Novels like Starting Over in Midlife
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Starting Over in Midlife, best match first.
- 151 An Alien Country Bumpkin Forces Me to Become a Smirking Dragon King 外星土狗逼我做歪嘴龙王 Magical realism, no System, and not a wish-fulfillment story. A Chinese teacher whose manuscript was rejected secretly studies Dragon King fiction, uncovers the secrets of the universe, gets unbelievably lucky, shocks everyone, and conquers the world! 48.8kReads8.9Score4.7k14d adds
- 152 Agent Yi Leng 特工易冷 (Originally titled Agent Yi Leng) Huang Pi Hu, the cook at Yumei Restaurant, is a greasy, lecherous middle-aged man who likes to drink, smoke, and fiddle with his beads. He also often follows female students around. No one knows his true identity: retired agent Yi Leng, a godlike heartthrob to countless beautiful women. He has hidden himself among ordinary people only to quietly protect his daughter, who no longer recognizes him. 25.5kReads9.4Score3k14d adds
- 153 From the Start, an Old Man with Terminal Cancer Unlocks the Campus Belle's Lifesaving Secret 开局老登癌症晚期，解锁校花救命 Lin Miaoyu, the university's campus beauty, failed an exam and was caught red-handed stealing a test paper by the security guard, Lin Tiezhu. Afraid of being taken to the security office, they struck a deal: they would pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend for 24 hours. When Lin Miaoyu learned that Wang Tiezhu had terminal cancer and wanted to be a real man just once… On the second floor of the teaching building, a faint light flickered in an office that should have been pitch-black! Which 2.1kReads—Score10814d adds
- 154 Ming's God of War, Zhu Di 大明战神朱棣 Why do we love reading about him? Because he lived the way we wish we could: if you don’t like it, fight! If you lose, own it! If you win, don’t brag. He feigned madness, played the fool, and even ate pig feed in a pigsty. Then he fought his way from Beiping to Nanjing and seized the dragon throne with his own hands. Zhu Di, the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, was twenty when he was sent to govern Beiping. No one had any faith in this “Fourth Son.” His imperial father suspected him, his nephew trie 20.2kReads8.3Score1.4k14d adds
- 155 My Wife Betrayed Me, Then I Discovered My Mother-in-Law's Secret 妻子背叛，发现岳母的秘密 [Lighthearted + funny + everyday life + twists + face-slapping + multiple heroines + System] Wang Yu discovers that the child isn’t biologically related to him. The revelation is a devastating blow. Pain and sorrow flood over him. But fate’s drama doesn’t end there: by chance, he discovers his mother-in-law’s secret. The father-in-law and son-in-law meet each other’s eyes in silence. At a moment like this, who can comfort whom? Divorce is only the beginning. Two men bound by the same fate now em 34.5kReads8.8Score3.3k14d adds
- 156 The Many Flavors of Life, Part One: A Snowy Night of Lost Souls 百味人生第一部：失魂风雪夜 Family, love, and adultery. This small mountain village seems peaceful, but undercurrents run deep, and human dramas of sorrow and joy unfold every day. On a bitterly cold, snowy night, a young and beautiful mother is assaulted and becomes pregnant. Afterward, she lives every day in fear and pain, desperately trying to keep the secret. When the truth comes to light, the demon who has appeared in her dreams countless times has never really gone away. What will the mother do? This book offers a 14.5kReads9.2Score1.5k14d adds
- 157 A Post-00s Kid Helps Mom Take Down Her Scumbag Husband 00后帮妈妈整渣斗三 [Modern urban life + inspirational + slice of life + feel-good] Wu Jie is a poor student who loves gaming. After his parents' marriage falls apart, he defies fate and changes his life. First, he helps his mother take down her cheating husband and his mistress. Later, he helps his motherland root out scoundrels and traitors. Step by step, he rises to the brightest peak of his life... 4.3kReads9.1Score59214d adds
