Have you ever read a Chinese novel? Or at least been curious about them? Maybe you're just looking for something good to read?
Check out this compilation of original and translated Chinese novel recommendations.
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No longer taking suggestions or req...
Translator: Ruyi or ruyilala (her official Wattpad account)
Editor: Khuja
Source: volarenovels.com
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Description:
Easily cowed and bullied, she was the useless, ugly woman with no talent in medical skills. Supported by millions, he was Tianning's most respected duke with the power to move all under Heaven. On their wedding day, the bridal sedan was carried to the front doors, but the Duke of Qin's gates were shut tight.
They told her, 'Come back tomorrow.'
All alone, she walked step-by-step full of pride through the duke's doors. Little could they imagine, this unattractive good-for-nothing was a beautiful, genius doctor of poisons!
—
After transmigrating to the past, poisons expert Han Yunxi finds herself on the verge of being married off to the country's second most powerful man, the Duke of Qin. Her future life seems set–except her husband is an unfeeling ice block, her in-laws think she's an eyesore, the empress dowager wants to use her for her own goals, and poison-related plots abound.
Alone, the intelligent (and sensible) Yunxi must carve her own space from the intricate web of court intrigue and the jianghu (the world of martial arts), relying on her words, wits, and wisdom to survive. Adapt when necessary, use force when required; to survive and thrive is the name of the game to a prosperous life.
No matter what, she'll prove her right to live!
o o o
To tell you the truth, I think this is my favorite C-novels. I have a lot of close favorites, but this is one of the ones that have me the most excited when I see an update. There are others that get me equally excited, but I feel as if this one is set apart from the others for quite a few reasons, which is why it's placed above the others in my heart.
Many C-novels with reincarnation/ transmigration have MCs that are way too overpowered and number 1 of this and that. And many times, the background story of the MC is unbelievable or unrealistically used for the convenience of certain plot points. In this novel, the female lead's one cheat is the detox system in her brain. It's powerful, but not exaggeratingly so like other cheats I've seen. And her background in the modern world was actually believable and realistic.
The thing I'm sure most people are concerned about is the romance. I'll tell you this: it's slow as hell. The male lead is a living, breathing ice cube. But that's why I love him. It took forever for him to thaw, but when he did melt, he didn't fall for her calm eyes or because she did one thing and impressed everyone with her cheat abilities (she's actually one of the few MCs who keep their modern morals even in the ancient Chinese atmosphere and setting; doesn't mean she's a pushover though). It took time, but he fell for her. Not Wei Yang, Yun Qian Meng, Jun Wu Xie, Wei Luo, Feng Qi Qi, or any other MC in the xianxia genre. He fell for her, Han Yunxi. And after he realized it, he would never let her go.
And that's weight-y to me because if I'm going to be honest, I feel like a lot of the MCs, not just the ones I mentioned above, are very similar to each other. Too similar, that if you replaced one MC and inserted her with another one like her, the male lead for the first wouldn't be able to tell the difference in terms of personality. He would fall for her all the same. If not at first, but eventually.
But I can't say the same for the ice cube male lead for this one. He fell for every bit of her, not her coldness or amazing abilities. Because they were both on the same boat in a way in the beginning, their relationship was built on trust and a little understanding as it eventually came to be.
But I feel like a lot of you won't believe me if you go and read this. I've seen people drop the book in the first 100 chapters and label it as another average book before it became really good. When you're reading the book and keep thinking on how bad the male lead, no matter what you do, if my words hold any weight to you, remember what I said. And if you really, really hate him and want to drop the book because of him, skip to one of the latest chapters and you'll be shocked at how different he is from before his ice melted. Use your curiosity to read through the rest of the chapters and find out why and how he melted. It'll be worth it. I promise. (Unless you're an even bigger ice block than he is and that's nearly impossible.)
But once again, I highly suggest reading this on the original source. The translator, Ruyi, doesn't want people reading her hard work on another site, including Wattpad. She's repeatedly asked those who posted her translations on Wattpad to take them down, but more keep posting them.
If you think there's no benefit for you if you read from the original site, think again. Because at a certain point in the story, Ruyi started writing her own mini teasers in the form of text posts at the end of each chapter. The text posts consist of interactions between the characters in the story along with Chinese drama scene gifs that are well suited for the situation. She has a great sense of humor and the teasers are hilarious. Many people who were impatient with the male lead taking too long to thaw actually stayed just for the teasers alone. They were just that good. And another thing they did was show the male lead's inner thoughts for the MC that he wouldn't have expressed himself in the story. It made the wait for his springtime all the more bearable.
But if you only read on other sites, you'll miss her amazing teasers. And I can almost guarantee that you won't be able to find them on Wattpad (or that would be outright plagiarism if you already didn't think so before). It's already plagiarizing by posting the translations on Wattpad. The translators of Volare had made an official deal with the original publishers of the book to translate the novels and put it on only their own site—Volarenovels.
Phew, let me take a deep breath. I didn't mean to go on a long rant, but I just wanted to get it all out. Hope you all don't mind. (Please don't run away ꒰๑˃͈꒳˂͈๑꒱ﾉ*ﾞ̥). I wrote a lot for this book because although it's so good, it's underrated on Novel Updates. The writing and translation are superb. It's even getting its own drama.
So please, please, please check this story out. I really want to see it get the love it deserves. (I feel like a big-sis here, is that weird?)
