Novels like The Crooked Path
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Crooked Path, best match first.
- 51 High-Level Thinking: The Truth Behind Social Mobility 高层思维：阶级跃升背后的真相 [Not a wish-fulfillment novel, but a practical guide to changing your mindset] If you’re looking for wish fulfillment, please go elsewhere. This book isn’t meant to entertain the masses. It’s for people who genuinely want to change their destiny and rise to a higher social class. I dropped out of high school in my first year and only have a middle school education. I went from working on a factory assembly line, to delivering food, to waiting tables, then got into business and sales. I caught t 647Reads8.4Score102Shelves
- 52 The Phoenix Woman Marries a Phoenix Man 凤凰女嫁给凤凰男 This is an inspirational story about Yan Yan and Liang Liang, two top students who make their way from the countryside to Beijing. Through their own hard work, they put down roots there, buy a home and a car, and raise a family. Their journey is filled with hardships and laughter, as they keep facing new challenges and growing along the way. 279Reads—Score—Shelves
- 53 The Female Police Chief's Major Cases Series: Undercurrents 女公安局长大案系列之暗流 On a stormy night, two murder cases erupt at once in Handong Province. Criminal investigation captains Lu Chen and Chen Feng follow separate leads: one investigates a red ribbon on a wedding bed, the other a carcinogen in a teacup. The two trails converge on the same name. Gu Qingling. Thirty-one years old, a first-class merit recipient, and former commander of a special operations unit. Meanwhile, the real killer watches it all from the shadows. As the undercurrents of power swallow up every pi 3.3kReads—Score189Shelves
- 54 The Green Satchel Medical Text: A Divine Doctor in the City 青囊医书之都市医仙 In a materialistic society, people resort to any means to fight over their own interests. The book's rich knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine is its greatest draw. What you see may not be the truth. People live behind masks, and only when those masks come off do you see how appalling things are beneath the glamorous surface. The person you trust most can hurt you the deepest. And those you look down on, or feel are beneath your company, may be the very people who help you the most. Human n 24.2kReads9.1Score3kShelves
- 55 A Lifetime of Humiliation, All for the Day of Reckoning 半生忍辱只等清算时刻 As a child, he lost his mother, who called him a good-for-nothing, and his father, who was useless alive. He barely survived the beatings and abuse from his stepfather and the others. Later, he discovered that his father hadn't actually died by suicide. He endured countless humiliations, and over 37 years, through patience and cunning, rose from an insignificant nobody to a wealthy power broker. He pulled off a breathtaking comeback! He spent half his life enduring humiliation, not just to survi 32Reads—Score—Shelves
- 56 A Popular History of the Later Han 后汉通俗演义 [Historical Romance Grounded in the Official Record, The Complete History of the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms, An Easy Introduction to Official History] A Popular History of the Later Han is a classic historical novel in episodic form and a continuation of A Popular History of the Former Han. Across one hundred chapters, it follows the full historical arc from Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han and Emperor Guangwu's restoration, through the decline of the Eastern Han, to the division of the rea 105Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 57 Those Years Working in Lingnan 岭南打工那些年 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 18.5kReads9.3Score1.7kShelves
- 58 Surviving the Ordeal 熬过劫难 First, be certain that you can reach the summit. Then believe this book can rewrite your fate, and believe in the power of belief. By the time you read this book, the identity you have now will already have begun to loosen its grip. The moment you choose to begin, you have already left mediocrity behind. Can my story help you find your own path to salvation? May words reveal the power they truly hold. 60.7kReads9.2Score12.7kShelves
- 59 Tiger Husband 虎夫 [Born to be somebody, just going through a rough patch for now!!!] 3.9kReads8.8Score279Shelves
- 60 Thirty Days on the Run 逃亡三十天 Five years of deep affection could not withstand greed and scheming. Jiang Ling was set up by his lover of five years and her lover on the side, who conspired to seize complete control of his company. In a single day, his love was shattered, his career collapsed, and his life plunged into an abyss. With all hope gone, he chose to retreat to his remote, quiet hometown in the countryside. By chance, in an abandoned mine in a desolate area, he stumbled upon a ton of gold buried deep underground. Af 50Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 61 Those Years I Spent Running with the Wrong Crowd 我混社会那一些年 As you wander the martial world, what kind of cunning, scheming, and vision do you need? As a child, I feared ghosts because they were hideous and terrifying. As an adult, I fear people because they look so respectable. This story is a reminder to everyone: Nine out of ten gambling games are rigged. The only way to win is not to gamble! 18kReads8.9Score1.5kShelves
