Novels like Tales of the Northeast: Wang Pinghe
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Tales of the Northeast: Wang Pinghe, best match first.
- 1 Gourd Immortal Venerable 葫芦仙尊 A lowly slave, insignificant as dust, saw his fate change forever that day. A mysterious gourd vine took root inside him, and from then on, his life spiraled beyond his control! This gourd can contain all things under heaven and earth, cleanse the world of filth, and turn decay into wonder! This immortal vine can parasitize all manner of spiritual objects and spur the growth of everything. Give it enough nourishment, and even a ten-thousand-year-old spirit herb can be ripened overnight! Best of 422Reads6.7Score5014d adds
- 2 From Coal Miner to Underworld Outlaw 从煤窑矿工到黑道狂徒 A brawl in a coal mine made Guo Dianpeng, fresh out of prison, a welcome guest of Ye Tao, a major figure in the underworld. No one knew that this coal-dusted miner was a decorated veteran who had fought through the bloodshed of battle. And no one expected that this rough-and-ready man, who only wanted to earn a living for his family, would shake up the balance of power among Pingcheng’s gangs. The road through the underworld is long, and people’s hearts are hard to fathom. The only way forward i 347Reads8.3Score10414d adds
- 3 The Old Days of Northern Jiangsu 苏北社会往事 This is not just a school story. It is a snapshot of an entire generation’s coming of age: On dignity: When fists become the “rules,” can books still defend our dignity? On choices: In the gray areas, how do we draw the line within ourselves? On leaving: That train ticket to Nanjing is the coming-of-age rite shared by every boy from northern Jiangsu. 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 The River-Crosser: A Fugitive 过江龙：亡命之徒 His parents died in a mining disaster, and he was forced out of work. Wang Yue only wanted to tend his barbecue stall and live quietly and honestly with his brothers. But the son of a powerful family kept pushing him, refusing to leave him even a way to survive! With nowhere left to retreat, he would retreat no further! (This book has a gritty style and realistic plot. Proceed with caution.) 55kReads8.2Score3.9k14d adds
- 5 A Journey Through Troubled Times 浊世征途 This is not a brainless power fantasy, and there is no System or golden finger. After seventeen years of writing, my specialty is fabricated reality and real fabrication! If you do not like it, please do not read it. Thank you for understanding. Those years, those brothers, those stories! Let us set sail and renew our old bonds! May all the brothers who pass by, come in, follow along, and offer their support live to be a hundred, enjoy abundant wealth, and have all their wishes come true! 41.2kReads9.4Score3k14d adds
- 6 A Generation’s Mad Tyrant 一代狂枭 “Hey, punk! You got the guts to tell me your name?!” “I’ll give it to you straight! Your grandpa’s Li Xiao! Li as in the wood-and-child Li, Xiao as in a great hero!” He’ll take a knife for his brothers! He’ll risk his life for the woman he loves! He knows when to yield and when to stand firm! He bears humiliation and carries heavy burdens! He never shows his enemies any mercy! Young and reckless, he pursues his dreams; full of ambition, he strives to achieve greatness! 156Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 7 The Rise of the Wind and Clouds in 1990, Starting in Niujia Village 风云1990，从牛家村开始崛起 Name’s Goudan. The only college student in the village? Bullshit! Now all I want is to be the biggest bastard around! That old lecher Wang the Lame thinks he can touch Liu Xue, the goddess I’ve had a crush on since we were kids? And he even wants to strip her naked in front of everyone? My brother gets beaten, my goddess gets humiliated. How the hell am I supposed to swallow that? The old Goudan died with that slap. Let me introduce myself again: I’m Goudan. “Dog” as in son of a bitch, “dan” as —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Those Were the Days: My Life in the Underworld 那些年，混过的日子 Sleeping rough and braving the elements are just part of life. Clashing blades and exchanging blows can put old grudges to rest. Brothers are heaven, brothers are earth. With brothers, you can stand tall between heaven and earth. Brothers are the wind, brothers are the rain. With brothers, you can summon the wind and call down the rain. Based on real events, this novel commemorates the years we spent getting into trouble together and pays tribute to the youth of those born in the 1980s. End 1.3kReads6.4Score10914d adds
