Novels like When an Honest Man Picks Up a Knife
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as When an Honest Man Picks Up a Knife, best match first.
- 101 The Underworld: A Fight for the Blood Road 黑社会：血路争锋 In the late 1990s, the waters of the Hai River in Jinmen City carried a stench that wouldn't wash away. They lapped over the dock's bluestone slabs and soaked the mud-caked trousers of Lin Shen. The sixteen-year-old boy huddled in the shadow of a shipping container, clutching a brown paper bag. Inside were three packs of cigarettes he'd managed to “borrow” from a cargo ship that day. They were tribute for Brother Hu, the third-in-command of the Shunfa Gang, and his only bargaining chip for survi 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 102 I'll Write My Own Youth 青春我来写 Synopsis: When I was very, very young, I had a beautiful older sister. My parents were always incredibly busy and often had to leave home to work in other places. So one day, they brought home an older sister they had adopted for me. She treated me wonderfully and took care of me in every way. But Dad was exceptionally cruel to her. Then one day in middle school, my sister left. I studied as hard as I could, and by the time I reached high school, I finally got into a school in the city and foun 234Reads—Score—Shelves
- 103 Day One of College: I Start Running with the Underworld! 大学第一天，从混黑道开始！ A powerful underworld boss is reborn as a college student. With the System’s help, he rises once more to the pinnacle of the underworld. [Feel-Good Revenge + Urban + Underworld + Boss + School] Starting out as a college student, the male lead Lin Ao works his way to the top of the underworld, dominating both the criminal and legitimate worlds. He has powerful backing and influence that reaches everywhere. Dear readers, please be patient as you read. The story starts off ordinary, but the excitin 898Reads6.9Score102Shelves
- 104 My Bad Teacher 我的不良教师 [Nonsensical Humor] [play the pig to eat the tiger] [No System] [No Superpowers] [Urban] [No Female Lead] [Lighthearted Humor] [Teacher] Class 2, Year 2 has gone through five teachers in a single month, earning a citywide reputation as the “Class of Death.” No homeroom teacher assigned to the class has ever lasted more than a week... They drug teachers, plant maggots, and even use violence to force them into submission. Their pranks have no limits, and they keep coming up with new tricks... The 980Reads8.2Score102Shelves
- 105 Tales of the Night, Shrouded in Darkness 夜话无明 [5,000 Words Daily] [Collusion Between Officials and Gangsters] [Profit Above All] [Human Nature Is Evil] [Ruthless and Decisive] [No Formulaic Plot] [Not a Power Fantasy] Walk the night roads and knock on the black door. Beyond it lies a dazzling world, but one wrong step could send you into an abyss with no way back. This path has set countless hearts ablaze, and drawn countless others to follow, one after another, eager to risk everything. What sparks will fly when old-school guardians of hon 224Reads9.3Score—Shelves
- 106 The Days We Spent Running Wild Together 那些年我们一起混的日子 Those were the days we spent together. I want to say that no matter what happened, we were brothers. Later, some of us went our separate ways, and some of us died. Only then did we understand that we were true brothers. The wind carries the words we never got to finish. “Either win on your feet or die lying down. That’s our rule.” “Hello, everyone. I’m one of those guys from back in the day.” 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 107 The Third Republic 第三共和国 [Apocalyptic wasteland]+ [underworld]+ [political intrigue]+ [underdog rises]+ [war]+ [no System] After an asteroid strikes Earth, civilization and order disappear without a trace. Resources are scarce, society is in chaos, and corruption runs rampant… Chen Wei makes his way alone from the lawless, chaotic zone to Shanxing City. All he wants at first is enough to get by, but the cutthroat environment, self-serving superiors, and privileged second-generation heirs… force him to transform from 3.7kReads—Score380Shelves
