Novels like Starting Over in Midlife
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Starting Over in Midlife, best match first.
- 1 Midlife: Riding the Wind to Success 人到中年：乘风而起 They say a man should have made something of himself by thirty, but at thirty-two, Tang Song had achieved nothing! A car accident left him in a coma for six whole months. When he woke up, he found that everything had changed. His wife had cheated on him, his brother had been framed, and even his mother-in-law was forcing him to divorce! Just when he was utterly lost, a benefactor came to his aid. From then on, he rose rapidly, riding the winds to success! 41Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 2 A Middle-Aged Man's Reborn Comeback 中年大叔的逆袭重生 When a person reaches middle age, losing their job can be a disaster for anyone with a family, and men have it especially hard. But that wasn't the end of it. Misfortunes seemed to come one after another, as if they'd made an appointment. Just when the roof leaks, a storm rolls in; just when the boat springs a leak, a headwind blows. His wife of ten years chose this very moment to ask for a divorce. The vows they'd once made, promising eternal love, have now faded like clouds before the eyes. Th 16Reads—Score—14d adds
- 3 Middle Age 人到中年 “I’m middle-aged and have just suffered a crushing defeat. My wife has cheated on me, and my company is on the verge of bankruptcy. In this desperate situation, how can I find hope again?” 10Reads—Score114d adds
- 4 Forty-Year-Old Man: Getting Rich in Middle Age 男人四十:中年暴富 Wang Jun is a timid, inept nobody, afraid of trouble and scraping by in society. After accidentally saving a wealthy woman, he sets out on a path to turn his life around. 713Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 5 Life in Middle Age 中年人生 The company goes bankrupt, his mother-in-law looks down on him for delivering food, and his once-loving wife ultimately betrays and leaves him. Then, after an accident, he discovers his wife’s secret and begins investigating it piece by piece. Along the way, he encounters countless business elites and forges an immortal business legend! Step by step, he sets his revenge plan in motion! But in the end, he discovers that it was all part of a huge conspiracy! Please subscribe, save, and follow. Tha 4.5kReads8.4Score28714d adds
- 6 A Novel by an Old Fourth Who Only Wants to Make Money 只想挣钱的老四的一本书 My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 36Reads6.1Score—14d adds
- 7 Urban: I Took Over a Seventy-Year-Old Man’s Body, and Now I’m Invincible 都市：魂穿七十岁大爷，我无敌了 [Urban]+ [No female lead]+ [System]+ [Old man]+ [Livestream]+ [Showbiz] After twenty-year-old Xu Wu took a tumble on flat ground, his soul suddenly transmigrated into the body of a seventy-year-old man who shared his name. People joke that working as a security guard is a shortcut to skipping fifty years of detours. Xu Wu skipped those fifty years outright! Just then, a system notification rang out. [Ding! The Max-Level Old Man System has been activated!] Xu Wu was startled. There was a system l —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 No Looking Back on the Past, Meeting My Ex-Husband Again Thirty Years Later 往事不回首，三十年后再遇前夫 I won’t look back on the past. Thirty years later, I meet my ex-husband again. 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 Unemployment Costs Your Life or Your Money. You Choose a Blind Date and Throw Away Your Dignity? 失业要命要钱，你选相亲不要脸？ [Blind Dates + System + Comedy + Devoted Husband] The fun starts as soon as you see the blind dates. Cao Bi was a client representative stationed at a construction development company, but the company's collapse left him anxious. He had a beautiful wife and a chubby son at home, and now that he was unemployed, he feared his wife would run off with someone else. While clearing his head by the sea, he was bound to a System, which turned out to be a blind-date cashback System. It required him to go 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 In the 1970s, the Old Man Who Was Raised as a Child Bridegroom Rises to Power! 七十年代，童养夫老头崛起了！ Yang Shiba’s soul traveled back in time to the 1970s and entered the body of an old child-bride’s husband. Though he was only in his forties, he looked sixty or seventy. As soon as Yang Shiba arrived, he found himself facing the original owner’s wife, who wanted a divorce. Faced with her and her former husband, Yang Shiba decisively said goodbye. After forcefully divorcing her and splitting up the household, Yang Shiba turned around and discovered an entire family of children and grandchildren f 20Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 11 A Middle-Aged Man 中年男人 By middle age, there are some things you simply can't control. After my company went bankrupt, my wife's attitude and that of her family changed, and I felt the cruelty of the world. And that wasn't all. A strange text about my wife left me anxious and unsettled. Only later did I discover the terrible sin my wife had committed against me, all along! This is my second novel about the realities of married life, following A Middle-Aged Life. I hope you'll continue to support me. Thank you! 6.5kReads8.2Score34014d adds
- 12 The Sweet-Talking, Backstabbing Nanny 口蜜腹剑的小保姆 Liu Ya asked Shen Xinghe, “Will I still get a salary after we get married?” “No.” His answer was quick and blunt. Liu Ya immediately protested. “So you’re looking for a free housekeeper? No way! I’m making over ten thousand a month right now. Don’t even think about pocketing my money.” Shen Xinghe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Who would turn down a life of luxury, driving fancy cars and shopping decked out in jewels? He thought she was only joking. Who knew she really cared only about tha 213Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 13 Middle-Aged Man: A Second Spring 人到中年：男人第二春 He went to prison for three years out of loyalty to a friend! But when he got out, he discovered that his company had gone bankrupt, his wife had betrayed him, and his mother was gravely ill and on the verge of death! But Lin Fei wasn't crushed by life's hardships. Instead, he emerged reborn, rose higher and higher, and soared to success once more! The worst you can do is beg for food. As long as you don't die, you'll have your day! A man should never say he can't do it! 1.8kReads8.8Score24014d adds
- 14 Black Exclamation Mark 黑色感叹号 Just before Gu Xier decided to die, she suddenly asked me, "Dr. Luo, why do the people in this little town always cruelly devour the kind, obedient little white rabbits, while worshipping the vicious big bad wolves as if they were gods?" I... had no answer...!! 15Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 Stronger Every Day, Yet I Still Keep a Low Profile 每天更强，可我依旧低调 (A low-martial-arts world, a life among beauties) Yang Zhao, a 42-year-old middle-aged man, was abandoned by his wife. He worked tirelessly to raise his daughter and his younger siblings, only to discover that he had terminal stomach cancer... Then, by chance, he touched one of his mother's keepsakes: a silkworm cocoon. 3kReads8.1Score21514d adds
- 16 I, a Max-Level Old Man, Go All Out and Shock the Entire Internet! 我，满级大爷，为命疯狂震全网！ [Wild imagination + lighthearted + seventy-year-old man + System] Zhang Wenliang transmigrates into the body of an old man with a diseased liver, a heart bypass, a cyst on his spleen, completely blackened lungs, and only one kidney left... From the start, the System's assessment is: “It's a miracle the Host isn't dead yet.” After the System tells him he needs to earn Shock Points to redeem items, Zhang Wenliang opens the System and his eyes light up! Kidneys (the foundation of innate vitality, m 52Reads5.9Score—14d adds
- 17 I’m a Lonely Old Man. What’s Wrong with Hiring a Few Nannies? 我一个孤寡老人，请几个保姆咋了 [Urban + System + Everyday Life + Lighthearted + Multiple Heroines] Lin Song transmigrates to Blue Star and becomes a lonely old man nearing seventy, with no elders left above him and no children below! Just then, his Emotional Feedback System awakens. Whenever he elicits emotions from others, his physical condition and appearance grow younger! And if he spends money on people with enough charm, he gets every cent back in cash! This is amazing! “This old guy is incredible! Facing a vicious crimi 130Reads6.3Score—14d adds