- 158 You Turned Me Down When I Confessed, But Now You Want Me to Take You In During the Apocalypse? 表白你拒绝，末世你求收留？ [Invincible + apocalypse outbreak + more children, more blessings + tons of beautiful women + ruthless and decisive + profit above all + dark, fast-paced] The apocalypse erupts in a parallel world. A zombie virus spreads across the globe, bringing unimaginable disaster to the world. Lin Liuyang, reborn, binds himself to a System and rises to the pinnacle of life. The campus beauties who once ignored him can now only beg him to take them in. And so, he embarks on a path of rescuing countless fem 3kReads8.5Score26514d adds
- 159 Tiezhu's Fate 铁柱的命 In the 1990s, the twenty-year-old Tiezhu, whose given name was Gao Fei, was handsome, dashing, and well educated. He studied hard, hoping to change his fate through knowledge and escape the countryside. But fate kept playing tricks on him, making him fail time and again. Disheartened, he found the courage to face life again with encouragement from Yanhua, the village beauty. His excellence always won him admirers. After meeting different women, he gradually realized who loved him most. Sadly, by 5.2kReads6.8Score20714d adds
- 160 Falling for You 沦陷 Fallen 56Reads—Score—14d adds
- 161 After Losing My Job, I Bound Myself to a Freelance System 失业后，我绑定自由职业系统 [Family life, a slow-paced story, not a traditional rich-heir novel] At 33, Chen Yuan was suddenly laid off, completely caught off guard. He wanted to find a new job, but was rejected again and again because he was already “old” at 33. He had elderly parents to support, children to raise, and a wife who stayed home as a homemaker. Raising the kids, paying rent and car installments, and covering everyday expenses... all of it took money. What was he supposed to do?! He'd worked more than ten hour 32.4kReads9.1Score2.7k14d adds
- 162 Sorry, We Don't Talk About Love After Dark 对不起，夜深不说爱 I didn’t care that people said I’d married up by latching onto a goddess, and I didn’t care that they called me a poor country boy who’d married into wealth. But when my wife’s best friend’s husband came looking for me, I realized I’d been naive. My wife, it turned out, really knew how to “enjoy” life… 12.2kReads8.7Score1.1k14d adds
- 163 My Aunt Is Eighteen Years Older Than Me 阿姨比我大了十八岁 [This is an everyday romance between a male protagonist and an older woman. There’s a significant age gap, so please don’t read if that’s not your thing.] That year, we both got into university. I was eighteen, and so were you. A sudden car accident separated us forever. When I was reborn, you were still waiting. You are mature and steady, elegant and beautiful. 1.9kReads9.0Score26114d adds
- 164 The Bedchamber Maid 通房丫鬟 As a bedchamber maid, Hua Rong has always remembered her place. She mustn't fall in love with her master, let him become addicted to women, or compete with his future young madam for his affections. After finally enduring until age and fading looks let her buy back her freedom, Hua Rong sets her sights on an honest, decent widower and plans to share a simple life with him. But her highborn master pins her to the wall, eyes red, and asks, “You'd rather have that old man than me?” Hua Rong: “...” 2.6kReads9.2Score67414d adds
- 165 Spring Fever 春躁 [Miracle doctor + countryside + invincible + prosperity] Give back everything you took from me, spit out everything you ate, and if you hit me, I'll hit you back. If you wronged me, I'll make you regret it… Li Tie, a top student at Peking University's School of Medicine, was made a fool by those who framed him. His parents were dragged into it and killed, and for two years he lived worse than a dog, enduring humiliation and abuse… The fool who becomes a miracle-working doctor after a fortuitous 4.1kReads8.9Score49714d adds
- 166 Lu Beifang, Tonight the Officialdom Runs Red with Blood 路北方，今夜官血沸腾 [High-Octane, Passionate, and Deeply Sentimental Political Intrigue!] With power comes responsibility. One thought can separate public duty from private interest, like heaven and earth. Only by holding fast to your principles can you avoid being swept away by the storms or trapped by the gains and losses of personal relationships, and achieve great things. Lu Beifang came from humble beginnings, but lived an extraordinary life. He became a town mayor at 23, a county magistrate at 25, and married 114.7kReads9.1Score7.7k14d adds