- 108 The Years We Shared, Brothers 兄弟们的那些年 [Underworld + Ensemble Cast + Decisive Action + Dramatic Rescues + Passionate + Expansive Worldbuilding] A boy watches his parents die horrifically in a gang war, then is forced to leave school behind and descend into the bottomless abyss of the underworld. He forms a bond of life and death with four brothers, growing amid bloodshed and making his stand amid tangled grudges and passions. Through this gauntlet of flashing blades, he swears that every blood debt will be repaid in blood. 23Reads—Score104Shelves
- 109 Tiger Husband 虎夫 [Born to be somebody, just going through a rough patch for now!!!] 3.9kReads8.8Score279Shelves
- 110 Reborn: Forcing My Underworld Boss Dad to Go Straight! 重生：逼着黑道老爸金盆洗手！ [Reborn] [Underworld] [Turning over a new leaf] [Leaving the life behind] In his previous life, Qin Ye and Qin Su were the top leaders of the Fierce Dragon Gang. They had done so much evil that they were executed by firing squad. When Qin Ye opens his eyes again, he has returned to twenty years earlier. In this life, the Fierce Dragon Gang, led by Qin Su, has only just started down the path of organized crime. Everything can still be put right! Qin Su: “Son, we’re already this rich. It’d be a wa 431Reads7.5Score109Shelves
- 111 After Getting Out of Prison, I Married the Underworld Princess 出狱后，我娶了黑道公主 [Multiple heroines + first-person slice of life + retro jianghu customs and human relationships + not for everyone] After the 1999 college entrance exams, I accidentally killed someone while trying to save Xiang Xiaoya and was sentenced to five years in prison. After my release, I followed Brother Wai and became a manager at the most upscale nightclub in Tianlin City. I lived with Xia Shu, the club's star hostess, and enjoyed a life of wine and excess, until I offended Shangguan Yu, the underwor 4.1kReads8.8Score322Shelves
- 112 Tales of Liangzhou: Underworld Turmoil 梁州往事之黑道风云 The jianghu has never been just about fighting. It is about navigating human relationships and weighing the pros and cons. After years moving through the gray areas, I have seen the warmth and coldness of human nature, and witnessed betrayal and scheming time and again. With no one to rely on in my youth, I endured a bitter, hard life. Some took a wrong turn and ended up behind bars, their lives ruined before they were halfway through. I clawed my way up from the very bottom of society, swallowi 141Reads6.3Score—Shelves
- 113 The Bloody Underworld: Thirty Years of Organized Crime in North China 血色江湖：华北黑道三十年 [Underworld + First Person + Period Setting] What is the underworld? It’s a place where even if you win in the end, you still feel like you’ve lost. No matter how much you gain, it can never make up for what you’ve lost. My name is Jiang Qiyao. I witnessed thirty years of the underworld’s rise and fall across North China, watching one boss after another rise to power, then fall. After thirty years in that world, I can’t call myself a good person, but at least I haven’t become completely rotten. 3.1kReads6.7Score149Shelves
- 114 Underworld Tales: One Hand Shrouds the Heavens 黑道往事之只手遮天 [Realistic, not overpowered, no harem, no System, not reborn] A novel about the southern underworld, telling the story of several young men who avenge their brother and gradually rise to become crime bosses. Whether it is the underworld or organized crime, it is all just a game of chess, a set of rules, fraught with danger and human cunning, and driven by power and desire. Behind the bustling city lies a shadowy underworld filled with darkness and desire, where power and money intertwine, and te 412Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 115 I’m a Mob Boss, but the System Wants Me to Fight Violence with Violence 我一黑帮大佬，系统让我以暴制暴 “The wicked bask in glory, while the black-hearted hoard their wealth.” “Kill and rob, and you’ll wear a golden belt; build bridges and roads, and you’ll end up with no bones left.” Reborn in a parallel world, Pei Ji becomes the