Novels like Secrets in the Backyard
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Secrets in the Backyard, best match first.
- 51 Atonement 弥罪 I fell through the darkness and saw my own eyes in the reflection. The more someone fears trouble, the more trouble comes looking for them. We are all creatures struggling to survive among the thorns, reaching out our guilty hands in the direction time flows. And now, what can I use to make amends for my sins? 856Reads9.1Score12114d adds
- 52 Night Talks at the Threshing Ground 打谷场夜话 Long ago, in the countryside, there were no phones, televisions, air conditioners, or fans. When darkness fell in summer, people would head to the threshing ground to cool off, sit in a circle, chat, and start telling strange and terrifying ghost stories… 1.9kReads—Score12214d adds
- 53 Forced into a Bridal Sedan to Bring Good Fortune, the Lovely Physician Consort Has Twins 强塞花轿冲喜，娇娇医妃一胎两宝 (Completed) Divine healer + space + strong heroine power fantasy + marriage before love + master of secret identities (no miserable angst, the heroine fights back) Ye Zi, a ghost doctor and special agent from the 23rd century, transmigrates! The moment she opens her eyes, she is being married off to bring good fortune to Ning Hansha, a crippled war god. On their wedding night, Ye Zi uses her miraculous medical skills to save her husband, only to accidentally break the bed! The world says she is 3.6kReads9.2Score53714d adds
- 54 The Long Goodbye 漫长的告别 A chance encounter between a drunk and a detective, A farewell that leads to a murder, A string of killings and the friendship between men, Every time you say goodbye, a little part of you dies. A murder in New York's high society that everyone wants covered up. Only Marlowe insists on pursuing the case to the bitter end and unmasking the real killer! The underworld, the authorities, politicians, and the police all play out tangled, filthy, and corrupt dramas. As the truth draws near, Marlowe re 9Reads9.2Score—14d adds
- 55 The Haunted Houses I’ve Experienced 我经历的凶宅 The older generation often says that people who die violent deaths cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. Their souls endlessly haunt the places where they died, seeking substitutes. Only then can they be reborn. That’s why we often hear in the news about car crashes that keep happening at certain locations. Sometimes the place isn’t even a proper intersection, yet terrible accidents leave cars wrecked and people dead. Some streams aren’t even as deep as a person is tall, yet every year there 2.1kReads8.9Score19914d adds
- 56 Ghosts in Pieces 散装见鬼 Do you believe there are ghosts in this world? I think that question is as impossible to answer as whether there are dragons in this world. The answer you hear most often is: Believe in them, and they exist. Don’t believe in them, and they don’t. But if you ask me, my answer is simple: Yes! Not because I believe, but because I can see them. Of course, I wasn’t able to see them from birth. It all goes back to the strange experience I had when I was six... 23Reads—Score—14d adds
- 57 The Great Pagoda Tree at the Village Entrance 村口那棵大槐树 The 1960s: too few clothes and too little food! In remote Tianshui Village, everyone was struggling to stay alive! Every character is a vivid reflection of that era. They have no golden fingers and they don't transmigrate... so they can only fight tooth and nail against life and fate just to survive! Girls especially had a harder time of it in those days. Listen to the names: Dai Xiao, Huan Xiao, Zhaodi... You can tell at a glance they were named by parents hoping for a son. Back then, many girl 62Reads—Score—14d adds
- 58 An Ordinary Family 平凡一家人 Every era in which an ordinary family lives is unique and impossible to repeat. The hardships of difficult times, the years of struggle and deprivation, the pain that cannot be put into words, and the fiery passion of a new age, the spirit of never giving up and striving onward, the stories of joy and sorrow: all shine brightly through every ordinary day. Life is the passing down of the human spirit. Everyone in an ordinary family has something worth preserving and building upon. Life is a flame 3.3kReads8.9Score29214d adds
- 59 Half Bad, Half Good 一半坏一半好 When dawn breaks, close your eyes. When night falls, open them. Each day brings a different revelation. The more you see, the less afraid you become, until you get used to it. When I thought I had arrived in hell, the next moment I was in heaven. Hell and heaven are hard to tell apart. Can you tell the difference? 17Reads—Score—14d adds
- 60 The Lawyer and the Judge: I Killed My Client 律师审判者：我杀了我的当事人 405Reads7.0Score3414d adds