- 62 Love with All Your Heart 尽情去爱吧 Based on a true story, newly rated. A literary gem, finely written, not a web novel. When desire and morality collide, human weakness becomes a blade that wounds others. The Peking University campus is merely the story’s starting point. The Beijing financial world is where the real story unfolds. The author graduated with an undergraduate degree from Peking University’s Department of Physics. 33.1kReads8.7Score1.9kShelves
- 63 The First Secretary 第一秘书 Also known as The Perplexing Road to Office. Take one step while looking two ahead, and plan three moves in advance. How can one cut a path through the perilous world of officialdom, with beautiful women by his side? Watch as an unassuming young man from the grassroots slowly builds a brilliant future of his own. 9.3kReads8.9Score985Shelves
- 64 Journey Through Hell: Northern Myanmar 地狱行之缅北 Synopsis: You think places like Muse, Kokang, and Wa State in northern Myanmar are hell? Heh. The real hell is hundreds, even thousands of times more terrifying! Myanmar is vast, and northern Myanmar isn't the only hell there! You've watched those online videos about northern Myanmar and think the methods shown are cruel enough? You have no idea. Their worst methods are far beyond that! They are more terrifying than demons who devour people without a trace. From the day I was tricked and lured i 40.6kReads9.1Score3.9kShelves
- 65 The Underworld’s Final Ballad 黑道绝响 (Original title: Black Road, Final Echo) What is the underworld? Is it really not about fighting and killing, but about the ways of human relationships? Wrong. Only those who can still stand after all the fighting and killing have the right to talk about human relationships. My name is Luo Ping. I witnessed the so-called underworld in a corner of the southwest go from its golden age to its decline, until at last its echoes faded away. This is my story, and a glimpse into one corner of the underw 51.1kReads9.4Score5.6kShelves
- 66 A Life of Dark Desires 黑欲人生 Keep your hands ruthless, your mind sharp, and your nerve strong. The martial world is a place where people devour one another. Talk about honor and reason? You'll end up without a bone left! [Blood-Soaked Martial World] [Love and Hate] [Powerful Background] [All the Right Ingredients] 16kReads8.9Score1.4kShelves
- 67 Factory Underworld 工厂江湖 Savor the ups and downs of life, and watch its many twists with a smile. Follow Li Mu, a university graduate, as he repeatedly stumbles and gets back up amid the scheming and backstabbing of the workplace, eventually transforming from a clueless rookie into a smooth, savvy winner who can handle anything. 21kReads9.5Score2.3kShelves
- 68 Ruling the Realm: The First Secretary 权掌山河：第一秘书 After graduating from college, Zhong Dexing failed the civil service exam twice and had no choice but to make a living helping his older sister sell fruit. Then a turning point came: advice from a mysterious leader helped him land a civil service job. With his political savvy, he rose steadily through the ranks and made his way into an even more powerful circle. 26.9kReads8.9Score2.7kShelves
- 69 Unorthodox Remedies of the Martial World 江湖偏方 My name is Zhang Chen. A fortune-teller said I was born with a knack for unexpected riches and would never stay on the straight and narrow. But I don’t care. In this world, people who follow the rules get leftovers, while the bold get to eat meat. I haven’t had much schooling, and I don’t understand lofty principles, but I do know this: you only win if you’re willing to fight. 60.5kReads8.9Score6.9kShelves
- 70 A Wenzhou Native's Diary of Getting Rich 温州人发财日记 Dare to endure every hardship under heaven, dare to travel every road, dare to overcome every obstacle, and dare to seize every fortune. This is the Wenzhou people’s philosophy of wealth. They are surpassing Indians in their drive, the British in their wealth, Americans in their money, and Jews in their intellect. With entirely new business models and ways to build wealth, they are changing reality and making history. Wherever there is wealth, there are people from Wenzhou. The future belongs to 17.9kReads9.6Score2.2kShelves
- 71 Master Ni's I Ching Studies 倪师易学 Join Teacher Ni Haixia in studying the Tianji series every day. With this divine gift of the Way of Change, all the world's affairs can be made simple, bringing good fortune, avoiding misfortune, and turning danger into safety. The key to learning is perseverance. I hope everyone makes progress and gains something every day. 5.2kReads8.8Score912Shelves
