individual and the family, freedom and duty, reason and passion; A duke's daughter meets a rebel; a red-eyed witch reunites with a regent; Again and again, they are parted by death, again and again, they pass each other by; They journey through bitter springs and harsh winters, past the executioner's scaffold and down crowded streets, through a purgatory of blood and pain; When familiar ey 16.6kFavorites43.1kClicks/ch1.5kGifts

    Curator note

    It should be a good book; it's quite an old one.

19. 19 戏 A Drama Queen Enters a Tragic Romance 戏精穿进苦情剧 Fu Hua扶华No CP350k WordsCompleted A misery drama: A story in which the heroine receives a happy ending as long as she is tolerant and kind enough to forgive, gives selflessly without regret, and keeps yielding and enduring until even the villains who bullied her grow old and can no longer make trouble. When Shuiyin transmigrates into the heroines of one misery drama after another… endure it? My foot. A life-threatening heroine, changing her fate online. Theme: 268kFavorites693.2kClicks/ch299.2kGifts

    Curator note

    This one is quite famous, so I won't say much about it, but I think the author's writing style is a bit rough.

20. 20 出 The Tale of Leaving the Golden House 出金屋记 Yu Jing Peng Xiang御井烹香Romance351k WordsCompleted Chen Jiao is a very simple person. The Golden House and Changan are the two most important words in her life. And two words are all it takes to sum up her joys and sorrows: Liu Che. At least, that's what Liu Che thinks. *I wrote this to lift my spirits. Updates are whenever I feel like it. *I haven't done much research, so there are bound to be plenty of errors. Corrections and criticism are welcome. *Please bookma 25.9kFavorites91.9kClicks/ch4.7kGifts

    Curator note

    Excellent works are often quite depressing; alas, no matter how you write the story of Gillian Chung and Emperor Wu of Han, it will never have a happy ending.

21. 21 歧 Crossroads 歧路 Retreating Halberd退戈Romance354k WordsCompleted He Chuan Zhou has that dream again. In it, a young man faces down everyone’s doubts, brimming with confidence and speaking with swagger: “I’m going to be a people’s police officer!” She thinks he’s ridiculous. She’s nothing like him. All she wants is to make money. Fifteen years pass, and everyone has grown up. Reunited after years apart, he sits in a car, dressed in a suit and tie. A cigarette he hasn’t lit hangs from his lips. He looks as if he’s grinding his teeth, but his eyes flick slight 104kFavorites153.8kClicks/ch119.7kGifts

    Curator note

    I support Leg Bro's writing; it has no major flaws.

22. 22 我 I Took Apart the Ox with the Butcher 我与庖丁把牛解 Yin Qiao尹乔Romance357k WordsCompleted My new novel, Transmigrating into a Women's Virtue Academy as a Female Teacher (Matriarchal Society), is now underway. Please add it to your collection! It's a matriarchal-society novel, and I wanted to share it with all you cuties. Blurb: One day, Waterwheel Alley erupted in an uproar. "The second daughter of the Zhao family has gone mad! She's giving up her perfectly good life as a scholar to set up a stall at the morning market!" Zhao Ruyi looked around her bare-walled home and sighed. She 1.1kFavorites3.9kClicks/ch628Gifts

    Curator note

    It's quite good, a slice-of-life story.

23. 23 本 The Strongest Villain in This Book Sleeps in the Bunk Below Mine 本书最强反派睡我下铺 Chala Tusi Tela猹拉图斯特拉Romance357k WordsCompleted Hehehe, it's finished!!!! The main story and the old blurb weren't exactly the same, but they had almost nothing in common, so I deleted the whole thing. Reading guide: Chapters 1-49 are the old story. Chapters 50-80 are the revised story. The old story was too long for me to delete, so I left it here. △△ The story of Annie and Patrick. They cross the currents of time, yet they are still together. Theme: 4.9kFavorites5kClicks/ch2.6kGifts

    Curator note

    This is such a pity. There was an old version when it was serialized, which I really liked and had a very unique style. Unfortunately, the author rewrote a new version in the middle, which is still okay, but the style is not as prominent as before. I only kept it because of the old version. Sigh!