- 61 The Nonconsecutive Murders 不连续杀人事件 In the summer of 1947, scholars, poets, authors, painters, doctors, actors, and others gather to escape the heat at the mountain villa of the great poet Utagawa Kazuma. A shadow of death falls over the place, and people begin dying one after another. Were they all killed by the same murderer, or did different people commit the crimes? Was this a serial murder case, or a series of unrelated killings that only seem connected because they happened one after another? There is only one truth. Who is 151Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 62 A Man's Courage 男人胆色 Han Jiang never imagined that a seemingly casual remark from his eldest daughter, “I'm not your biological child,” would come true. It also revealed layer upon layer of dark secrets buried beneath his marriage and family. His wife is a stunning beauty and the richest woman in town. She and Han Jiang have been married for sixteen years and have two sons and three daughters. As if that weren't enough, further paternity tests show that his other two daughters aren't his biological children either 12.8kReads6.4Score95614d adds
- 63 Chronicles of Strange Folk Tales 民间怪谈事件录 Not for the faint of heart! Not for the faint of heart! Not for the faint of heart! The 1980s and 1990s saw one bizarre incident after another in Jubao Village: Zhao Laohei, who rose from the dead at the execution ground... The woman who hanged herself in town, her whole face turned a purplish black... The ghost child encountered during a game of hide-and-seek on the Ghost Festival... The terrifying bamboo fiend in the old bamboo grove... People and ghosts playing cards in a yin-yang card game.. 215Reads—Score—14d adds
- 64 Questions of the Uncanny 诡异问 Through the coming-of-age story of “me” (Meng’er), this novel traces the transformation of the Chinese countryside from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The brutality of family-planning policies, the rise of the migrant-worker boom, the unraveling of traditional clan ties, clashes between old and new ideas, and the rough-and-tumble world of small towns... It captures a microcosm of an era in transition, with a realism and density of detail worthy of anthropological study. Through my perspectiv 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 65 The Water Monster Murders 水怪杀人事件 At a weekend party hosted by a renowned marine biologist, a guest dives into the swimming pool in full view of everyone, then vanishes without a trace! There’s no sign that he ever climbed out, and he’s nowhere in the pool, yet strange, enormous claw marks lie on the bottom! Rumors that a vicious dragon killed him begin to spread through the group! When the missing guest’s body is finally found, something even more shocking comes to light: his corpse bears marks just like those left by dragon cl 33Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 66 Three Lives, Three Worlds: Bewitching Control, Girl Across the Way, Look Over Here 三生三世：魅控，对面女孩看过来 Also known as Reborn in 1998: Girl Across the Way, Look This Way Broken System: Take Me Back to 1998, Girl Across the Way, Look This Way Reborn: Three Lives, Three Worlds, Girl Across the Way, Look This Way Rebirth System: Girl Across the Way, Look This Way Reborn in the summer of 1998. The streets are full of bell-bottoms, TV is showing The Legend of the White Snake, pagers keep going off, and even the air smells of popsicles and soda. Best of all, there's a girl with a ponytail in the dorm acr 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 67 Code of the Killer 逐凶密码 130Reads9.3Score—14d adds
- 68 She Wants My Medical Skills, but She Wants Me Even More 她馋我的医术，更馋我的人 Urban Miracle Doctor | Beautiful CEO | Flirty, Feel-Good Story He has a pair of hands that can save lives, yet somehow he keeps attracting women who want him for themselves. She craves his medical skills, but she wants him even more. From an insignificant nobody to a miracle doctor who shakes the city, he was never meant to live an ordinary life. In this life, he will heal the world and show everyone who the real winner is! 349Reads—Score10114d adds
- 69 The Luqiao Murders 陆桥谋杀案 A classic of the inverted detective story. Four devotees of Sherlock Holmes consider Holmes a fool! In their eyes, if a corpse appeared before them, any one of them could do a better job than Holmes. One day, a body tumbles from a railway bridge beside a golf course, and the four “Sherlocks” rush to the scene... Anonymous letters containing nothing but numbers, a possible locked-room mystery, timetable deduction, alibis created deliberately or otherwise, coded messages... The “Four Great Detecti 45Reads9.2Score—14d adds
- 70 Who Wore That Blue Robe? 谁穿了那件蓝衫 Who Wore That Blue Shirt? 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 71 From Rags to Riches: The System Builds a Happy Life 草根逆袭：系统铸就幸福人生 (Urban Life + System + Workplace + Entrepreneurship + No Heroines!!!) Protagonist: Wu Zhou Starting stats: Lifelong bachelor + struggling career Family: Ordinary Does he have a cheat? Yes. This novel follows Wu Zhou, a lifelong bachelor from an ordinary family, as he gradually changes from the inside out through his own hard work, with a tiny bit of help from the System! Warning: Don't form a fixed impression of the protagonist, because he's always going through new experiences and changing! 5.7kReads8.3Score26914d adds