Azure Dragon Gang’s top enforcer. But the System tells him to fight violence with violence, using his enemies’ own methods against them... [Golden Qilin Kidney] [Black Dragon Eighteen Hands] [Taizu Long Fist] [Body Immune to All Poisons] You’re good at fighting? Sorry, I 364Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 116 The Women I Met in Dongguan Back in the Day 那些年，我在东莞遇到的女人们 [Urban underworld + no System + nostalgia + beauties + power struggles + ruthless action + pure wish fulfillment, no self-torture] Back in Dongguan in 2004, he rises from bodyguard to nightclub beauties to the godfather of Dongguan's underworld. Li Zhan moves to Dongguan for work and meets A-Zhen, who works at a nightclub. After an unexpected incident, Li Zhan drives away a customer harassing A-Zhen, only to find himself at odds with the local underworld. To survive, he's forced into the crimina 20.6kReads8.6Score1.4kShelves
- 117 My Years as a Gangster 我当混子的那些年 The underworld is an endless wilderness, and every gang member is a man prepared to die! The underworld is a narrow path, and every gang member risks his life just to make it through! The underworld is a pure arena of beasts: the winners become kings, and the losers are crushed! Forced onto this path, the young Jiang Liang must now show how he can rule the world with one hand! 111Reads—Score—Shelves
- 118 Urban Dragon in Hiding: I'm a Legend 都市潜龙：我就是传奇 In the underworld, whoever has the hardest Dragon-Head Staff is king! Some say that stepping into the underworld is like drawing a bad lot. In the end, you either die on the run or meet a grisly end in the street. I'm Guan Pan, nicknamed Judge! The future belongs to us young people! Youth means being wild, and ambition can take you anywhere! Liu Huaqiang once said: “If you're not hot-blooded, are you even young?” Young people leap through the Dragon Gate, their lives rising and falling! The dark 318Reads6.0Score—Shelves
- 119 Desire for Black Gold 欲黑金 [Underworld, Passion and Strategy, Multiple Heroines] Six years ago, Cao Zhishuang broke into the room of the campus belle, a teacher, and ended up behind bars. Now that he’s just been released, an invisible hand has already closed around him. Cao Zhishuang resolutely steps into the game, vowing to uncover the true cause of his father’s death and kill his enemies with his own hands. From then on, he sets out on a one-way road paved with desire and dirty money… 6.2kReads8.1Score664Shelves
- 120 Underworld Saga: My Big Sister in the Capital 黑道风云：我的京城姐姐 [Not for Young Readers] [Hot-Blooded Underworld] [Brutal Underworld Battles] [The Many Faces of Officialdom] [Face-Slapping Comeback] [Clever, Satisfying Read] He began cultivating at nine and went to prison at thirteen. In jail, Chu He mastered an arsenal of extraordinary skills. With nowhere to turn after his release, he headed for the capital and entered the underworld, winning the support of the capital's most captivating women. With ruthless methods, Chu He outmaneuvered every faction. Sta 3kReads7.9Score330Shelves
- 121 I Started High School as a Good Girl and Became a Crime Boss 上了高中，我从乖乖女变成黑老大 When I started high school, I went from a good girl to a crime boss. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 122 Jianghu Dragon: Underworld Storm in the Northeast 江湖枭龙：东北黑道风云 Three years in prison, and everything had changed. After his release, Lu Tao found himself at a crossroads in life. The snowstorm that year was so fierce it bent Lu Tao’s back. The friendship that year was so warm it helped him emerge reborn and fight his way upstream. Watch as a close-knit group of friends stand shoulder to shoulder, stride through a turbulent era, and build something magnificent! 19.7kReads9.1Score1.1kShelves
- 123 The Bad Guys: The Storm Rises Again 2 坏蛋之风云再起2 [People have names, and trees have shadows. Who is Xie Wendong? Everyone knows.] As the scorching sun slowly sinks away and the half moon hangs high, as neon lights begin to flicker and night descends, what can we use to prove that we exist? 12.5kReads9.0Score818Shelves
