Novels like Nine to Five
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Nine to Five, best match first.
- 1 He Said 他说 I'm a burden, dragged along with my mother into the Su family. I became a sort-of heiress, but made a complete mess of my life. I threw myself at my so-called older brother, became the mistress everyone loved to hate, got pregnant, got married, and had a falling-out with my best friend... He's the eldest son of the Su family, a business-world elite who has influence on both sides of the law, with every virtue under the sun. His only flaw is that his heart is made of stone. His heart can't be war 9Reads7.5Score—14d adds
- 2 The Post-Marriage Era 后婚姻时代 The novel follows Zhuang Jing through thirty years of work and life, telling the story of marriage, family, and career from the perspective of a professional woman. The book recounts the protagonist's experiences in three stages of life. The first stage, from age 22 to 30, is marked by the passion and stumbles of starting a career, and the happiness and struggles of falling in love, getting married, and having a child. The second stage, from 40 to 45, sees the pressures of her career gradually e 335Reads8.9Score10414d adds
- 3 Luo Seling 洛斯秢 Luo Siming lives in a villa near the Secret Garden Estate. The house belongs to her family. After giving birth and finishing her month of postpartum confinement, she returned to her family home with her son, and has been living there for a year now... She works at the Secret Garden Estate, which is just down the main road from her house! The owner is an extremely mysterious person of rather unusual status. Almost none of the employees, including the managers, have ever seen them in person. Even 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 I Promise You a Love That Never Fails 许你不负情深 [Tragic romance] When she was young, she was the one he would love forever, his tender and devoted beloved. “Will you have other women after we get married?” “That depends on who I marry. If it's you, I won't.” Years later, he is a poison that has seeped into her very bones. 96Reads7.2Score—14d adds
- 5 I Love You Like My Life: The Domineering CEO's Kiss 爱你如命：霸道总裁吻上瘾 After suffering her mother's brutal death, her father's selfishness, her stepmother's abuse, and her sister's jealousy, Rong Xi keeps fighting against fate. When she returns after completing her studies, she breaks free from her prison-like shackles, only for her best friend's teasing to plunge her heart into an icy abyss once more... An elevator malfunction leaves her locked in a passionate embrace with Shao Nan. From then on, she cannot escape his clutches, yet he is surrounded by beautiful wo 13Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 After Adopting My Enemy's Daughter 收养仇家女儿后 Alternate setting + sworn enemies + faux siblings + unequal status + physical and emotional torment To outsiders, Jin Chuan big shot Shen Xingzhi is a gentle, refined gentleman, humble and polite. In reality, he lost his parents when he was young, which made him ruthless and kept his emotions hidden. When he discovers that his enemy is actually an old family friend, he immediately sets out to take revenge. The last shred of kindness in his heart leads him to adopt his childhood friend’s daught 722Reads6.2Score—14d adds
- 7 No One Calls Him Young Master Anymore, and No One Calls Him by His Full Name 再没人喊他公子，也没人连名带姓叫他 The two women dearest to him in his life met tragic ends: one was disfigured and swallowed gold to take her own life, while the other died carrying his child. 9Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Young Master Si's Secretly Cherished Guilty Wife 司少的私宠罪妻 [Dotting on the wife + substitute marriage + revenge + tragic romance + stand-in] Seven years ago, Su Xia abandoned Si Yejue for money, when he was on the verge of becoming disabled. Seven years later, he pinned her against the wall and declared, “Su Xia, I'm back. Now it's time for you to pay for your sins.” He hated her, yet he insisted that he alone was allowed to bully her. Su Xia silently endured her pain until the truth came to light. Si Yejue's hair turned white overnight. 60Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 The Mountains and Seas Leave Me Heartbroken 山海意难平 Lin Wanbai is a wealthy heiress born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Everyone dotes on her and gives her whatever she wants. Then she falls for Fu Juxing, an illegitimate son with no status. Everyone urges her to think it over before acting. But she stubbornly refuses to listen, saying with confidence, “Do you know what it means to boil a frog in warm water? I'll make him fall in love with me, and then he won't be able to pull himself away.” After three years of marriage, he becomes her pe 496Reads8.0Score10014d adds