- 18 The Wife's Deal 妻子的交易 My wife, Zhang Jing, is an incredibly beautiful woman. As people back in my hometown would say, for a wage-earning grunt like me to marry a wife like her, I must have accumulated eight lifetimes' worth of good karma. Today is our third anniversary. I planned to get home early and surprise her. But an "unexpected" company outing held me up. When I hurried home at last, I found my wife looking flustered, her eyes darting away from mine... 98Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 19 Unemployed at Thirty, I Awaken the Family Support System 三十岁失业，我觉醒养家系统 [An ordinary person’s comeback + everyday life + unemployment + odd jobs + starting a business + System] Chen Peng has just turned thirty when he’s suddenly laid off, caught completely off guard and powerless to do anything about it. He sends out resumes everywhere, looking for work, but as an older college graduate, he can’t compete with the fresh-faced elite. For now, he has no choice but to make ends meet delivering food. But his parents, wife, and daughter all need money. Car payments, mortg 150Reads5.6Score714d adds
- 20 I Got Divorced at Sixty, and Only Then Did the System Arrive 六十岁离婚，系统才来 After sixty-year-old Chen Shu gets divorced, his Game of Life System activates! Sign in daily to have 10,000 yuan automatically deposited into his bank account. He can also earn rewards by completing Game of Life events. So Chen Shu starts doing things he never did before and taking roads he never dared to travel! The things he missed out on in his youth, he finally gets in old age! Also known as: [Divorced at Sixty, Suddenly Became a Tycoon!] [At Sixty, the Tycoon System Finally Arrived!] 13.2kReads7.6Score1.2k14d adds
- 21 The Flirtatious Girl of 1992 Gets Caught Up in Romance as She Makes Her Way to the County Seat 1992俏妞情乱闯县城 In 1992, Chen Xiu'e had failed the college entrance exam several times. Her boyfriend, who had passed the exam and gotten into university, coaxed her into coming to the county town, promising they would build a life together. But soon after arriving in the city, he changed his mind and dumped her. Then another letter came from home: they wanted to sell her to a crippled man from another village for bride money to help her brother get married. Xiu'e had a younger sister, and the thought that her 28Reads—Score—14d adds
- 22 The Story of Fei Xin’s Daughter 飞新的女传 [Marriage + Domestic Abuse + Divorce + Blind Date + Online Romance + Finding True Love + Sweet Romance + Silent Treatment] At twenty, Fei Xin was set up by her parents, went on a blind date, got married, suffered domestic abuse, and divorced. At twenty-three, she met an online boyfriend five years younger than her. They got married and had a child! Married Life + Sweet Romance + Silent Treatment —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 23 A Single Mother’s Road to Redemption 一个单亲妈妈的救赎之路 I was a woman left single, and by the time I reached middle age, becoming a single mother was bound to turn my life upside down. At the halfway point of life, I’ve been through everything you can imagine, and even things you can’t. So what? The middle of life is a battlefield, and I am a shield, guarding a corner of tenderness amid the chaos. Halfway through life, I’ll be my own rock, pressing forward through disorder, gentle yet strong. Through half a lifetime of storms, I give it everything. A 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 24 Me: The Richest Man's Dad, Caught Cheating by the Whole Internet? 我：首富他爹，被全网捉奸？ After returning from another world, he finds that his son has become the richest man in the country and his grandson is a city-dwelling Dragon King. Great, now he can retire in peace. But somehow, he’s become the “homewrecker” everyone online despises. So much for ending his life with his reputation intact. 195Reads7.7Score15614d adds
- 25 The Man Next Door 男邻居 Qiao Mai, a country girl, endures a rough journey from her wedding and childbirth to miscarriage and divorce. Over the course of twelve years of marriage, the special sweetness of being each other’s “darling” fades amid her husband’s disrespect and inaction. Her affection is gradually extinguished by the havoc wreaked by her mother-in-law and three sisters-in-law, until the marriage finally ends in divorce. The story begins with a man living downstairs listening to his neighbors having sex in th 84Reads9.5Score—14d adds