- 124 Underworld Jianghu: From Death Row Inmate to King of the Underworld 黑道江湖：从死囚到黑道之王 [Urban + underworld + wish fulfillment + big shots + realism + no System + multiple heroines] Is the underworld all about human relationships and social etiquette? No. It’s about the relationships and social etiquette that come after the fighting. The only people qualified to sit down and talk about such things are those who have earned their place through violence. Plant your flag, make your name, set up shop, stake out your turf. In the underworld, there’s a mountain ahead of you and another b 252Reads8.5Score—Shelves
- 125 The Strongest Man to Emerge from Vocational School 从职校走出的强者 When Li Feng stepped into vocational school, his life began to change... Youth is meant to be lived boldly and without restraint! A legend is about to unfold! May you roam far and wide, then return still young at heart... 155Reads9.4Score—Shelves
- 126 I'm No Little Punk: The Shorties' Hero Squad 我不是小混混之矮子英雄队 I'm determined not to become a hoodlum. Even a short person can stand tall. Not every hero is tall, but every passionate heart deserves to be seen. I won't go along with the ways of the world. I'll walk my own path through the jianghu. The road is long, so may we meet again at the summit... 67Reads—Score—Shelves
- 127 The Golden Age of the Gangland: A Blood-Red Underworld 黑帮盛世：血色江湖 (Not a mindless power fantasy. Underworld, urban setting, no invincible hero, first person, tight logic, humorous writing. Read with caution if that’s not your thing!) A cursed, tragic fate. A life in the underworld that cannot be escaped. A band of brothers who stand together through life and death, and a dark life longing for redemption. You’ve never endured years of hardship, so of course you can’t understand the underworld in my heart. My story begins after I get out of prison in Ice Cit 108kReads9.3Score8.1kShelves
- 128 The Pinnacle of Nowhere 1 无人之巅1 I went into the underworld because I didn’t want to be bullied... I stepped into the darkness so I’d never have to turn my back on it again. I cast aside my conscience and sharpened my claws, trampling underfoot each person who had once humiliated me. 274Reads—Score—Shelves
- 129 The Pinnacle of Flame City 焰城顶点 Underworld fiction, urban setting. Beneath the plane trees at Yancheng No. 4 High School, more eyes were watching than there were cicadas singing. Some stared at Chen Shun's dazzling blond hair, as if checking whether a certain rumor was true. Some remembered the pale pink scar at Li Huafeng's temple, as though it still held a trace of his unspent fury. Guo Qiang's silent bulk was like a moving wall wherever he went, blocking out the sunlight and the prying eyes alike. No one knew that these few 33Reads6.5Score—Shelves
- 130 The Underworld: The Jianghu Big Shots I Brought to Heel Over the Years 黑道：我那些年收服的江湖大佬 The underworld is a road of no return. It's a last chance for those with nowhere else to turn to make a comeback. Win, and you reach the height of power and become fabulously wealthy. Lose, and at best you die; at worst, you become a cripple. This road takes three parts vision, six parts luck, and one part relying on yourself. By some stroke of luck, I won. When I got out of prison, I didn't have a penny to my name. Now I'm surrounded by beautiful women and rule this whole territory. This road w 6.8kReads8.6Score563Shelves
- 131 The Drifter's Road Home 混子的归途 With my brothers by my side and guns in our hands, let’s see who gets to call the shots in this underworld! I may stay out of the underworld, but once I step in, I’ll make every thug submit and every boss get out of my way. I’ll become the... king of this underworld! New book: Underworld Boss: Starting as a Veteran. Now serializing to great acclaim! 29.5kReads9.2Score2.2kShelves
- 132 Flame City: The Pinnacle, Memories of No. 4 Middle School 焰城顶点之四中往事 The Past of No. 4 Middle School, at the Top of Yancheng 15Reads—Score—Shelves