- 72 Naughty? How About I Tie You Up? 不乖？把你绑起来好不好 [Sick, obsessive, and unhinged casino boss vs. a broke heiress who’s all bark and no heart] [Mutual devotion] [Happy ending] [Coercive Possession] She never thought the saying “When the skies turn cold, the Xu family will fall” would come true for her. The Xu Group went bankrupt, and overnight, Xu Tingli went from a wealthy young heiress to someone everyone was chasing for repayment. Her creditors surrounded her home, and Zhou Qi was one of them. A black iron chain wrapped around Xu Tingli’s ank 2.9kReads9.1Score25014d adds
- 73 Tales of Strange Things in the City of Demons 巷说魔都奇谭 [Mystery + criminal investigation + dark themes + human nature + crime + serial murders + episodic cases] Six people have died in Shanghai in the past three months. Since the beginning of the year, bodies have kept turning up by rivers, at the foot of mountains, and at the entrances to deserted villages. Cases include a woman whose liver was cut out, a child who mysteriously vanished, fingers found among minced meat at a market, and a series of beheadings... Join police inspector Ruan Xing, bril 20Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 74 The Canary Murders 金丝雀杀人事件 Broadway's hottest star, Margaret Odell, known as “the Canary,” has been brutally murdered in her apartment at 184 West Seventy-first Street. The scene is a completely sealed room. As the police search tirelessly for clues, they only sink deeper into a fog of conflicting testimony. Everyone seems like the murderer, yet each has a clear alibi. So who is the real killer? Who slipped like a ghost into the star's sealed apartment and carried out the brutal murder? 59Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 75 The Bishop Murders 主教杀人事件 A string of chilling, bizarre murders takes place in New York, and every crime matches a Mother Goose nursery rhyme perfectly! In an instant, the shadow of death falls over all of New York! The “Bishop” behind the strange murders has an intellect far beyond ordinary people and an uncanny talent for meticulous planning. Why does this ghostly figure commit murders while leaving clues, appearing and disappearing like a phantom? What earth-shattering conspiracy lies behind it all? 49Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 76 Mao Zedong's Final Ten Years 毛泽东最后十年 The author recounts what he saw and heard during the 27 years he spent accompanying Comrade Mao Zedong. In particular, he provides a fairly comprehensive account of Chairman Mao's life, work, studies, and inspection tours from 1966 to 1976, and reveals little-known details and episodes surrounding major events such as his “meetings with the Red Guards” and Lin Biao's “September 13 Incident.” The book offers readers interested in understanding and studying this period important historical facts a 6kReads9.6Score1.1k14d adds
- 77 A Way Forward Through Mountains and Rivers 出路之山重水复 [Period setting + Family + Women + Career + Workplace business battles + No romance + Society + An exploration of human nature] No cheat powers, no dramatic comeback. A deep look at the struggles and prospects of 99% of ordinary people! Wish-fulfillment stories are everywhere, but once the excitement fades, only emptiness remains. In the end, we all have to face the grind of daily life and the warmth or coldness of human relationships. This slow-burning work of realism offers no lucky breaks or 2.5kReads9.5Score36214d adds
- 78 The Ugly Daughter-in-Law Takes on Her Cruel Mother-in-Law 丑媳妇大战恶婆婆 The print edition is titled The Fading Embers of Mortal Life and is available on Taobao. [Satisfying highs and heartbreaking lows] [Traditional period setting] [Family drama] [The hardships of real life] This is the story of the joys and sorrows of three generations of women in a dysfunctional family, and how they grow amid the chaos of family life. Fu Ying is born into desperation. Her mother is a gambler, and her father is violent. When she reaches marrying age, no one dares take her as a wife 57.6kReads9.1Score2.1k14d adds
- 79 I Just Want to Be a Slacker, but They Keep Making Me Play Horror Games 我只想当咸鱼，偏偏要我玩惊悚 All I Want Is to Be a Couch Potato, but They Keep Making Me Play Horror Games 35Reads—Score—14d adds
