Novels like The Second Secretary
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Second Secretary, best match first.
- 101 No Regrets in Serving the People 为民无悔 Love brought upheaval; I left the faith behind for a new path. A strange past emerged, and my journey through love was tangled with complications. The waves are fierce. How can I ride them and break through the currents? Love is tangled. Where can I find my way home? My strange past only brings more uncertainty. After years of hardship, I finally found the dignity I once sought, but by then, the satisfaction I had hoped for was gone. What remained in my heart was countless ordinary people, yet I 53Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 102 Aspiring to the Azure Clouds 欲上青云 My new story is here! Feel free to read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you enjoy it. Your support motivates me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 7Reads—Score—14d adds
- 103 Straight to the Top: From Reporter to the Pinnacle of Power 青云直上：从记者登顶权力巅峰 A former journalist, he sees things coming before anyone else. With a pen in hand, he can also wield power. From the ivory tower to the political arena of Changzhou, what others call “not fitting in” is, to him, a false premise. A fresh perspective can break with convention, and swimming against the current reveals a man’s true mettle. Watch Chen Xin enter the game with a journalist’s eye and break through with hard work. With the help of benefactors, he seizes every opportunity and advances ste 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 104 The Road to Power, Starting as a Deputy Town Mayor 通天官路，从副镇长开始 63Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 105 The Mission of Justice 正义的使命 Life is a play, and fate takes its course. He cares for the people and serves the public selflessly. Amid a tangled web of circumstances, Li Yuanlang cuts through obstacles and faces every challenge head-on, composing a magnificent chapter for a new era!! 16.5kReads9.3Score10014d adds
- 106 Xiaohefeng’s First Book 小荷风的第1本书 My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 1kReads6.8Score—14d adds
- 107 Under Investigation from the Start, I Turn Around and Join the Inspection Team 开局被调查，我转身成了督导组 A month ago, Lin Zheng was taken away for an investigation, and the entire work unit erupted in an uproar! After enduring cold stares and ridicule, Lin Zheng was finally cleared. Now he’s determined to make a comeback and get revenge! A month later, Lin Zheng puts on his newly issued jacket. “Hello, I’m Lin Zheng, head of the No. 1 Inspection Team!” As Lin Zheng rises through the ranks, he discovers that an unseen hand seems to be moving everything forward, helping him grow and serve the people! 6Reads7.2Score—14d adds
- 108 From the Start, My College Girlfriend Set Me Up, So I Smashed Her Face 开局被大学女友陷害，我打烂她脸 (Power struggles in government + political scheming) Meng Xun, who died in despair after being framed by his enemies, is reborn in 1998. That year, his parents are still alive, and his family business has yet to be maliciously acquired by its competitors. But in just ten days, both his parents will die in a car accident, and he will be framed and sent to prison, missing out on the best years of his life. Surrounded by wolves and facing a crisis on the brink of disaster, can he use his knowledge 9kReads8.9Score70914d adds
- 109 Tides of Officialdom (Officialdom's Ups and Downs) 宦海之浮沉（宦海官途） After dating for two years, his girlfriend eventually married someone else. His honest, unassuming father was suddenly taken away by the procuratorate. Just as Xu Guohua was at his wit’s end, another blow awaited him: a notice of suspension… 9.1kReads8.8Score1k14d adds
- 110 Officialdom: I Can Hear People's Thoughts, and I'm on a Rampage! 官场：能听见心声的我，杀疯了！ My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support is what motivates me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 113Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 111 Officialdom: A Second-Generation Scion Joins the Grassroots 官场：二代入基层 Lin Jianghe is reborn forty years in the past. Using his foresight and the advantages of his family background, he carves out a place for himself in the political world. Along this rugged road to power, Lin Jianghe cuts through every obstacle and rises all the way to the top! 83Reads—Score—14d adds