- 133 I’m No Punk: Three of Us Together 我不是小混混之三人行 Determined not to become a thug, he knows that those who walk different paths cannot work together. Brotherhood, and the revival of the Eight Gates of the underworld. Is a sinister force behind it all, or is something far worse on the horizon...? 307Reads—Score—Shelves
- 134 The Endless Underworld 黑道无尽 (Period setting, underworld, gritty realism, high-octane) A savage era. An unconventional underworld boss. A story of the jianghu written in blood and tears. So much happened in those years. You can only see it clearly through blood-tinted glasses... 2.8kReads7.7Score283Shelves
- 135 Northeast China: The Tragic End of the Underworld 东北往事黑道悲情大结局 This is a fanfiction inspired by the tragic underworld saga Black Morality. It tells of the people who appeared and the events that took place in the four years after Wang Luoguo's death and before Zhao Hongbing's crew burst onto the scene. Readers of Northeast Tales Prequel: Black Morality 1, Northeast Tales Prequel: Black Morality 2, and Northeast Tales: Twenty Years of Underworld Turmoil may have wondered what happened during those four years between Black Morality and Twenty Years of Underwo 4.8kReads6.9Score270Shelves
- 136 The Blood Dragon of Carnage 狂煞血龙 To find her, he enters this battle for power with a band of beastlike brothers at his side... After she is murdered, he raises his blade and unleashes a massacre that shocks the world... His bloodthirsty nature earns him the fearsome title of the greatest killer emperor in history... With his arrival, the underworld is shrouded in a bloody haze for decades... 1.6kReads8.9Score118Shelves
- 137 Tales of the Northeast: Fortune Is in Heaven's Hands 东北往事之富贵在天 [Underworld] [Not Mindless] [Ensemble Cast] [Realistic] [Passionate] [Not a Feel-Good Power Fantasy] After spending three years in prison for injuring someone while collecting a debt, Chen Yang’s first move after getting out is to track down the lousy bastard who reported him and got him arrested, then demand forty thousand yuan. But that incident sets off a chain of events that once again leaves Chen Yang at a crossroads, just when he had hoped to settle down. So... will he accept the hand fate 127.2kReads9.1Score11.6kShelves
- 138 Hong Kong Crossover: Undercover in Hung Hing, Used as a Bullet Shield from the Start 港综：卧底洪兴，开局拿我挡枪 After transmigrating into a parallel world based on Hong Kong crime dramas, Lin Yaotian went undercover in Hung Hing. He never expected Jiang Tiansheng to use him as a human shield. When he returned to Hong Kong, Jiang Tiansheng not only reneged on his promise to pay him thirty million, but even tried to attack him--- From that moment on, Lin Yaotian decided to take back everything that belonged to him and seize control of his own fate! 349Reads6.8Score—Shelves
- 139 A Young Man's Years in the Jianghu 少年之江湖岁月 The jianghu is a road with no return, a maze, an abyss. Some manipulate events from the shadows, while others struggle for their lives in the mire. Watch who rises above them all, and who comes crashing down. 19.5kReads9.0Score1.4kShelves
- 140 The Charismatic Hero 枭雄 The goddess who looked down on me back then now wants to partner with a company under my name… A golden-scaled carp is no mere pond fish. When its destined moment comes, it transforms into a dragon. I’m going to become a ruthless tycoon and make everyone who looked down on me regret ever crossing me. 594Reads8.5Score101Shelves
- 141 The Pinnacle of Black Power 黑权顶点 (Ignore the rating. This is a black-market thriller with guaranteed thrills.) Qin Hui only wants to sell watermelons in peace, earn a little money, and find himself a wife. But the street thugs at the market bully him until he can barely get by. At the end of his rope, he finally picks up a watermelon knife and strikes back. “A man needs either money or power. Better to stand up and fight than live like a spineless loser.” An ordinary man transforms into a big shot, eventually reaching unima 16.5kReads8.5Score1kShelves