- 9 Southeast Asian Widows Help Me Become a Tycoon 东南亚寡妇助我成大佬 Multiple heroines, exotic settings, mature women, young women, and foreign beauties. Decisive and ruthless, with no frustrating setbacks. When it's time to indulge, he does so without hesitation. Wang Da Qiang, a crime boss, is caught in the act from the start. Then a System that appears out of nowhere and vanishes just as quickly dumps him in An Nam in the 1980s. With the help of all kinds of beautiful women, he rises to become a Southeast Asian crime lord. 242Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 Winter Reigns Supreme 凛冬为王 In 1998, Frost City was battered by wind and snow. The young Chen Lin had lost his family and been left crippled, suffering one humiliation after another. The moment he entered the underworld, he made ruthlessness his way of life and ruled the streets with his fists. From discarded pawn to overlord, he climbed to the top and became king in the depths of winter. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 11 Dongguan: Starting by Conquering a Powerful Woman 东莞：从征服女大佬开始 [Guan City fiction + urban underworld + period drama + passionate + ultimate wish fulfillment] A man must have courage and grit. When his cousin was carried back to Niulan Village, crippled, Chen Xiaolong accompanied his cousin's wife south to Dongguan the next day. Dongguan in 2008 was a chaotic place, crowded with all kinds of people and gangs. To protect his cousin's wife, Chen Xiaolong stepped onto a blood-soaked path through the underworld. The worlds of black, gray, and white were turbulen 30.9kReads7.8Score1.7k14d adds
- 12 The Underworld! 黑道！ [Gangland, realistic, no wish fulfillment, no mindless plot, no System, frequent updates] Five years ago, Lin Jun enlisted in the military. During those five years, he earned countless military honors. Five years later, Lin Jun returns home after leaving the military, only to find not a happy life awaiting him, but his mother's cold corpse. To avenge his mother, Lin Jun has no choice but to embark on a path of no return, stirring up countless waves in the underworld! 34.9kReads8.5Score2.6k14d adds
- 13 After I Got Out of Prison, My Sister Forced Me to Inherit a Billion-Dollar Fortune 出狱后，姐姐逼我继承亿万家产 Food delivery rider + Sanhe drifter + brotherhood in the underworld + rise to the pinnacle of power. Revenge and face-slapping + unexpected fortune + underdog's rise + tight, logical plotting. A Southeast Asian power struggle + fierce mercenary battles + leading your brothers to the top. My ex-girlfriend clings to a rich man and mocks me: “All you'll ever be in this life is a garbage picker!” Late one night, three sexy older women corner me beneath a bridge. “Your parents left you hundreds of mi 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 I Chopped Until My Blade Chipped, and You Say I Hit the Wrong Person? 刀都砍崩了，你说我砍错了人 [Underworld + passionate jianghu + ruthless and decisive + a true kingpin] To stand up for the girl I loved, I blinded the village bully in one eye and spent three years in prison. When I got out, the goddess never came to greet me. Instead, I received an invitation to her wedding to the village bully... The jianghu is colorful and exciting, but it’s also rife with bloodshed, schemes, and deception. Brothers may share life and death, but there’s no shortage of betrayal, infighting, and estrangem 16.3kReads7.8Score1.1k14d adds
- 15 The Most Evil Jianghu 极恶江湖 (Realistic fiction, historical setting, underworld feuds, business and political battles. No harem, and not a wish-fulfillment novel! This book is divided into domestic and overseas sections. The domestic section moves at a slower pace and has a stronger period feel, while the overseas section is fast-paced and intensely exciting. You can read either section on its own with no problem.) The evil of the underworld lies in the human heart! Books are full of talk about benevolence and righteousness 23.6kReads8.3Score3.6k14d adds
- 16 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 3.7kReads6.0Score37514d adds
- 17 The Cocoon Breaker's Forbidden Zone 破茧者禁区 A pandemic that swept across the globe divided most of human civilization into three zones: the Infected Zone, the Quarantine Zone, and the Sterile Zone. Zombies, Grayfolk, and the Healthy each occupied their own territory. But a property deed that quietly made its way out of the Sterile Zone shattered the fragile peace, sparking fierce clashes between the Grayfolk, the Healthy, and the interest groups they served. Li Xuan, a healthy man raised in the Infected Zone, bears the hopes and trust of 58Reads—Score—14d adds