- 10 The Green Hills Can’t Match the Length of Your Brows 青山不及你眉长 Five years of marriage, five years of coldness. Yan Shuya loved completely and loved humbly. She never regretted loving a man named Han Chenyang, not even in the final second of her life... 30Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 11 The Show Is Over, but No One Has Left 戏终人未散 In the early years of the Republic of China, the times were turbulent and warlords ruled their own territories. The story begins in Shanghai in those days. The tale of an opera performer and a warlord is utterly captivating. In March, plum blossoms filled the theater grounds, laughter rang through the household, and a young heart first stirred on a day that month. Each was a powerful figure in their own sphere, shining in their respective fields. They might have been a perfect match, but fate ha 4Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 12 Say No to 996: It Starts with You and Me 拒绝996从你我做起 Say no to 996, starting with you and me. 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 13 Soft and Sweet 软腻 At eighteen, I was branded the murderer of my twin sister. From then on, in Chu Moran's eyes, I was a sinner. He once locked me in a dark room for seven days and seven nights. By the time I was rescued, I had nearly died of dehydration. His hatred coiled around me like brambles, leaving me covered in wounds. I had killed the girl he loved most, so of course he hated me. But after years of being tormented by his hatred, I fell for him. All I wanted was to curl up against him and stay by his side. 49Reads5.6Score—14d adds
- 14 Taking Treasures Into My Pocket 娶物入囊 [Angst, Everyone Suffers + Revenge on Scumbags] The moment Jiang Hanyan’s veil was lifted, her happy smile froze. “You’re not Yun Lei. You’re Huo Yusheng...” From that moment on, driven by the deep-seated resentment he had harbored ever since his twin brother, Huo Yunlei, framed him in their youth, and convinced that Jiang Hanyan had caused his first love, Tang Yueran, to become paralyzed, the young master of the Huo family, Huo Yusheng, married the woman who was supposed to become his sister-in 139Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 15 You Left Me Drenched in Storms 你赐我满身风雨 They say the Third Madam of the Lu family is generous and gracious. She's the ideal wife every man dreams of. After three years of marriage, just as Lin Wennuan thought she could make it through the rest of her life in peace, her mother-in-law suddenly sprang up and pressured her to have a child. Lu Zhengshen said, “Have a child, and I'll reward you handsomely.” She sneered and threw a splash of hot water in his face. There went the perfect-wife image. … After that, Lin Wennuan used every trick 527Reads8.7Score11114d adds
- 16 After Driving His Darling Away for Five Years, Mr. Pei Plots to Make Her Fall for Him 逼走妹宝五年，裴总蓄意诱她沦陷 [Adopted siblings in name only | No blood relation] Qin Jiao was raised by the Pei family from childhood, and they treated her very well. The only exception was the restrained, cold eldest son, Pei Wensheng, whom she had loved for years without ever winning his heart. An accident that night shattered the boundaries between them as siblings. To prevent further complications, he cruelly sent her abroad. Tearfully, she pleaded, “Three years from now, could you give me one chance?” He coldly refus 4.1kReads—Score30714d adds
- 17 A Marriage That Eats Away at the Bones 蚀骨囚婚 Fang Yuanshuang chased Duan Hancheng for years, throwing herself into the flames like a moth, only to be utterly destroyed. Not only was she branded jealous and murderous, she also lost her status as everyone’s darling. After leaving for three years, she endured every hardship and lost the right to look up to him. - But when she got engaged to someone else and was about to walk down the aisle, Duan Hancheng finally came to his senses. He used every means at his disposal to force a ring onto 155Reads5.2Score—14d adds
- 18 Sinking with You 与你沉沦 Su Ling moves into the Jiang family home with her mother. Everyone thinks Su Ling is a considerate, well-behaved girl. Only she knows that's not who she really is. With her natural acting talent, she wins over the Jiang family and even gets the cool, self-possessed Jiang Ji to fall for her. Jiang Ji is born noble, refined and polite, and capable of standing on his own. Yet this young master is cruelly toyed with until his spirit is broken. Su Ling breaks up with him without a second thought, sho 1.1kReads8.0Score11114d adds
- 19 The Wind Whispers, and I Confess My Love to You 听风在呢喃，我向你告白 He spent half her life pursuing her, yet never once admitted he loved her. She dreamed of escaping him, only to realize later that the sweetest title in the world was Mrs. Ji. No one believed she had once been his sleeping pill, or that he had been the man beside her every night. He’s a foul-mouthed gambler with a heart full of love; she’s a prickly woman who keeps her love buried deep. Childhood sweethearts who grew up together, they gamble for love and love through their hatred. It’s a story o 394Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 20 Reborn, I Became an Enslaved Robot with No Freedom 重生后，我变成无自由的程序奴隶机器人 Reborn, I Became an Unfree Robot Slave to Programming 8Reads—Score114d adds