- 112 My Wife Wants Me to Leave With Nothing, So She Set a Honey Trap 妻子要我净身出户设下美人计 My Wife Set Me Up with a Seduction Scheme So She Could Leave Me with Nothing —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 113 The Young Lady Kidnapped into a Demon’s Lair 被掳进魔窟里的大小姐 The Young Lady Captured and Taken into the Demon’s Lair 14Reads—Score114d adds
- 114 Officialdom: There's a Beauty Named Xiaofang in the Office 官场：办公室有位美女叫小芳 He works hard, strives to improve, and longs for pure love. Career and romance, what’s hidden and what’s out in the open... His colleague Liu Xiaohua, his classmate Huanhuan. How should he choose...? And then there’s Tang Wan’er, whom he secretly loves... —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 115 The Pinnacle of Power: A Rising Career in Government 权利巅峰：官场之青云仕途 One day, he was implicated in a scandal and demoted from the county committee to a remote border town. Former colleagues turned a cold shoulder, his girlfriend abandoned him, and his future was in ruins. No one knew that, at the lowest point of his life, he would meet a blue-robed old Taoist in the streets and receive guidance from a master. From then on, he would break deadlocks with strategy and navigate the political arena with intelligence, using his deep cunning and far-reaching vision to 13.3kReads7.6Score1.1k14d adds
- 116 The Overwhelming Power of Officialdom 官场之滔天权力 [Peak of Power + Traditional Political Fiction + Absolute Authority + No System] His unit's leaders entrusted Mi Weitao with the major task of cracking down on prostitution. Little did they know, Mi Weitao led his subordinates out of town to eat, drink, and have fun. Just as everyone was waiting to see Mi Weitao make a fool of himself, he rounded up every criminal involved in prostitution. His powerful protectors swore to have Mi Weitao killed, but he sent them tumbling into hell with a single k 11.5kReads8.7Score88214d adds
- 117 Reborn in a Noble House as the Disowned Heir, Thrown Straight into a Fight for Life and Death 魂穿侯门嫡弃子，上来就是生死局 Xiao Mo'an, the discarded legitimate son of a marquis's household, is disliked by his father because of his birth mother. His stepmother and others frame him, and from the start he is sent to govern a county in a place where survival is nearly impossible... 300Reads—Score2014d adds
- 118 A Career Blessed by Fortune: A County Magistrate's Rise to Power 官运滔天：知县逆袭，权倾朝野 [Not a power fantasy! A complex tale of court intrigue and political struggle, grounded in historical research!] Li Shu, a modern-day civil service exam candidate who failed to pass, unexpectedly transmigrates to the first year of the Qianlong reign and becomes a newly appointed jinshi. Starting out as a poor county magistrate in Hengyang, he investigates the shortfall in the ever-normal granaries, exposes the dark secrets of the grain transport trade, and takes on salt smugglers in league with 34Reads—Score—14d adds
- 119 Climbing the Official Ladder: From Assistant to the Finance Bureau Director 官梯：从财政局局长助理开始 A new novel from the author of Officially, an old hand. Everyone is welcome to come read it. Thank you for your support! Your support motivates me to write, and I’ll do my best to make every story a good one! 111Reads—Score11714d adds
- 120 Hao Yunlai in the Political Arena 官场郝运来 [Powerful political fantasy, mind games, political intrigue, multiple heroines] Some characters and settings draw on the author's own experiences, recreated in an appropriate way for readers. Stick with it and every chapter will deliver. See how the protagonist, Hao Yunlai, lucks his way through officialdom... 13.1kReads8.0Score1.5k14d adds
- 121 Reborn: From Live-in Son-in-Law to Ruler of the World 重生从赘婿到权倾天下 Cheng Li, a poor-born young man, is reborn on the day his life takes a decisive turn. Faced with an offer of a contractual marriage from the cool and beautiful senior student Liu Xu, he signs without hesitation. In this life, he casts aside pointless pride, relying on the Liu family’s influence while staying true to himself. He starts out in one of the poorest townships in western Hunan. Building roads, developing cities, alleviating poverty, and breaking through deadlocks, he stands firm agains 31kReads7.6Score3.1k14d adds