- 18 Dark Glory: Twenty Years in the Underworld of Northeast China 黑暗荣耀：东北江湖二十年 1.3kReads8.8Score10614d adds
- 19 Wasteland Kingpin: Leizi, Fresh Out of the Undesignated Zone 废土枭雄，从待规划区出来的雷子 [Now available with multi-character narration and a live-action voice cast version! The animated series is now streaming on Hongguo!] [Wasteland underworld + no stockpiling + not invincible + no System + tough guy + ensemble power struggles + two strong leads + urban] In a wasteland where order has collapsed and warlords carve up the land, Jiang Ye leaves the three Chinese districts and arrives in District Ten, the "City of Sin." The rules here are simple: endure, get ruthless, or get out! Since 60.7kReads8.8Score7.9k14d adds
- 20 Those Confused Days of Youth 那些年迷茫的日子 One thought can lead to heaven, another to hell. Half a life wasted, with the past too painful to look back on. I once ruled my corner of the world, and I once ended up in prison. From being adored by everyone to the desolation of today, I dedicate this book to the friends I once had. 726Reads7.1Score—14d adds
- 21 My Days of Being Bullied at School 校园被欺负的日子 The main characters are Wu Ming, Zhang Qiang, and Zhou Yao. This isn’t a brainless power fantasy, but a bumpy story of growing up. When my brothers fight, I run; I’d never touch a friend’s wife, but if my friend’s away, anything goes. A life of gaming on credit and gambling for tokens in the arcade. 11kReads8.2Score67114d adds
- 22 Jinbei Storm: A Black-Market Outlaw 晋北风云：黑道狂徒 Yanbei City is known as the Coal Capital, and coal is also called black gold. Crowds of gold seekers pour into Yanbei City, hoping to get a share of the coal industry. The various factions stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In their eyes, everything has a price, including human life. What is the underworld? The underworld is face. The underworld is brotherhood. The underworld is money. They say the coal of northern Shanxi is black, but few realize that human hearts are blacker still. After 4.2kReads9.0Score22614d adds
- 23 A Song for the Underworld 混子的挽歌 [Raise our cups and toast the rugged road through the underworld.] [Through blood and fury, a brotherhood that lasts a lifetime.] A naive, timid young man, to keep from losing the brothers at his side again, chooses to take up a three-foot steel blade and step into a world stained red with blood. Behind the brotherly bravado and drunken revelry of the underworld, the only things that never change are ruthless exploitation and cold reality. The people he meets make him sick. And little by little, 2.4kReads7.3Score23914d adds
- 24 My Years in the Underworld: Three Fingers 混黑道的那些年：三根手指 (Period Setting + Underworld + Urban + Satisfying Read + Passion + Mockumentary Style + Brotherhood + No Harem) This novel may touch on real underworld events. Any similarities are purely coincidental! The audiobook is officially out now! It's a real thrill! Brothers, dive right in! Northeast China, 1994. A young man cuts off three fingers with a knife and flees to the northwest. His parents are divorced and his family is well-off, but he insists on making his way through sheer ruthlessness. Fol 94.8kReads9.2Score10.2k14d adds
- 25 The Jianghu: I Am the Kingpin 江湖：我即为枭 [Underworld] [Brothers United] [Mind-Bending] [Passionate and Thrilling] Three years in prison couldn't dull my edge. My name is Wang Xiao. I spent three years behind bars for offending a powerful figure. After my release, I returned to my old stomping grounds with my brothers and the skills my master taught me. Some want to trample me underfoot. Some want to stab me in the back. And my enemies, lurking in the shadows, are watching me like hawks. But my life is no longer something just anyone ca 114Reads—Score—14d adds
- 26 Who Rules the Changing Tides of the Martial World? 江湖之谁主浮沉 “Northeastern Gangland,” “No Mindless Shenanigans,” “Based on Real Cases” A group of young people, driven by a moment of recklessness, set out on a path unlike any they had taken before... From Xiao Yao's days of loafing around to gradually growing up and setting off down the point of no return, making a living in the underworld... Family, friendship, and love all become entangled... Some die... some go to prison... and others... A new story, a new beginning. Come witness the rise of a true crim 248Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 The Era After the Martial World 后江湖時代 [Underworld + Passionate + Satisfying + Ensemble Cast + Jianghu + Big Shots + School + Comedy] “After midnight, we call the shots on this land, whether you’re on the right side of the law or the wrong one!” Jiang Nan stood proudly at the summit like a solitary eagle, looking down at the young generation shining like stars across the jianghu below. “The Su District...” “The tragedy from ten years ago will never happen again in our generation!” “I’ll make sure everyone knows that this era belongs 24.8kReads8.9Score1.6k14d adds