- 26 I Dumped My Handsome Wife-Beater and Married an Ugly, Scarred Man 甩了家暴美男，嫁给刀疤丑汉 Period drama + rural life + family squabbles + workplace + nightlife + second marriage + entrepreneurship In the early 1980s, rural woman Wang Xiuhong was abused by her handsome husband, Zhao Dayong. After enduring humiliation, she left with nothing. She went to the city to make a living, suffered bullying at a food factory, and was fired. With nowhere else to turn, she ended up at a nightclub. There she met Yang Jun, a discharged soldier with a face full of knife scars, and the only person in t 56Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 At Fifty, She's No Weed, She's a Treasure 50的她不是草其实她是块宝 [Silver-haired wish fulfillment + No rebirth + No System + No pocket dimension + A story focused on positive values] #A 50-year-old farmwife seeks a new beginning# After Lin Meiru discovers her husband has been cheating, she insists on getting a divorce. “You can’t even earn money. How will you survive without me?” Lin Meiru defies the odds and learns to sell things from a street stall after her divorce. The wheels of fate begin to turn... 52Reads7.5Score—14d adds
- 28 A Teacher’s Heart Endures, a Dream of Justice Takes Flight 师心未改，法梦初燃 My new work is out! You’re welcome to read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 Workplace Temptation: The Ambitions of a Middle-Aged Man 职场诱惑：中年大叔的野望 [Ultimate Temptation + Push and Pull to the Limit + Workplace Intrigue + A Rookie’s Guide to Growth] After three years of marriage, Zhang Jun is once again sent to work in another city, leaving him and his wife together only once a month. Then she appears, and everything changes. The temptation is irresistible, and he falls in an instant... (The blurb may not do it justice, but the story is absolutely gripping.) This novel is grounded in reality. There is no System or supernatural power. It is e 22Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 30 Lost in Marriage: The Stranger in My Bed 婚姻迷途，枕边的陌生人 It had started out as an ordinary day. After finishing his work at the office, he came home early. His wedding anniversary with his wife was just a few days away, and he planned to buy her some gifts and surprise her. Hehe... 158Reads5.8Score—14d adds
- 31 Rising to the Top in Midlife 人到中年之青云直上 Xiao Yi was middle-aged when he was sentenced to prison for an illegal loan. Three years later, when he walked out of the prison gates, everything he had once owned was gone. His career, family, and wife had all left him. Then one phone call completely changed his fate. He returned to his old workplace and carefully worked his way up, earning promotion after promotion. From then on, his fortunes turned around. He rode against the current and lived life on his own terms! 4.9kReads9.1Score61514d adds
- 32 Despised by My Daughter-in-Law, I Head to the Capital to Work as a Security Guard 被儿媳嫌弃，我去京城当保安 In middle age, Gao Weihua refuses to spend his whole life as a worker in a neighborhood factory. He spent decades trying his luck in business, selling clothes and running restaurants, but in the end, he failed time and again. At least he learned how to repair electrical appliances and raised his son, only to be despised by his daughter-in-law. With no other choice, he went to the capital to work as a security guard. He planted flowers, but they would not bloom; he tended a willow by chance, and 1.8kReads8.7Score18714d adds
- 33 The Secrets of My Wife: The Truth Behind the Phone Calls 妻子隐秘：电话背后的真相 Liang Xiaojun had always worked for his father-in-law. One day, after returning home from the construction site, he heard his daughter, who was gaming, say she’d received a strange blackmail call. After looking into it, he uncovered a huge secret about his wife. Faced with a cruel reality, what choice should he make? 678Reads6.8Score10014d adds
- 34 Marrying Into the Tan Family, I Become Famous Across the World 赘入谭家名动天下 [Super-satisfying urban fantasy + invincible miracle doctor + astonishing encounters] Am I the pathetic loser Zhuang Xiaowei? No! From today on, I can save your life, or take it! Fortune beyond measure? That’s just my consultation fee. Power over the world? That’s just my game. Don’t talk to me about connections. All it takes is a flick of my finger to decide life and death, to command the heavens and earth! This world runs deep, but that’s fine. I specialize in putting arrogant people in their 3.4kReads8.8Score48514d adds