- 122 A Smooth Road to Office: Starting as a Selected Graduate in the Provincial Party Committee 官道坦途：从省委选调生开始 [This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real events may be used as a reference.] Reborn in 2011, Lin Zhi becomes a provincial government selection-program official. His very first posting is at a provincial department, where he vigorously promotes the province’s industrial transformation and works to improve the lives of its people. Riding the wave of the emerging mobile internet, he deftly seizes the opportunity and founds a world-famous tech company. With a keen eye for opportuni 203Reads5.9Score—14d adds
- 123 The Pinnacle of Power: Starting as a Township Civil Servant 权势巅峰：从乡镇公务员开始 Amid the great dye vat of officialdom and its many temptations, how can one hold on to the line they refuse to cross? With his former leader caught in a crisis on one side and the “well-meaning” advice of a childhood friend on the other, Qin Dongliang, a mere local civil servant, stays true to his principles. Step by step, he stirs the tides of grand ambition and rises to the pinnacle of an official career. 917Reads7.0Score10114d adds
- 124 Officialdom: Brother, I Thank Your Ancestors for Eight Generations! 官场：兄弟，我谢你八辈祖宗！ Let's set out again with Gao Weijun! The end of your past life was merely someone else's beginning. You were played for a fool without even realizing it. Not this time! Watch as these brothers stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, and walk the road together! Stop falling out with people at the drop of a hat. That's childish! 33Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 125 The Road to Power 权力官途 262Reads7.3Score—14d adds
- 126 The Road to Office: If You Think You Can Do Better, Take My Place 官路之你有本事你上 What right and wrong can there be in this world? Everyone simply has a different point of view. What fairness can there be in this world? You have to be capable before anyone will treat you fairly. Are you any good or not? I’m no good? If you’re so good, you do it. --The male lead is a scumbag. Read with caution if that’s not your thing! —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 127 Reborn: The Summit of the Azure Clouds 重生：青云之巅 Shen Nan is reborn before being falsely accused of stealing the secretary's speech draft. A lifetime of hard work, all for nothing. Shen Nan spent half his life striving, only to be framed by his colleagues, separated from friends and family, and have his ideals crushed by reality. When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the year he first entered public service as a young man. The rivals who once ruined him were still lying in wait, and he still had the opportunities he'd missed before 9.1kReads7.8Score76314d adds
- 128 Officialdom: The Road to Triumph Against All Odds 官场：披荆斩棘之路 [Political intrigue + no System + no rebirth] A career in officialdom is a thorny road, and countless people strive to get ahead on it. As the saying goes, doing a good job matters less than being born into the right family. For an ordinary person with no connections to make their way through the thorns, the only option is to seize every opportunity. Chen Feng is one of those who knows how to seize an opportunity. He cuts his way through the obstacles and keeps moving forward… 376Reads6.8Score10214d adds
- 129 Reborn, I Rise to the Clouds as a Selected Cadre 重生后我以选调生身份平步青云 Liu Huaimin, a fifty-eight-year-old grassroots public servant, spent twenty-seven years in his post before reaching the end of his life with a heart full of regret. In his previous life, an unjust case tied to an engineering project brought tremendous hardship upon his family. His loved ones suffered one misfortune after another, leaving him with a lifelong burden he could never put aside. As he lay dying, he opened his eyes once more, only to find himself back in the dormitory at Beichen Univer 553Reads—Score10314d adds
- 130 The Pinnacle of Public Service: Rising from the Grassroots 官途巅峰，从基层乡镇崛起！ Lu Tianming, top scorer in the provincial civil service exam, is betrayed by his girlfriend. By a twist of fate, he encounters a benefactor who comes to his aid. With his official career going nowhere, Lu Tianming makes a stunning move, and from then on, he rockets to the top… 3.5kReads7.9Score31414d adds