- 80 The Prequel to the Chinese Empire: The Hegemony of the Spring and Autumn Period 中华帝国前传之春秋争霸 [History + Chinese orthodoxy + the transformation from Zhou to Qin + institutional reform] After two hundred years of rival powers rising, see how a hegemon rewrites history. Based on historical works such as the Zuo Zhuan, the Records of the Grand Historian, and the Discourses of the States, this book tells the stories and introduces the figures of more than two centuries of Spring and Autumn history in vivid detail. Centered on the struggle for supremacy, it weaves together the major events an 69Reads9.3Score—14d adds
- 81 A Record of Struggles in the Stock Market 股市挣扎录 The stock market is vast and unpredictable. Liu Bei is picking up his trading career where he left off in his previous book, after weathering the ups and downs of the market. Can he finally turn his fortunes around this time, or will he keep struggling in the stock market? New readers can start with the latest chapter to keep up with the times. 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 82 Nine-Tenths Foolish 九分傻 “Marital relations” used to be a taboo subject, but these days, people no longer find it hard to talk about. Studies show that the quality of a couple’s intimate life in a typical family has a major impact on its overall happiness. Behind a divorce rate as high as 70% there is often a direct connection to whether a couple’s intimate life is harmonious. This reality is sobering, and it has prompted us to think deeply about the reasons behind disharmony in married life. One major cause is mental i 606Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 83 Me, in 1982 82年的我 Could you see ghosts when you were little? I could! In the early 1980s, a country girl born in rural Beijing encounters all kinds of strange and wondrous things. There are everyday family squabbles, romance, absurd and eerie happenings, and an imaginative coming-of-age story. ❤️ A good book is like tea: it should be savored slowly. The title went awry and can't be changed, so it is what it is. The good thing is, readers finish this book at a remarkably high rate. It's one of those books you won' 21.5kReads9.3Score1.5k14d adds
- 84 Ghost Stories of the Southwest 西南鬼事 This is a collection of ghost stories from southwest China, made up of a series of medium-length tales. Some may be part of your childhood, some may be stories you've told yourself, and others may be stories you've never heard. Today, let Xiao An tell you these strange and wondrous tales, one by one. 101Reads—Score—14d adds
- 85 Crime Without a Trace 罪行无间 Two male leads join forces to solve cases: a homicide detective and a brilliant forensic pathologist, both formidable in their own right, one skilled in combat and the other in investigation. Together, they are a pair worthy of the name “hands of God,” piecing together the bizarre deaths of victims and uncovering the true causes of their deaths, so the dead may rest in peace and the victims may be vindicated. With their fists and fighting skills, they capture criminals and deliver justice. Is th 94Reads—Score—14d adds
- 86 Rural Sisters-in-Law 农村妯娌 This is a story of war and peace between two women, and also a miniature epic chronicling the transformation of rural China from collectivization to the modern era. When the well in Liuxi Village was filled in and running water reached every home, the women who had once argued, wept, and whispered secrets beside that well proved through their lives that time can bury old grudges, and that a resilient spirit can blossom in the soil. 2.3kReads7.1Score26214d adds
- 87 A Sensual Life: It Begins with Winning 900 Million in the Lottery 香艳人生，从彩票中奖九亿开始 [A windfall from the start]+ [A sharp-minded protagonist]+ [Dual storylines of politics and business]+ [Secrets of the gray economy]+ [A glimpse of the Heavenly Palace]+ [Leaping through the Dragon Gate]+ [Celestial privilege] 35.9kReads7.9Score1.5k14d adds
- 88 A Hot-Blooded Fight to Become the Boss of the City 热血奋斗成为城中大佬 Gu Yulong, a deliveryman from the bottom rung of society, is stuck in an eight-square-meter rental room in an urban village, trudging through wind and rain every day as he struggles to make ends meet. Then, in an accident, he crosses paths with Su Wan, the mysterious daughter of one of the city's richest tycoons. Su Wan is breathtakingly beautiful. Her luxurious attire can hardly conceal her innate allure, and behind her words, spoken with parted red lips, lies an inscrutable calculation. Like 82Reads—Score—14d adds
- 89 Tales of the Supernatural in Xiangnan 湘南鬼事录 My family is truly from southern Hunan, with ancestral expertise in feng shui and geomancy, spirit-summoning and calming, demon-subduing and exorcism, funeral music, and rites to guide the dead onward. Let me begin with my great-grandfather’s generation. My great-grandfather and his brother were born in the early Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty. By the late Guangxu and Xuantong eras, they had raised five cousins in all, including my grandfather. They all knew our family’s inherited arts. My gran 138Reads—Score—14d adds