- 35 Bankrupted by Online Loans, the Middle-Aged Man Wants to Lie Flat and Be a Slacker 网贷破产，大叔想躺平做咸鱼 [Middle-Aged Man] [Trickster] [Laid-Back] [Not Mindless] [Invincible] [Lighthearted Power Fantasy] [An original premise, leaning toward urban fantasy.] The Earth is far bigger than you imagine, with a diameter of 250,000 kilometers, four great continents, and nearly a hundred billion intelligent beings. There is a wall in the Antarctic, and we live within it. Beyond the wall are humans, humanoids, demons, cultivators, Buddhas, and many other things you could never imagine. The universe is boundl 709Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 36 A Beauty Like a Flower, Years Flowing Like Water 如花美眷似水流年 This is the story of Fang Fei’s growth as love and fate intertwine. From the innocence of her first love to complicated emotional entanglements, Fang Fei experiences betrayal, loss, and being reborn. Her relationships with three men reveal the tolerance and devotion love can inspire. In the end, Fang Fei finds herself through love and responsibility, showing that love means far more than romance. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 37 Zhao Jiji’s Love Story After Divorce 赵吉吉离婚后的爱情故事 To be loved is an extension of self-love! I thought I'd shut myself off from love for good, but I never expected to meet him in my forties... After her son takes the college entrance exam, Zhao Jiji divorces her ex-husband. She delivers food, works as a real estate agent and caregiver, and writes novels, doing her best to make a life for herself. While working as a caregiver, she meets a man she once went on a blind date with, and the two begin a beautiful relationship. 71Reads—Score—14d adds
- 38 Love Is Always Part of Life 人生总有爱 Li Ming came from a rural family. At university, his teacher, Zhao Qiang, introduced him to his daughter, Zhao Na, and the two married. During their fifteen years of marriage, they had a son named Li Xuan, who is now a first-year high school student. Zhao Na had a knack for business, and her company thrived. She bought the family home and car. Li Ming worked diligently as a university lecturer. Every month, he gave two thousand yuan to his parents, kept fifteen hundred for himself, and used the 225Reads5.8Score—14d adds
- 39 Transmigrated as a Hypermasculine Old Man, I Set the Internet Ablaze 穿成超雄老登，我引爆全网 Jian Ling transmigrates, only to find himself in the body of a 60-year-old man with late-stage lung cancer and just three months to live! So he lets loose and takes everyone to task, no matter who they are. On the subway, A middle-aged woman tries to steal someone’s seat. “Young people have no manners. She saw me coming and pretended to fall asleep!” Jian Ling: “This hand of mine is for people who use their age as an excuse to act shamelessly. Subway judge, activate!” On a variety show, A homeow 1.2kReads8.7Score16114d adds
- 40 A Middle-Aged Woman's Reckless Years 中年荒唐的女人 The story is about Yang Liu, an ordinary woman from the bottom of society. Hardworking and capable, she refuses to settle for an ordinary life, but ends up making a complete mess of things, surrounded by chaos and constant commotion... 2.7kReads8.6Score22414d adds
- 41 The Road Through Jiangnan, Through Wind and Rain 风雨江南路 This book is a sequel to the author's previous work, Xu Fei's Carefree Life. It once again follows Xu Fei's life, portraying brotherhood, tireless perseverance, and a journey that ultimately leads to glory. A tale of passion and grit, showing the rise of a powerful figure in a particular era. 51Reads—Score414d adds
- 42 A Comeback After Twenty Years of Widowhood 守寡二十年逆袭 [Period Drama + Strong Female Lead + Farming + Family Life + Widow's Comeback + Single Mother] On her wedding night, her husband is crushed to death by a roof beam, and Liu Chunhong becomes the "husband-killing jinx." Her mother-in-law forces her to give birth to her posthumous child, then turns on her and throws mother and daughter out while she's still recovering from childbirth. Her sister-in-law blocks the door and yells, "A married daughter is like water poured out!" With nowhere else to tu 7.8kReads6.9Score38614d adds