- 21 Captive Love: Mr. Gu's Darling 蚀骨囚宠：顾总的掌中娇 He used their marriage as an excuse to keep her by his side, forceful and domineering. He told her that for the rest of her life, she would owe him two lives. During their five years of marriage, Gu Ye tormented Shi Zhizhi until she was barely recognizable. Staying alive became her only bottom line. When he ruthlessly destroyed that last boundary too, Shi Zhizhi laughed through her tears: “Gu Ye, if there’s another life, I’ll never love you again!” Shi Zhizhi died, and Gu Ye was the one who kill 82Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 22 Unrequited Love Is a Poem That Never Ends 暗恋是一首写不尽的诗 Shen Qianqian is a new first-year high school student, gentle and lovely, youthful and beautiful, and an undisputed top student and goddess of the school. She befriends Meng Xiaotian, a girl with a strong artistic streak who is quirky, lively, and warmhearted. One chance encounter brings her face-to-face with the handsome, sunny Fu Su, and she begins a long journey of secret admiration. Like cherry blossoms drifting through the school, her feelings reach every corner of campus. A secret crush is —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 23 Consumed to the Bone 沉溺入骨 They agreed it would be a “business arrangement”: he would help her pay off fifty million in debt, and she would play along with his act. But Bo Nian couldn’t resist his good looks. She became addicted to him, only to discover that he was hiding a girl and protecting her fiercely. He even went so far as to take her bone marrow for that girl. Only then did Bo Nian face reality: she would never be able to warm his heart. He said, “I can’t be responsible for what happens to other people. Life and 655Reads8.2Score10314d adds
- 24 Reborn: A Heart Stirring Again 重生之心动再临 [Everyday Sweet Romance + College Entrepreneurship + Childhood Friends + Harem (Don't Read If You Dislike That)] Bai Yifan, a top student in his previous life, is reborn in 2006, just before the college entrance exams. The summer is at its peak, and youth is in full bloom. The path he'd taken in his previous life has yet to become rough and uncertain. The girl next door is still at the tender age of first love. The memories of youth are so worth looking back on. Those young years were so tangled 69Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 25 Letting Go 割愛 [Short tragic ending + obsessive male lead] After my mother remarried, my stepbrother, who shared neither parent with me, was always finding new ways to bully me. But after our parents died, he changed completely. He stopped bullying me and instead stayed by my side, taking care of me without ever giving up on me. It was as if he’d become a different person. 62Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 26 Thank You for Giving Me a Heart of Sorrow 谢你赠我一心伤 The most ridiculous thing in An Lingxi’s life was probably that she loved Xuanyuan Mo more than life itself, while Xuanyuan Mo thought of nothing but taking her life… 61Reads5.4Score—14d adds
- 27 How Tragic! Lord Li, My Condolences: Your Wife Drowned at Sea 虐！厉总节哀：夫人她坠海身亡了 [Physical and emotional angst + both are devoted to each other + adorable child + wife-chasing crematorium] After three years of prison life without a glimmer of hope, Tang Chuyao finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. She thought she was free. But as torrential rain poured down, she desperately begged Li Jinyi, knocking her head until it bled, just to see Xiaolang once. That was when she finally understood: she had merely traded prison for another kind of hell… Later, when Xiaolang lef 188Reads7.2Score—14d adds
- 28 Longing for You in This Mortal World 人间久别 Meng Yi had always lived in a silent, dark world, and he thought it was just fine that way. But one day, a beam of light suddenly shone through a crack ahead. He didn’t know the light was false, so he threw himself at it without a second thought. Just as he thought he was about to grasp it, the light vanished. His world returned to silence and darkness. From that day on, he became a madman. 104Reads8.3Score—14d adds
- 29 My Repeating Life in Beijing 我与北京的周而复始 (Print edition signed) “Back then, all of us were lost in our cups. The more we tried to keep pace with the times, the more recklessly we gave ourselves over to pleasure.” “When my beauty fades and my youth is gone, will you still love me as you did at the start?” - Reading guide After Chapter 16, skip to Chapter 17 after the afterword. That is where the story continues correctly. 1.4kReads8.2Score17714d adds