24. 24 枕 You by My Side [Body Swap] 枕边有你[互穿] Sanshui Xiaocao三水小草Romance369k WordsCompleted Publication notice: The two-volume edition of You by My Pillow, published by Zhigong Press, is now available on major book-selling platforms. Signed and specially signed editions will be distributed at random. Please purchase according to your needs. “My dream is to wake up with you by my side every day.” On the night of their third wedding anniversary, Chu Nian and Yu Xiao swapped bodies. As long as they loved each other enough to make the meter reach one hundred, they could switch back. Sixty 52.2kFavorites140.4kClicks/ch52.3kGifts

    Curator note

    This is so true. Although the work itself is excellent, as a working stiff, I can't stand watching this anymore.

25. 25 异 A Liberal Arts Student in Another World 异世文科生 Oh, Old Swan老天鹅啊Romance370k WordsCompleted This novel will be entering VIP status on Wednesday, August 10. VIP chapters are 23-110. If you've already read them, please don't buy them again. Thank you all for your continued support. [Blurb] Another World's Liberal Arts Student Cutting-edge technology and barbaric backwardness coexist, extreme wealth and poverty on the brink of death exist side by side. After that disaster, most of the land became a wasteland, and the number of mutants soared. Resources grew scarce as the population explo 9.5kFavorites9.7kClicks/ch7.4kGifts

    Curator note

    Beautiful

26. 26 白 The White Lotus Lady's Guide to Taming Her Husband [Western Fantasy] 白切黑小姐驭夫记[西幻] In the Cold Light寒光里Romance396k WordsCompleted [New story coming soon! I started writing on impulse, with no advance reservations. It's an entertainment-industry story titled Everyone Online Ships Our Divorced Vibe [Entertainment Industry]. I hope you'll add it to your collection and support it! The blurb is at the end.] Elizabeth of Lorin was the daughter of the late Earl of Pembroke and Princess Malena of Budo. After her family was destroyed, thanks to the accursed Salic Law, she had no legitimate claim to any of her father's property. In 4.5kFavorites6kClicks/ch1.3kGifts

    Curator note

    I don't remember the details very well, but since I subscribed to the whole thing, the quality should be alright.

27. 27 在 I Am the Heroine, and My Words Always Come True 在下女主，言出必灵 Green Radish Skirt青青绿萝裙Romance387k WordsCompleted Being the heroine these days is really hard. The supporting characters, cannon fodder, and villains are all eyeing the starring role. Yan Zhenzhen is glad her story doesn't have any of those problems. A luxurious seaside estate, a shadow lurking in the depths of the sea, and a school concealing a wondrous museum. This script is something only she, the chosen one, can handle. A woman who transmigrated into a book: “Yan Zhenzhen is such a Mary Sue heroine.” Yan Zhenzhen: “???” The woman who tr 62.8kFavorites150.5kClicks/ch66.9kGifts

    Curator note

    This author's novels are guaranteed to have Cthulhu elements, while almost all novels with Cthulhu elements fail to achieve their intended purpose.

28. 28 大 The Great Lotus Bath 大莲花浴 One Meter of Blossoms一米花Romance168k WordsCompleted [Be sure to read the content warnings before you start!] Overnight, Chen Huiqing, a seventeen-year-old high school student, transmigrates into the body of the Zhou family’s sixteen-year-old eldest daughter-in-law. The Zhou family’s demands are simple and brutal: bear a son, bring good fortune to her ailing husband, and uphold the dignity of the main branch. But her husband is bedridden and has poor fertility. Even after Chen Huiqing is pressured into agreeing to consummate the marriage, months 31.7kFavorites38kClicks/ch16.9kGifts

    Curator note

    The story of people alienated by their environment served as a wake-up call for me many times while I was reading it.

Other lists with In the Courtyard (GB)