- 90 The Fated Blade 宿刃 [Modern setting, espionage, drug enforcement] A case within a case, a plot within a plot, with a fresh and compelling story. A meticulously planned revenge case unexpectedly leads to the kidnapping of a chip expert... “Go back to Tanzhou and secretly assist the Tanzhou State Security Bureau and Public Security Bureau...” Chu Ning asks, “Have you ever seen this girl? She went missing fifteen years ago.” As the investigation delves deeper, the mastermind who has remained hidden for years finally e 143Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 91 Dark Academia Life 黑暗系的校园生活 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 92 This Guy Is a Bit of a Rascal 这个家伙有点坏 [No formulaic plot][Not a wish-fulfillment story][No cheat abilities][Traditional][Realistic][Period][Countryside][Hardship] A boy who is both bad and good, a family made up of people with no blood ties, a difficult yet sweet golden age, and a story full of humor and warmth... Beginning in the 1980s, this novel spans forty years and strives to recreate the changes of the times, telling the story of one person's growth. Above all, this is a realistic story, with both sweetness and heartbreak. Rea 69kReads9.3Score7k14d adds
- 93 My 26-Year-Old Female Boss 我的26岁女上司 [Also known as: Me and My Female Roommates] [Lots of romance] [Everyday life] [No heartbreak] [Love triangle drama] [Not brainless] [Enough heroines to fill two mahjong tables] [Gets satisfying later!] Cheng Mo, a college senior about to graduate, unexpectedly obtained the Destined Wage Earner System. A tenfold bonus on every paycheck? And random rewards whenever the System levels up? After getting the System, he met three female roommates while looking for a place to rent. As if that wer 7.8kReads8.3Score61214d adds
- 94 An Unforgettable Romance at the Factory 工厂里的难忘爱情 Xu Bo heads to the city to find work, where he meets a girl from a neighboring village. They travel to the city together and find jobs. At the factory, the female boss takes a liking to him, and from then on, good fortune keeps coming his way. He rises from a workshop worker to workshop supervisor, and eventually is forced to start his own factory. His life becomes anything but ordinary. This is a story that feels grounded in real life, with sorrow and joy, laughter and tears. The plot never dra 44kReads9.0Score2.2k14d adds
- 95 After the Fake Young Master Was Kicked Out of the Family, He Returned to His Real Billionaire Family 假少爷被逐出家后，回归真豪门了 As the Song family's only son, Song Yuan once thought all the harsh treatment and scolding were methods the family used to groom its heir. But when his true origins were revealed and the Song family's real young master returned, he finally saw clearly: they had never truly treated him as one of their own. His parents were hard on him, his sister despised him, and even his childhood sweetheart and fiancée truly loved the real young master. If that was how things stood, why fight for something tha 12.2kReads8.7Score1k14d adds
- 96 My Wife Seems Cold and Aloof? No Matter, I’m a Weirdo! 憨憨老婆高冷？没事，我是变态！ 4.2kReads9.4Score45714d adds
- 97 In Whose Name 谁的名义 With no one to help me reach for the skies, I’ll trudge through snow and climb to the summit alone. For whom, and in whose name? Perhaps it is the voice of a dream, an eternal strength, by my side for a lifetime… Words cannot say it all. May the spring breeze brush your face, and may fallen blossoms nourish the flowers. Drive out evil; generation after generation, heroes of China emerge. The righteous path of this world is forged through hardship… 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 98 He Was Eating Noodles at a Roadside Restaurant, When He Found a Human Eyeball in His Bowl! 他在路边餐馆吃面，竟然吃出了人眼珠子！ He was eating noodles at a roadside restaurant when he found a human eyeball in his bowl! 38Reads—Score114d adds
- 99 I Moved into Dorm 404 and Uncovered a Deadly Campus Mystery 住进404宿舍，我看破校园凶局 Feng shui, the supernatural, campus life, society: everything you're looking for is here! A story is just a story. Even if someone has experienced something similar in real life, I hope you'll still treat this as just a story! Don't get too caught up in it! Finally, may you, dear reader, stay safe and well! 33Reads—Score10414d adds
- 100 Horror Taboo: Returning the Soul Beneath the Coffin 恐怖禁忌，压棺回魂 The dead open their eyes, ghosts come to claim souls, the living borrow lifespans, and the dead press down on their coffins... One bizarre, uncanny experience after another keeps resurfacing in my mind like a nightmare. The strange tales in this book are mainly based on Yang Jian’s firsthand experiences... A warning: the actions in this book are for entertainment only. Do not imitate them! There are three kinds of people who read this book: thrill-seekers who aren’t easily scared... those who pu 973Reads6.2Score10114d adds