- 30 His Unhealthy Need to Control Me 他对我的病态掌控欲 Lu Mo was the love of her youth, but now he is the devil making her life a living hell. 287Reads5.6Score—14d adds
- 31 Sick Obsession 病态痴迷 After three years with Jiang Qichuan, Wen Mian became pregnant. Her heart was full of joy, but all she got from him was: “She’s back.” She left without a word, hiding her pregnancy. But he refused to let her go. He drove her family to their deaths and clipped her wings, turning her into a canary in a cage once more, kept from the light of day. Jiang Qichuan said, “You were the one who started dreaming above your station.” Only later, after a fire claimed two lives, did he finally see her pregnan 517Reads6.9Score10014d adds
- 32 The Kid Everyone Else Has 别人家的小孩 [Not a Strong Female Lead, Mild Angst] Xia Wanwan is an only child who has always excelled in both character and academics. To outsiders, she's the quintessential “other people's child,” but no one knows how much she envies other people's children. Outsiders have no idea how frightening her family is. She's insecure, afraid, and repressed. After staying silent for too long, she finally erupts, only to give in once again under her mother's latest onslaught. She once thought her world would always 12Reads9.2Score—14d adds
- 33 Deep Love, Fated to Part: I Turned Around to Find Everything Changed 情深缘浅，转身已是物是人非 [An intensely angsty tearjerker + the aesthetics of a tragic ending + love and hate intertwined + the second male lead wins + a devoted male lead who doesn’t understand love] “Mo, why are you taking her as your concubine?” “Rou’er is the one I love most. You’re nothing but a plaything to amuse me!” So it had all been a lie! But he didn’t know she was already carrying his child. In her previous life, she was Lin Jingxi, the noble princess of the peerless Wushuang Kingdom. When a treacherous minis 88Reads—Score—14d adds
- 34 I Designed Your Bride's Wedding Dress with My Own Hands 我亲手为你的新娘设计了婚纱 Cover image source: XHS, Snowy Day Originally titled “Out of Focus” A secret crush is one person out of focus; loving someone you can’t have is two people on parallel lines. When you appeared, the whole world went out of focus. The first time we met, I tripped in front of you. From then on, I’ve always stumbled right where you are. Jian Lushun, goodbye forever. 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 Captive Phoenix in His Arms: The Ruthless Emperor's Prisoner 俘凰入罗帷，狠戾帝君掌心囚 When the Cangxuan Kingdom fell, its legitimate eldest princess, once revered and surrounded by every luxury, was cast from her heavenly heights into the deepest hell. Chu Yan had once been held hostage in Cangxuan. When he was being humiliated, the kingdom’s eldest princess, Fan Hua, came to his rescue. They grew up together and fell in love, but a conspiracy made Chu Yan hate the entire Cangxuan royal family. After years of plotting, he destroyed her kingdom, trampled on her dignity, and forced 285Reads6.3Score—14d adds
- 36 She Had to Live Under Someone Else's Roof, Then Got Pregnant by a Mad Young Master 她寄人篱下，怀了疯批少爷的崽 Jiang Muxing and Lu Zhou lived under the same roof for five years. In public, she was the unwanted burden his father brought home, no more welcome than her mother. In private, she was his partner, summoned whenever he wanted and dismissed whenever he pleased. * Lu Zhou thought Jiang Muxing was obedient and gentle. Even if he married and had children someday, she would never leave without his permission. Little did he know that ever since she had sold herself to him, she had been thinking of leav 4.4kReads7.9Score27314d adds
- 37 Searching a Thousand Miles for the Way 万里寻途 A Thousand Miles in Search of the Way —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 38 CEO, Your Wife Says She'll Pay with Her Life 总裁，夫人说她以命相抵了 [Physical and emotional torment + a repentant husband chasing his wife + younger, possessive obsessive love + tragic ending, no reconciliation] After a car accident, he lost the child he had with his lover. Grieving the loss of his child, Gong Yin blamed it all on Weisheng Luobai. He destroyed her family, crippled her right hand, and ended her path to becoming a champion. Weisheng Luobai, once a gifted young woman who had made a name for herself in the capital, became a servant to his lover. 247Reads—Score—14d adds