- 43 Middle Age: City of Desire 人到中年：欲望之都 [Urban] + [Everyday Life] + [Special Agent] + [Sound Values] The story begins when the male lead, Li Wujiao, retires from service and comes home late at night, hoping to surprise his wife. Instead, he discovers that his wife, Jiang Zhirou, hasn't come home, and someone is harassing her... What? You say your grandfather was once a big shot in the Magic City? And your father is a financial tycoon there, too? No need to panic... Watch a retired agent prove that retirement hasn't dulled his skills. 6.1kReads9.0Score60514d adds
- 44 A Capable Village Belle and Her Good-for-Nothing Live-In Son-in-Law 能干村花和她的窝囊倒插门 Zhao Hua is the capable, no-nonsense village beauty of Taiping Village. She supports her family with a small shop, while her adoptive parents hope she'll marry a man who can support them in their old age. A scandalous affair involving a potential match ruins the marriage prospects outright. Unable to find a man willing to marry into her family, she chooses the impoverished Li boy who lives behind her house. His family is buried in debt, he's timid by nature and always lowers his head when troubl 3.8kReads—Score12414d adds
- 45 It's Only Fifty 不过是五十而已 An inspirational, unyielding story of midlife crisis, workplace struggles, bank managers and tellers, married life, and everyday urban life. This book tells the story of Huang Wenxue, a bank manager facing a midlife crisis. She is at that awkward age when she is considered too old to find a new job, yet still too young to retire. How will she answer the unavoidable questions surrounding her career, marriage, family, children, and caring for her aging parents? Even in middle age, even when confro 432Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 46 The Family's Hidden Guards 家族暗卫 A story about rural revitalization, bringing a family back together and creating an ideal life. Before the Spring Festival in 2025, my second uncle asked me to return to the village to meet him. He handed me a black stone passed down through our family and told me to inherit the duty of the family’s secret guards, protecting our family’s development from the shadows. I also inherited a fortune passed down through the family, along with the friendship of eight families who had been close to o 7.8kReads—Score1k14d adds
- 47 A Love Triangle in Marriage 婚姻里的三角恋 [Contemporary realistic fiction + the married life of ordinary people in Beijing + love triangles in marriage + real struggles] Bai Xue and Wang Yang are a young married couple living in Beijing. Wang Yang is a typical “phoenix man,” a country boy who made it big in the city. After ten years of marriage, he cheats on her. After they divorce, Bai Xue meets another man, and her new life begins… What makes this book special: A woman faces betrayal in her marriage, but after the hardship comes 1.6kReads8.8Score15414d adds
- 48 Middle Age 人到中年 (This book once topped the charts with 2.2 million readers. Recommended for adults aged 25 and over.) Middle age, an unfaithful wife, a career in the doldrums... How can he rise again and escape life's predicament? 2kReads8.5Score16114d adds
- 49 The Middle-Aged Jadeite King 中年翡翠王 Who says middle-aged men are worth less than dogs? He's fifty years old and works hard every day to support his family, yet they look down on him and treat him like an ATM and a punching bag. After his divorce, he has nothing, but unexpectedly awakens his ancestral bloodline. His golden eyes can identify the souls of jadeite, and watch how he turns his life around through stone gambling, ultimately becoming a legendary middle-aged Jadeite King! 6.9kReads8.8Score64214d adds
- 50 The Wife’s Mask 妻子的假面 His wife slips out to hotels and bars late at night. After looking into it, he discovers that beneath her gentle, virtuous exterior, she is hiding many secrets. After unmasking his wife, what should he do next... (P.S. No golden finger or supernatural abilities in this book, just the most genuine emotions.) 1.2kReads6.9Score10014d adds