- 167 The South Wind Knows My Heart, and I’ll Never Walk Alone Again 南风知我意，从此不孤行 Some people say dandelion seeds look like pretty little parachutes, drifting lightly in the breeze, utterly romantic. But Xu Nanfeng thinks they look more like homeless children, wandering everywhere with nowhere to settle. Just like her: no real kin, no true friends, arriving without a ripple and leaving without a sound. There's an old saying: you reap what you sow. But I, Xu Nanfeng, refuse to believe it. I'll grow into the very person you all thought I could never become! Nanfeng knows my hea 1.1kReads9.3Score10314d adds
- 168 Join the Army and Get a Wife? I Marry Eighteen Women in a Rage 当兵就发媳妇？我怒娶十八房老婆 “What? You can get a wife for free if you enlist? Then I’m joining the army!” Li Wannian is reborn into the declining Li Tang imperial family. He proceeds carefully, extending the Li Tang Dynasty's life by three hundred years! 27.8kReads8.6Score3.2k14d adds
- 169 Somebody Somewhere in the Crowd 行走在人海中的某某某 There is only one true heroism in the world: to see life as it is and still love it. Whether it’s the wind blowing through a valley, clouds drifting over the sea, poplar trees by the roadside, foxtail grass on a hillside, or people, Zhao Xiaoqiu thinks they’re all much the same, aren’t they? 2.1kReads9.2Score12214d adds
- 170 Villain, Your Underlings Are Too Rebellious, and the Male Lead Is Panicking! 反派，小弟太逆天，男主慌了！ [Villain + System + multiple love interests + ruthless! Not for readers who mind!] Original title: [Giving the Protagonist's Mother a Massage from the Start] After an unexpected transmigration, he becomes the male lead's lackey. From then on, everything goes wrong for the male lead. His girlfriend grows increasingly cold and contemptuous, and even his own mother starts to hate him. He has no idea that the culprit behind it all is his own lackey. 10.6kReads8.9Score77614d adds
- 171 Half a Lifetime of Missing Qiu 念秋半辈子 [Everyone’s favorite + farming + building wealth + family squabbles + strong heroine] Shen Nianqiu’s husband died. He was stabbed to death by the husband of his lover. Because Shen Nianqiu is beautiful, shapely, intelligent, and capable, she is very popular. A rural doctor whose wife has died gradually falls for her; A butcher from the neighboring village has been secretly in love with her for a long time. A teacher assigned to the countryside admires her beauty and intelligence, and vows to mar 18.2kReads8.0Score1.3k14d adds
- 172 A Collection of Short Stories 短篇小故事合集 A Collection of Short Stories 90Reads—Score—14d adds
- 173 The Man Who Grew Young Again 返老还童的男人 A baby adopted by a widow was born looking seventy years old. Then he began to age backward, slowly growing younger. At eighteen, he looked like he was in his fifties. In the end, he became a baby and died in the arms of the person he loved most. 1.7kReads7.9Score10714d adds
- 174 Neon Taipei: My Seven-Year Descent 霓虹台北：我的七年堕落实录 6.5kReads7.4Score50914d adds
- 175 All These Years Working Away from Home 外出打工这些年 Ever since Yu Xiaobai married Wu Jiajia, who loved wealth and despised poverty, he hasn’t had a single peaceful day... She turned their home upside down, then teamed up with her first boyfriend to make off with all the money he had worked so hard to earn. He indulged and cherished her in every way, but still couldn’t change Wu Jiajia’s determination to divorce him... After Wu Jiajia asked for a divorce for the umpteenth time, Yu Xiaobai finally chose to leave this absurd marriage and let them bo 172Reads—Score—14d adds
- 176 After Secretly Marrying a CEO and Superstar 与总裁大明星隐婚后 After Secretly Marrying a CEO Superstar 32Reads—Score—14d adds
- 177 Life Is Like a Dream: I Take the Blame and Transmigrate to the 1950s 浮生若梦，我顶缸穿五零 (Fictional setting! Fictional setting! Please don't compare this to reality!) History's number one scapegoat, Xu Duoduo, has grievances she can't voice. When disaster comes from heaven, it can still be avoided. When you bring disaster upon yourself, there's no escaping it. So what if life is hard? If you can stomach eating bitter greens, you can do anything. I'll give it my all! Come watch a post-2000s girl living the '50s version of a wild-vegetable-foraging life. Let's go! 1.8kReads9.2Score12614d adds