- 131 Chronicles of the Realm: From the Grassroots to the Central Government 山河志：从基层到中枢 A sweeping narrative spanning forty years, from a county archive room to the heart of government. Through the prism of individual lives, it reflects the profound changes in society since the launch of reform and opening up. This is not only “one person’s record of growth,” but also “a close-up study of grassroots governance in contemporary China and an idealist’s journey of struggle.” If you want to read an epic that maps a whole life’s journey from county town to the center of power, measured s 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 132 You Exile Me and Still Expect Me to Form an Investigation Team? I'm the Leader 发配我还要成立调查组？我是组长 6.5kReads8.6Score55914d adds
- 133 A High-Ranking Official 大官 When the wind blows, which way you bend is the greatest test of a person's wisdom. Every choice lays the groundwork for the consequences to come. As time passes and causes and effects accumulate, some people find themselves riding the crest of the wave, while others leave the stage. The world is a game of chess, and every move counts. 98kReads8.4Score6.2k14d adds
- 134 A Bloody Murder Sparked by an Affair 婚外情引起的一起血案 A Bloody Case Born of an Affair 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 135 Spring Evil 春邪 Qin Tian worked diligently and kept his head down, but his female superior constantly made things difficult for him. With no connections to protect him, he was eventually made a scapegoat. At that moment, the resentment he had suppressed for years finally erupted. He swore he would climb to the top and become someone important. 230Reads7.6Score10314d adds
- 136 A Path to Office from Humble Beginnings 寒门仕途 A passionate young man from a humble family, bold and fearless. Reform means reshaping the existing distribution of interests, and is often accompanied by conflict and sacrifice. After graduating from university, Lin Fangzheng starts with a tourism development project in Shantang Village. Navigating a harsh and complicated web of competing interests, he treads carefully along a righteous path fraught with danger… 172Reads9.1Score—14d adds
- 137 The Power Game: A Scandalous Political Career 权路迷局：绯色官途 The arrival of a female leader from outside gave Hao Feng, a county government office secretary who had long been suppressed, a chance to turn things around. After falling into a shocking trap, Hao Feng emerged stronger and was entrusted with important responsibilities. From then on, his career in government took off. He unraveled one mystery after another, rose rapidly through the ranks, and ultimately reached the pinnacle of power. 851Reads9.0Score10314d adds
- 138 The Pinnacle of Power: Rising to the Top from a Township Cadet 权力巅峰：从乡镇选拔生开始逆袭 Zhong Zhenfei comes from a poor family. He has no connections or background, doesn’t smoke or drink, and hasn’t been reborn. Yet after passing the civil service exam, he surges ahead in the political arena and ultimately rises to the top. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 139 The Road Through Officialdom 宦路 The character for “official” has two mouths: if they say you're capable, then you're capable; if they say you're not, then you're not! The political arena is full of deceit and scheming, and one wrong step can leave you shattered. Zhou Yang knows this all too well. With no powerful backers, no connections, and no money, how can he survive? He has no choice but to keep going. He works hard and fights on, rising step by step to a position of power... 8.3kReads9.0Score84814d adds
- 140 Officialdom: From a Small Town to the Pinnacle of Power 官场：从小镇走上权力巅峰 Overnight, everything changed. Like a dragon trapped in a shallow stream, Tang Peng saw his bleak world brighten after a mysterious stranger called him. Watch how he rises from a low-level civil servant to the pinnacle of power! 118Reads9.1Score11814d adds
- 141 Just Dumped, I Turn Around and Pass the Civil Service Exam to Work in Her Hometown 刚被分手，转身选调上岸去她老家 A new work is out! You can read my stories on Tomato Novel. I hope you enjoy them. Your support is what keeps me writing, and I'll do my best to tell every story well! 17.5kReads7.7Score1.5k14d adds