- 72 A History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十国史 A focused analysis of the briefest and most chaotic period of division in Chinese history. The book reveals how, behind the military men’s grip on power, society struggled to rebuild its order, and how this turmoil gave rise to the civil official politics of the later Song dynasty. A profound study of social transformation and the patterns of power changing hands, it offers a distinctive perspective and rigorous reasoning. 71.1kReads9.6Score9.6kShelves
- 73 The Police Chief’s Shocking Crackdown on Organized Crime 公安局长惊天扫黑大案 Han Shuang arrives in Changhu City and takes up her new post. On her very first day, the heiress of Changhu Group dies under mysterious circumstances, and a forensic examiner carrying evidence climbs into a restricted area, their fate unknown. Wu Gang hides a blade behind his smile. Deputy Director Gou Jianxiao sets traps at every turn, while the three great families are entangled in a web of influence. With two capable women at her side, Han Shuang steps into this isolated city woven from power 6kReads7.5Score316Shelves
- 74 A Review of This Life 复盘今生 Wang Yuhan once had a happy family. He and his wife, Yu Meixia, were both teachers. They excelled at their jobs, had a son and a daughter, and were the envy of everyone. But then, one day, it all vanished. If you were the protagonist, how would you react? How would you face betrayal by the person you love and trust most? Drawing on a deep understanding of life, the author tells a moving, vivid story of love and loss, life and death, and tangled passions in plain, flowing prose. The story also ra 750Reads8.8Score101Shelves
- 75 Big Brother 大哥 At the end of the last century, before the rules were fully established, all sorts of people emerged in great numbers. They exploited loopholes, ran gray-market businesses, and moved between the worlds of crime and respectability. A young man returned from military service, only to be dragged into the underworld. More than a decade of life on the fringes followed: wine and laughter with friends in spring, late-night talks beneath the lamplight; hardship at first, then glory at last. He had walke 4.1kReads9.0Score302Shelves
- 76 Buddha's Son of Heaven 佛子天 [No System, no golden finger, an underdog's comeback, a grim early story and a thrilling later one! Anti-drug operations + counterespionage + a brutal start + underworld conflicts + love of country and family] With a mysterious background, a strange family, and a vast shadow lurking behind him, a student with a tragic past is driven to become a madman feared by both the underworld and the legitimate world! A madman who wants to turn the entire world upside down! He crushes the demons and monster 14.7kReads9.4Score2.4kShelves
- 77 A Man of Savage Strength 男人凶猛 The whole point of this book is to show you just how miserable a man's life can be if he doesn't work hard to earn money! The sequel to Thirty Years of Life… 29.5kReads9.1Score2.8kShelves
- 78 Middle Age, and My Marriage Is an Empty Shell 人到中年，婚姻只剩空壳 From innocent young love to an unexpected pregnancy before marriage, she blundered into a marriage she’d never truly wanted. Before the wedding, her mother-in-law schemed constantly and was stingy, refusing to give even a penny in bride price. From the moment she entered the family home, she felt wronged and began to harbor resentment. After the wedding, her husband proved to be a complete mama’s boy: mediocre, unambitious, and incapable of taking responsibility. He did whatever his mother told 3.4kReads—Score169Shelves
- 79 Suspicious Homicide Cases: A Police Chief's Major Crimes Notebook 悬疑凶案：公安局长重案手记 An assassination attempt targeting the county magistrate ends with the accidental killing of the only daughter of Qingjiang's richest man. After five years as strangers, the husband and wife join forces again following their daughter's tragic death. The mother launches a forceful counterattack in politics, while the father brings the full weight of his business empire to bear. They swear to make the killers pay in blood. To crack the case, the female God of War Lu Qingshuang is parachuted into t 44.9kReads8.2Score2.9kShelves
- 80 Life, with Nowhere to Land 人生，无处安放 By middle age, Li Shu's life had become a complete mess. Her marriage had turned cold and distant, her grown son was going down a rebellious path, and her body and mind were steadily wearing down. How could she go on living such a miserable life? 730Reads8.9Score101Shelves
- 81 Dongguan: The CEO's Little Sister Is Super Cute and Sweet 东莞：总裁妹妹超萌甜 [Working in Dongguan + power fantasy + everyday urban life + jianghu feuds + down-to-earth] Simple and honest Zhao Zhendong has just gotten out of prison when his sneaky, underhanded neighbor tricks him into going to Dongguan for work. If it weren’t for his beautiful, generous sister-in-law, He Mengting, taking such good care of him, he probably would have given up long ago. His prospects had seemed bleak, but one small good deed turns his life around completely, and from then on everything goes 5.9kReads8.9Score449Shelves