- 28 Underworld Storm: The Uncrowned King 黑道风云：无冕王侯 (First person, period setting, underworld) A big brother? A big brother isn't some glamorous, all-powerful emperor who does whatever he pleases. A big brother is just the guy who picks up the tab. The underworld? It's brotherly loyalty, deceit and betrayal. It's a place that strips the tenderness from gentle-hearted men and hardens them, and turns green young boys into grizzled old gangsters. My name is Zhao Qingfeng. I've been around the underworld, and I was once a big brother! 37.3kReads9.2Score3.9k14d adds
- 29 Wang Hao, the Inverse Scale King 逆鳞王皓 A comeback, a defiance of fate. Bullied for years because of his weight, he finally reaches his breaking point and vows never to be weak again. He fights back, step by step descending into hell, and soon dominates the campus... 116Reads—Score—14d adds
- 30 Lone Wolf of the Underworld: I Came from Hell 黑道孤枭：我从地狱来 Orphaned at eight, I spent eight years keeping my head down. I came from hell, and I came for revenge. When the lone wolf strikes, the underworld runs red with blood. Those who owe me will repay me tenfold. Those who wrong me will be ground to dust! 201Reads—Score—14d adds
- 31 The Alpha Wolf, Who Can Stand Against Me? 头狼，谁与争锋 In the depths of winter, my birth parents abandoned me. Luckily, my adoptive mother took me in and named me Yang Dong. My sister dropped out of school to support my education and went to work in the city. I went to find her with my university acceptance letter, only to witness her being abused to death! Blinded by rage, I took a knife to avenge her, but I was framed and sent to prison instead. Six years behind bars, and my hatred never faded! After getting out, I set off on the road to revenge w 14.5kReads8.9Score1.6k14d adds
- 32 1980: A New Order in the Underworld 一九八零：江湖新秩序 What is the martial world? Wherever there are people, there will be conflict! The strong survive, and the weak perish. That is the martial world! Relive the 1980s and pay tribute to a youth long gone! This is the story of Han Yue, and how he rose from the bottom to the top of the provincial capital, only to fall again! The road through the martial world is treacherous. Everyone survives by their own wits! Hold on, and you can make something of yourself. Give up, and you're out... (This book is p 4.4kReads8.7Score28314d adds
- 33 Underworld Storms: Zhang Yue 黑道风云之张岳 He is the staunchest believer in the code of the underworld, fiercely loyal to his brothers to the point of obsession; he believes most in repaying every blow, dealing with his enemies with ruthless finality; he holds fast to his fighting spirit, staying true to himself to the very end. He is Zhang Yue, the underworld boss known as the Pale-Faced Scholar. 10.9kReads8.1Score60814d adds
- 34 The Man Who Reached the Top of the Underworld 黑道触顶之徒 The underworld is shallow waters teeming with big shots. Thousands shout my name: Brother Tian. Xia Tian, a young man from the bottom of society in Northeast China, gets caught up by chance in the feud between two underworld bosses. From then on, he sets out to climb to the top of the criminal world. Benefactors, moles, bandits, desperados… all sorts of characters take the stage, and the action is heart-pounding. Watch as he leads his brothers from small-time nobodies to become the biggest kin 3.7kReads8.8Score25114d adds
- 35 Underworld Storms: Qiao Si's Strategists, Xiao Ke and Wang Wei Fan 黑道风云之乔四军师小克王伟范 He was Qiao Siye’s strategist, known as the Brains. Only five-foot-three, he had an exceptionally quick mind, earning him the nicknames Little Zhuge and Ghost Six among the underworld. He wasn’t known for violence, but for his sense of honor and loyalty. Born into poverty, he started out as a bathhouse scrubber and worked his way up to become one of the Three Musketeers of Bingcheng, even driving the city’s first Mercedes-Benz 560. Follow the turbulent life of Wei Wan, the Little Master of Bingc 167.7kReads8.7Score9.2k14d adds