- 39 The Unspoken Words of a Secret Crush 暗恋是说不出的那句话 An early writing exercise. Read at your own risk! [Youthful Campus Romance + Bittersweet Ending + Mutual Secret Crushes + The Push and Pull of Unspoken Love] [Cool-headed, resilient good girl Fang Ling × gentle, cunning Chen Yan] Two emails take her back to her second year of high school… That year, Fang Ling met Chen Yan, a transfer student. From their first meeting until the end of the college entrance exams, they spent a long time together, and the feelings she could not suppress spread thro 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 40 When the Grapes Are Ripe 葡萄成熟时 Later, when Tan Jin publicly proposed with that priceless ring, all of Tengcheng was in an uproar. By then, Jiang Xinyi was no longer the untouchable eldest daughter of the Jiang family. She was sitting behind the counter of a convenience store. As people nearby marveled at the news, she remarked casually, “That’s the ring I threw away.” And just like that, she became a laughingstock. Later still, someone really did see Tan Jin kneeling before Jiang Xinyi. But she didn’t even glance at him. She 981Reads7.7Score10514d adds
- 41 An Undying Love 痴爱不渝 Ning Wu loves Yan Xiao with all her heart, but Yan Xiao hates her to the core. For the sake of a promise Yan Xiao made as a boy, Ning Wu stakes everything on winning his love, only to lose in the end. In the final moments of her life, she watches Yan Xiao marry someone else before turning and walking away. What she doesn’t know is that after she leaves, Yan Xiao searches for her like a madman... 181Reads5.5Score—14d adds
- 42 Ci Ci Like Dust 辞辞如尘 What I owe Cen Ci, I will repay with my whole life, even if I must humble myself to the dust... 98Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 43 A Marriage at a Crossroads 婚途陌路 Strangers on the Road to Marriage 49Reads—Score714d adds
- 44 Mr. Jiang, Stop Tormenting Me or You'll Regret It 江总别虐了，不然你会后悔的 [Heartbreaking angst, groveling to win her back, forced possession] A car accident three years ago tied together the fates of two strangers. Jiang Jingyao had only one thing on his mind: revenge. He thought of every way he could to torment Chu Jianing, until in the end even he could no longer tell whether he hurt her to avenge himself or because he was jealous. He had stolen her from another man, but Chu Jianing didn’t love him. No matter how humble he became, even if he humbled himself into the 50Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 45 Love So Deep, Desolation to the Bone 用情至深，刺骨荒凉 To save the woman he loved, she lay on the operating table and endured the agony of having her kidney removed. But she never imagined he could be cruel enough to have their child taken from her with his own hands, cause her parents’ deaths, and finally drive her to the end of her rope… 86Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 46 The Love You Gave Me Cuts to the Bone 你给的爱残情蚀骨 Shen Qing loved Fu Yihan for six years, so much that she was willing to give him everything... But in the end... what a terrible, irredeemable fate awaited her! 81Reads5.8Score—14d adds
- 47 Kept 豢养 Huo Li and Gu Shixiao. They were two parallel lines that should never have crossed. But when Gu Shixiao was at her lowest, a contract in black and white bound them together. Ten years of her youth, signed away. He saved her from the hardships of reality, only to push her into hell with his own hands. Gu Shixiao: “Huo Li, did you ever have any genuine feelings for me?” Huo Li smiled. “What we have is just a transaction.” Gu Shixiao: “Huo Li, was there ever a moment when you...” Huo Li cut her off 122Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 48 President Xiao, Your Wife Says You Have to Sleep in the Study Tonight 萧总，夫人让你今晚睡书房 “The Pursuit of a Wife After Losing Her” + “A Heartbreaking Romance” When Mu Zhixia was five, she was as spoiled as a little princess, the only light on the long road traveled by Mu Jingheng and Xiao Xulin. But later, in the name of protecting her, Mu Jingheng married her off to his subordinate. On their wedding night, the groom fled, making her a laughingstock throughout the Dongli Kingdom. Meanwhile, Mu Jingheng turned around and decided to marry the person she hated most. She struggled and fo 24Reads—Score—14d adds
- 49 Snowfall on the High Peaks 高岭落雪 [Feel-Good School Romance at First, Angsty High-Level Officialdom Drama Later] [Love at First Sight vs. Love That Grows Over Time] [Powerful Family vs. Martyr’s Orphan] School’s been a real headache lately, but at least I heard that the taciturn school bully might have a crush on me... In the purest days of their love, Song Qiubai said they should break up, and Xu Chengche leaped off a building without hesitation. In the purest days of their love, Song Qiubai infiltrated a human trafficking ring 32Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 Late at Night, I Fell into the Cold Abyss of Your Heart 深夜，堕入你凉薄的深渊 Three years ago, their marriage was a cruel act of coercion and conquest. After losing her child and being torn from the one she loved, Su Liyue learned that she was merely a dead woman’s substitute. She burned their ill-fated relationship to the ground. Only after losing her did Qin Yanfeng realize that he loved her to the depths of his soul. He was consumed by regret and went mad with grief. Three years later, the familiar woman returned, but she was no longer his Yue’er... 88Reads7.5Score—14d adds