- 82 My Years as a Migrant Worker in Shenzhen 我在深圳打工那些年 Two AI comic adaptations of this book are already online, and a third is in production. In 1997, I was 17, carrying 300 yuan as I left my hometown in Hunan and headed south to Shenzhen alone. With no skills and no temporary residence permit, I was chased by security patrols, turned away by factories, left hungry, and forced to spend nights hiding in a cemetery. I went from a penniless kid to a sewing-machine operator at a handbag factory, then seized the opportunities of the times, opened a shop 18.6kReads8.8Score1.5kShelves
- 83 Love, Hate, and Old Feuds Between Two Generations 两代人的爱恨情仇恩怨 She is determined to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death, but her stepmother and stepsister frame her, plunging her into danger time and again! She escapes certain doom, and is fortunate to meet business tycoon Qin Haonan, who falls for her at first sight and pursues her… People reveal different sides of themselves when it comes to love and family, and a single thought can lead to heaven or hell! Good and evil both get what they deserve, and fate always comes full circle! Those who commi 12Reads—Score—Shelves
- 84 No Lamps, No Moon, So What? 无灯无月又何妨 If two hearts understand each other, what need have they for lamps or moonlight? If one day we’re caught in the same snow, then we’ll have shared a lifetime of gray hair. Even if we lived together in perfect harmony, there would still be regrets! May you weather every storm and still keep the light in your eyes, never straying from your original purpose. 34Reads7.6Score—Shelves
- 85 The Lanterns Shone Like Day on Last Year's Lantern Festival 去年元夜灯如昼 [Amnesiac Grand Princess × Cold-Faced Court Official | Escape from the Imperial Mausoleum | Palace Intrigue and Political Scheming | Mutual Redemption] A great fire turns her from the most honored princess of the Li Song dynasty into a palace maid assigned to guard the Yanyang Imperial Mausoleum, someone everyone avoids. She has forgotten who she is and everything she once had. Her greatest wish each day is to make it out of the mausoleum alive. But its rules are strict, and the first one is nev 23Reads8.5Score200Shelves
- 86 After the Divorce, Her Springtime Begins 离婚后，她的春天来了 After Tang Ning got pregnant, she quit her job and became a full-time housewife. She thought she would live an ordinary life, but a single condom shattered her peaceful existence. Faced with her husband's affair and his mistress pressuring him to marry her, should Tang Ning stay in a loveless marriage for the sake of her child, or divorce her husband for her own sake? 2.5kReads8.9Score257Shelves
- 87 A Master Plan 深度布局 A High-IQ Revenge With a single move, the “Soul-Severing Meridian Needle,” he can kill without a trace. On a crowded bus, he makes his target die silently, without anyone noticing. Police captain Zhao Gang sees everything clearly on the surveillance footage, yet is powerless to act. This is the third unsolved case, and every clue points to his own older brother, missing for twenty years... When the person closest to him becomes the prime suspect, how will he choose between the law and blood ties 887Reads6.4Score100Shelves
- 88 The Dust of Mortal Life 尘事 This book chronicles a family across a hundred years. An illiterate country woman is forced to abandon her newborn child, then wanders from place to place amid the chaos of a turbulent era, struggling to survive in the cracks. Told as a work of documentary fiction, this story depicts the joys and sorrows of several generations of an ordinary family, bringing a long-buried past to light. Let posterity decide who was right and who was wrong! 1.9kReads8.9Score175Shelves
- 89 Ten Years of Marriage: Only Now Do I Understand My Wife 结婚十年：才明白妻子那点事 Zhang Xixi works late into the night and comes home drunk. Ye Feng discovers that she is wearing… Was she cheating, or was there another reason? As Ye Feng investigates, he discovers something astonishing about his wife during their ten years of marriage…! 1.9kReads—Score115Shelves
- 90 Fortunes Rise in Macau, but the Road to Wealth Is a Little Rocky 风起澳门，暴富的道路有点坑 I was doing all right in the human world. Then, out of nowhere, I was dragged up to heaven, only to be kicked straight down into hell. Now I'm in hell, but my heart is in heaven. Going back to the human world is nothing but a distant dream... Gamblers want to win, but casinos don't want to lose either. In this vast world, people of every kind are busy, all scheming and calculating. A mountain is a mountain, and water is water. Then a mountain is no longer a mountain, and water is no longer water 6.8kReads8.9Score383Shelves