- 178 Back to 1982: Casting Nets to Save the Village Belle and Make the Whole Village Rich 重回82：撒网救村花带全村致富 Back at the age of twenty, he's known throughout the village as a no-good loafer. But no one knows he's returned carrying the regrets and memories of his previous life. He catches and sells fish, hunts in the mountains, and earns his first fortune through hard work. Before the flood hits, he even issues an early warning and organizes an evacuation, saving countless lives. From the village to the county, from small-time trading to grand strategies... In this life, he won't just clear his name. He 27.2kReads8.3Score2k14d adds
- 179 After I Got Pregnant, I Discovered My Husband’s Secret… 怀孕后，发现了老公的秘密…… After I Got Pregnant, I Discovered My Husband's Secret... —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 180 Love Withers on the Wind 爱随风凋零 Love Withers on the Wind 36Reads—Score—14d adds
- 181 Come on, Let’s Have Some Fun! 来快活呀！ Wang Yan, a girl from a remote rural village, decides to change her life after enduring a series of experiences shaped by ignorance, backwardness, and poverty. Through dedicated study, lifelong learning, and hard work, she strives for the life she ultimately wants: financial security, modest prosperity, a civilized way of life, a loving partner who understands her, one son and one daughter, and no worries about aging or illness. From a frail little girl onward, she faces one pivotal crossroads a 5kReads8.4Score39914d adds
- 182 A Kiss on a Tidal Night 潮吻夜 [One-on-One, Both Chaste, Intense Push and Pull + Lighthearted, Ridiculously Sweet Romance + Age Gap] Chu Zhirou was sweet, pretty, and gentle-natured, the picture-perfect good girl in everyone's eyes. She had countless admirers, but no one could claim this rose. Pei Yanche was cool and abstinent. He was ruthless and decisive in business, and devastatingly handsome when he stood at the lectern. No one could have guessed that these two, who had nothing to do with each other, would be connecte 2.4kReads8.9Score24114d adds
- 183 That Red Land 那片红色的土地 [Period setting] [Slice of life] [Entrepreneurship] [Family] [Rural life] [No clichés] [Not a power fantasy] [No transmigration] [Slow-paced] [Realistic] [Urban] [Hardships] Trust me, it gets better and better as the story goes on, and it absolutely won't end badly! Writing an original work is no easy task. Every word comes from the heart. Please don't leave a low rating or bad review. A casual three or four stars from you could deal a fatal blow to this niche novel. This novel is neither a cr 12.1kReads8.8Score1.4k14d adds
- 184 The Ascetic Heartthrob Doesn’t Play Innocent, and I Laughed 禁欲系男神他不吃素，我笑了 The Chaste Male God Doesn't Do Vegetables. I Laughed. 57Reads—Score—14d adds
- 185 Divine Oil 神油 The waters of the Gui River cannot wash away old blood debts. A jar of miraculous oil can keep the secrets of a powerful family locked away. The Republic of China is in chaos, the country teetering on the brink of collapse. At the command of his ancestors, the sole surviving heir of the Shi family enters the fray, disguising himself as an anonymous laborer at the Wen family’s oil mill. He appears plain and timid, but in his heart he is plotting a sweeping revenge. The miraculous oil the Wen fami 66.9kReads9.2Score3.3k14d adds
- 186 Tales of Lijiang 丽江往事 The company went bankrupt, and at the same time we hit the seven-year itch. My wife tricked me into handing over all our assets by pretending we were getting a divorce. As soon as we left the civil affairs bureau, she got into the car of an old friend of mine. The two of them were planning a vacation in Thailand. When I got home, my former in-laws shut me out... 37.9kReads9.3Score4.2k14d adds
- 187 The Strange Tales of Mortal Life: Li Longbiao 浮生乱象之李龙彪 I'm the scum at the bottom of society, the trash you all talk about. I don't have much education, money, status, a house, a car, or a wife. I'm a single man, just some hoodlum. It's not my fault I ended up this way. When I was a kid, I had big dreams and ambitions, too. I wanted to study hard, get into a good university, then find work in the city and become a respectable office worker. But the cruel realities of life shattered every one of those beautiful dreams. Through its portrayal of Li Lon 2.1kReads—Score16414d adds