- 142 Northeast Tales: Children of the Underworld 东北往事：江湖儿女 [Ensemble cast + conflict between good and evil + life-and-death struggles + complex human nature] [A tale of the underworld, set mainly in Northeast China during the 1990s] What does it mean to be part of the underworld? Everyone who gets involved has a different answer. For Ding Yunfeng, money is dirt, while loyalty is worth its weight in gold. He'll take a knife for a friend, without worrying about the cost or consequences. For Zhang Wei, harmony brings prosperity. He values social graces and 8.8kReads9.2Score775Shelves
- 143 The Youth of Two Generations 两代人的青春 My name is Li Sunan, and I'm a complete... bastard. Please take a moment, settle in, and let me tell you the whole story. From my godfather, Li Zhen, to my second uncle, Cui Lijun, and then to my own dark life. From 1990 to 2020. Thirty tumultuous years in a small city in Northeast China. One act ends, and another begins. Two generations rise and fall, knowing both glory and disgrace. There are no all-powerful crime bosses here. Just a bunch of little people struggling at the bottom... The road 2.2kReads6.9Score103Shelves
- 144 Underworld King: From the Detention Center to a Black-Gold Empire 黑道枭雄：从拘留所到黑金帝国 During the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, Li Sheng, leader of the underworld gang known as the Four Seas Gang, is betrayed by his subordinates. As he lies dying, his resentment forms a soul, and he unexpectedly travels through time to the modern day. On the day he arrives, Li Sheng is locked up in a detention center. Amid the center’s motley mix of people, he realizes that no matter how times change, human nature and desire remain eternal. The underworld will never disappear. The gang boss fro 91Reads—Score—Shelves
- 145 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
- 146 Sons and Daughters of the Jianghu: That Midnight Sun 江湖儿女：那一轮午夜的太阳 The rules of midnight are a way of life much like the law of the jungle. At midnight, what you see may be the moon, but in their eyes, it is their sun. Set against the real-life underworld of the 1990s, this story follows Zhou Shenghua's life in the jianghu. 18Reads—Score—Shelves
- 147 The Butcher Who Walked Out of Prison 从监狱中走出的人屠 Being part of the underworld isn’t about fighting and killing. It’s about dealing with people. Su Bai had no connections, no powerful backers, and had just spent ten years in prison. After his release, he was penniless, so his older brother found him a job as a computer lab attendant. Watch him turn his life around and make his way in both the underworld and the legitimate world. In the underworld, he’s a big shot with people ready to answer his call. In the legitimate world, he has powerful fri 28.1kReads8.4Score2.3kShelves
- 148 Underworld: The Kirin Crown Prince 黑道之麒麟太子 When the Qilin appears, all evil flees. The young lord wields his blade and reigns supreme in the martial world. On this path of revenge sweeping across the globe, he will crush the ambitions of every foreign power and ascend to the highest throne in the martial world. 573Reads—Score—Shelves
- 149 A Gang Shootout Breaks Out at the School Gate, and I Scare Everyone Off 校门口黑帮火拼，我出现吓退全场 At noon, outside the gates of Harbor University. Two local gangs, nearly a hundred men in all and armed with knives, guns, and clubs, are about to fight it out here. At the sight, all the students are terrified and hurry to a safe distance. Only one young man in a white shirt strolls forward with his hands in his pockets, as calm as can be, as if he can’t even see the crowd. The moment he appears, every gang member tenses up. The two leaders nervously walk up to him and bow their heads. “Today’s 3kReads6.2Score228Shelves
- 150 Evil Emperor: Sinful Inferno 邪皇：罪恶无间 [Black X Evil Emperor]+ [Passionate]+ [Reborn Big Shot] Nine death-row prisons across the country. Thirty-six top death-row fighters are selected to dominate the underworld. Reborn in the world of the Evil Emperor, he faces Blood Eagle and fights Lone Dragon. What has he to fear from the life-taking Azure Darkness? The strongest gladiator in the country, Chen Zui is the one and only! 8.6kReads9.1Score504Shelves