- 91 Tomb Raiding: The Autobiography of a South School Grave Robber 盗墓：来自一位南派土夫子的自传 [Authentic tomb raiding, outdoor adventure, suspense and the supernatural] I'm a tomb raider from the Southern School! In the early 1990s, I was forced to set out with my second uncle on the point of no return that is tomb raiding. They say tomb raiding is a trade where you risk your neck every day! In reality, what makes it even more treacherous than the ancient tombs is the deceitful underworld of tomb raiders! Now, let me tell you about the years I spent tomb raiding with the Southern School, 60kReads8.9Score4.7kShelves
- 92 After Taking Down My Beautiful Master, I Took the Martial Arts World by Storm 撂倒美女师父后，我火爆了国术界 [Urban romance + life among all walks of society + traditional martial arts underworld] Also known as Wind Over the Martial Gate. During the summer vacation of 1984, a troupe came to our village. Its middle-aged troupe leader, a master of countless skills with his hair tied in a little braid, stayed at my house. He treated me terribly. Not only did he trick my beautiful mother into leaving with him, he also stole our family heirloom and drove my father mad before making him disappear... I was le 11.6kReads9.2Score1.4kShelves
- 93 I Am the King 我为王 Betrayed by everyone, I was wounded by those closest to me! I cut off a finger to survive, then lay low for six years before emerging again. Through the grudges and warmth of the martial world, I’ve seen it all. I am the king! 1.7kReads8.4Score122Shelves
- 94 Changle Lane: A Golden Age Just as I Wish 长乐里：盛世如我愿 Zhao Dianyuan was the illegitimate son of a martial actor in a traveling opera troupe and a wealthy heiress. With a jade-like face and a slender waist above broad shoulders, he had been blessed with a handsome appearance from birth. After the September 18 Incident, he was driven south of the Great Wall and eventually made his way to Shanghai. Amid the city's glittering distractions, he experienced all kinds of strange adventures and saw how the land lay shattered, the times in chaos. Then one da 8.9kReads9.6Score1.2kShelves
- 95 King of the Underworld 江湖枭雄 An ordinary-looking confrontation pushes a callow young man to a crossroads in life. Faced with fate’s mockery and the crushing weight of life, he chooses to stand tall and fight back. 30.7kReads9.1Score2.6kShelves
- 96 A Sensual Life: It Begins with Winning 900 Million in the Lottery 香艳人生，从彩票中奖九亿开始 [A windfall from the start]+ [A sharp-minded protagonist]+ [Dual storylines of politics and business]+ [Secrets of the gray economy]+ [A glimpse of the Heavenly Palace]+ [Leaping through the Dragon Gate]+ [Celestial privilege] 35.7kReads7.9Score1.5kShelves
- 97 Cool Lips 凉唇 [Don't scroll away when you see the rating. There was a problem with the rating system just after launch; it actually deserves five stars across the board. Please give it a rating, and thank you.] [Beautifully written, with plenty of substance. Recommended for readers 30 and up.] [Realistic urban workplace + reunion after years apart + secret love becomes mutual] [Sapiosexual romance + two equally matched leads + strong female lead] For five years, they stood side by side as investment-world ris 4.9kReads6.1Score383Shelves
- 98 History of the Song: Annals of Emperor Taizu 宋史·太祖本纪 He may have been the best “actor” among the founding emperors in Chinese history. In 960 CE, a carefully orchestrated “forced enthronement” at Chenqiao Station propelled Zhao Kuangyin from a general of the Later Zhou into the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. Over drinks, he stripped the founding generals of their military power; amid the shadows of an axe and candlelight, the mystery surrounding his bizarre death remains unsolved to this day. Some call him a wise ruler who ended the chaos o 142Reads8.4Score—Shelves
- 99 The Storms of Beicheng 北城风云 Synopsis: (This story is entirely fictional. Its original title was Northern City’s Turmoil.) What is the jianghu? Wherever there are people, there is a jianghu, and wherever there is a jianghu, there is conflict! The jianghu is about fighting, killing, and the law of the jungle, but it’s also about human relationships and social conventions. This book will take you back to the jianghu of the 1980s and 1990s, where you’ll witness the extraordinary path of Chen Yanan, a generation’s ruthless hero 12.7kReads9.4Score1.1kShelves
- 100 A Woman's Journey Through Marriage 女人与婚姻的经历 [Female-Oriented + Modern Romance + Workplace and Marriage + Flash Marriage + Realistic Family Life] [Women, Love, and Marriage | A True Account of Marriage | Women’s Growth | Emotional Resonance] Before the grief of losing her mother had even faded, Xinyang was pressured by her whole family to get married and rushed into a flash marriage. She found her hastily chosen partner through a radio station and gave up the career she loved to throw herself into the daily grind of married life. She thou 43Reads—Score—Shelves