- 36 Southwest Storm: Turmoil on the Black Sea 西南风云：黑海沉浮 When I was eighteen, I met someone who led me down a certain path. Some describe this path with the idealistic word “jianghu.” But the jianghu you actually find yourself in is better summed up by a rather funny saying: “After all this time, I’ve made no friends, only learned lessons.” My name is Lin Dongxia, and I’ve learned my fair share of lessons. 33kReads9.3Score3.2k14d adds
- 37 The Fire of Our Youthful Years 那些年我们青春的锋芒 To everyone else, he was an honest man and a spineless loser. His middle school years were a living hell, until one day, a friend his age from the neighboring family transferred back from a school out of town and came to his defense with a commanding presence. The boy, Wu Feng, took the baton handed to him and strode ahead, rising from a meek, honest kid into a powerful figure who radiated authority and revealed his sharp edge. 28Reads—Score214d adds
- 38 After Prison, I Just Want to Live a Quiet Life 出狱后，我只想平平安安过日子 [The world is too deep for me. I just want to make something of myself.] My name is Ma Tengfei. I had just finished the college entrance exams when I got into a fight and was sent to prison for three years, missing my chance to go to college. A death-row inmate named Uncle Ming told me there were three kinds of people in this world: those above everyone else, courted by the masses and living lives others envy; those in the middle, scurrying around like ants and fighting one another just to survi 6.2kReads7.5Score42814d adds
- 39 Are You Crazy? You Dare Mess with Brother Long? 你疯了，敢惹龙哥？ The underworld is rife with temptations of money, profit, power, and women. It’s not just about fighting and killing, but also about the ways of the world. But human hearts are treacherous, and the ways of the world are ever-changing! After getting out of prison, Li Hailong uses his bloodstained hands to carve out a world of his own and become a fearsome dragon of the underworld! 285Reads7.4Score—14d adds
- 40 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. 22Reads—Score214d adds
- 41 Underworld: Blue Skies 黑道：青天 At a class reunion, I kept a low profile and was mocked and sneered at by my former classmates and teachers. Just as I was about to leave, the class beauty from back then suddenly stood up to defend me. 22Reads—Score—14d adds
- 42 Black Shark 黑鲨 I can’t stand you, so I’ll beat you up! You made me unhappy, so I’ll make you pay! White can be black, and black can become white, because even under the brightest lights, shadows are always there. Blunt and revealing, but not judgmental. This may not be the pinnacle of crime fiction, but it is absolutely a trailblazer in the genre! Just wait and see! 557Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 43 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 21kReads8.6Score1.5k14d adds
- 44 Tales of the Southern Underworld 南方黑道往事 A highly realistic and utterly authentic autobiographical story about the underworld. Many readers who have started reading have already been drawn deep into it. Open this book, and you'll see a real underworld: helplessness and betrayal, a deeply immersive world of bloodshed and brotherhood. 5.7kReads8.9Score44114d adds
- 45 The Boss of the Underworld 江湖话事人 [Not many readers, so the rating just won’t go up] One wrong turn brought me into the jianghu. Watch as I summon storms with one hand and calm them with the other. Starting from nothing, I’ll carve out a path through the jianghu. They say you become what you eat, so if you want to climb higher, there’s only one thing to eat... 2.7kReads7.8Score20314d adds
- 46 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 17.1kReads8.5Score1k14d adds
- 47 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 4.9kReads6.9Score27014d adds
- 48 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! 19.1kReads9.1Score1.1k14d adds
- 49 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 413Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 50 The Jianghu: What Is It, Really? 江湖，到底是什么？ [Pure Underworld] [The Jianghu of the 1980s] Where there are people, there are grudges; where there are grudges, there is a jianghu; people are the jianghu! It used to be called the jianghu, but now it's called society! When the storms had passed, Lang Aowen knelt once more before the sacred image of Guan Yu, holding three sticks of incense high above his head. Only one question remained in his heart: The jianghu, what exactly is it? [Serious Warning: The characters and plot in this book are 1.7kReads—Score10114d adds