- 188 The Irresistible Playboy 极品桃花男 [Urban feel-good story] [Slice of life] [Set in the 2020s] [Realistic everyday life] [Multiple female leads] [Dongguan Prince Hotel] [Transmigration to the apocalypse] [Genetically enhanced super soldiers] 419Reads8.5Score10514d adds
- 189 Was I the One Being Conquered? 被攻略的竟是我自己？ [One heroine + she pursues him + not a wish-fulfillment story + being won over + no cheat powers + mild yandere] A first love is probably someone no man can ever forget, and Yan Feng is no different. His first love was so perfect that even after all these years, he still couldn’t get her out of his mind. Then one day, a young woman in the prime of her youth who claimed to be the daughter of an old acquaintance showed up at his door, hoping to repay the kindness he had shown her with food and she 48.2kReads9.0Score6.5k14d adds
- 190 Lao Wang from Chongqing 重庆老王 My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you enjoy it. Your support is what motivates me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well! 1.5kReads8.3Score11614d adds
- 191 After We Got Our Marriage License, I Exposed My Girlfriend's Scam 领证后，我戳破了女友骗局 After We Got Our Marriage License, I Exposed My Girlfriend’s Scam 102Reads—Score—14d adds
- 192 Betrayal: This Is the Last Time I'll Love You 背叛：是我最后一次爱你 Betrayal: This Is the Last Time I'll Love You 288Reads—Score—14d adds
- 193 All I Want in Life Is Half a Heart’s Contentment 一生只求半称心 The comic adaptation is coming soon! [Traditional] [No gimmicks] [Not a power fantasy] [No cheat abilities] In the 1970s, Li Laoman had no sons, so he wanted to find a live-in son-in-law for his third daughter, Li Fan. Li Fan refused and stole her second sister Li Ting's fiance instead! Now Li Ting had not only lost her man, but also had to take on the responsibility of finding a live-in son-in-law for her younger sister. With Li Laoman pressuring her, she had no choice but to take Zhong Wensong 9.5kReads8.9Score79914d adds
- 194 At the Hehuan Sect, My Devotion as a Simp Gets Me Everything 人在合欢宗，舔狗舔到应有尽有 [A day-to-day story in the Hehuan Sect] After sixty years of cultivation, Li Meng has achieved nothing. With his death approaching, he decides to let loose for once. To his surprise, he activates a “System” that arrived late. As the saying goes, when you’re in the Hehuan Sect, how can you not be a lovesick simp? In his twilight years, Li Meng begins a quiet, carefree life of cultivation in the Hehuan Sect. 10.6kReads8.6Score91114d adds
- 195 Seeing Through Half a Lifetime 看破浮生过半 Life is a journey of self-cultivation. As we keep moving forward, we correct our mistakes in time and gradually become better versions of ourselves. Life is full of suffering, and we can only save ourselves. If only we could live our lives over again. At the very least, we could avoid a lot of detours. 623Reads—Score—14d adds
- 196 The Divorced Neighbor Across the Hall 对门的离异邻居 The Divorced Neighbor Across the Hall 1kReads—Score2514d adds
- 197 The Sweet Little Wife of the 1970s, Spoiled by Two Powerful Men 七零小甜妻，被两个大佬宠哭了 The Sweet Little Wife of the Seventies Is Adored by Two Powerful Men 354Reads—Score514d adds
- 198 All Paths Lead to the Netherworld 万法归宗幽冥路 The male lead regains his youth and cultivates immortality while working as a gatekeeper at an art school. He has eight immortal senior sisters from the Maoshan School’s Zhengyi Sect, an adorable little fox from Qingqiu Mountain, and Jiegeng, a thousand-year-old demoness. The capital’s number-one Grand Princess comes looking for a hug from him every night. 187Reads—Score10614d adds
- 199 What Can I Do to Save You, Little Dragon Girl? 小龙女我拿什么救你 Ao Xi, an 1,800-year-old dragon girl, runs away from home to explore the world, but ends up trapped in an underground chamber for 2,000 years. By accident, she activates a teleportation array that transports Li An, the male lead from Earth, to the Silvermoon Continent in another world. The two are trapped in the underground chamber, and a few years later, the dragon clan comes knocking! 213Reads—Score—14d adds
- 200 Trapped in My Boss’s Office... 被困上司办公室后…… After Getting Trapped in My Boss's Office... 509Reads—Score—14d adds