- 142 A Crime Within Reach: The Genius Profiler Is Both Alluring and Daring 咫尺之罪，天才侧写师又撩又飒 [Mystery + sweet romance | Genius profiler × tough-as-nails police captain] On the first day of her return to work, a torrential rain pours down. Now the old case has been reopened, and the real culprit is right before her eyes. The man who grabbed her around the waist in the rain is her former partner, Zhou Sheng, the man she’d been avoiding for a year. He gave her a teasing smile, his gaze burning. “Consultant Meng, are you still brave enough to sign this time?” She turned her face away. “What 60Reads—Score—14d adds
- 143 After the Divorce, My Official Wife Regretted It! 离婚后，官妻后悔莫及！ Some say the official world is all scheming and deceit, about choosing sides and making choices, a life-or-death struggle. For Liu Qing, the official world can make his ex-wife regret everything, help his family prosper, and bring benefits to the wider public... 2.9kReads6.4Score23214d adds
- 144 Justice of Heaven’s Way 天道正义 The Way of Heaven and Justice trilogy is a political-philosophical epic that probes the nature of power. Through the trials of grassroots official Chu Feng, it embarks on a profound search for the “Way of Heaven” and reflects the sweeping changes in China's officialdom. Is there a higher justice beyond the rules? In A Gentle Breeze, characters find a way through the mire of a society governed by personal connections, exploring the balance of the Way of Heaven between “law” and “human feeling.” I 49Reads8.7Score—14d adds
- 145 The Traffic Bureau Chief 交通局长 Lin Zhongquan was an ordinary employee in a road maintenance section. Following his father’s wishes, he was determined to climb the ranks. On his father’s repeated advice, he married the former mayor’s daughter and managed to get in good with Huang Dingli, the head of the Pingchang Municipal Transportation Bureau. During a construction tender, Huang Dingli and Lin Zhongquan got to know contractor He Rubin and the stunningly beautiful public relations agent Miaomiao. They helped He Rubin win the 93Reads9.4Score—14d adds
- 146 Part One 局部一 The protagonist, Hu Weimin, navigates the ups and downs of officialdom while staying clearheaded, resisting all kinds of temptation, and holding fast to his principles. The everyday settings make the characters feel as if they’re right there beside you, perhaps even people just like yourself. 1.1kReads6.8Score10314d adds
- 147 The Twists and Turns of the Official's Path: Rising to Become a Party Secretary 官路跌宕：一路逆袭成书记 My new story is here! You can read my work on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 71Reads—Score—14d adds
- 148 Ambition to Rise: Twenty Years in the Turbulent World of Officialdom 青云志之二十年官场沉浮录 Everyone else was fighting tooth and nail to transfer back to the county seat, but I volunteered to go to Shiqiao, the most remote town in the province. They all said I was an idiot, giving up a good county job to become a deputy mayor in some poor mountain village. Only I knew the truth behind the three hundred thousand yuan in poverty-alleviation funds for Shiping Village. Someone had to investigate it to the very end. In Shiqiao, I led villagers in clearing land and planting tea, turning u 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 149 The Pinnacle of Power: Starting as the Secretary to a County Magistrate 权力巅峰：从女县长秘书开始 [Political Drama + No NTR + Lighthearted Style] It's hard for an honest person to thrive in politics. When the rules work in your favor, emphasize the rules. When morality works in your favor, emphasize morality. When neither helps, muddy the waters. This is the story of Ji Feng, carefully advancing step by step toward the pinnacle of power. 265Reads9.2Score10314d adds
- 150 The Shadow of Jingzhe: The Male Secretary’s Deadly Identity 惊蛰谍影：男秘书的致命身份 On March 5, 2026, Jingzhe, Zhou Daimei died in an "accidental" car crash. Just before she died, she received a WeChat message: "Don't go. It's an ambush." When she opened her eyes again, time had turned back three days, to 5:24 a.m. on March 2. She had 72 hours left to live. This time, she had returned with her memories intact. 93Reads—Score—14d adds
