Family/Village/Clan/Wealth Building, Poor to Rich, Business Management
Family/Village/Clan/Wealth Building, Poor to Rich, Business Management
Any recommendations are very welcome! All the family/village/kingdom building poor to rich, wealth making business type of stories I've read because this is one of my favourite tropes of all time! Including any business management! (Just discovered there is a tag for it haha) Its just that usually its not done very well or only the kingdom building is good and the characters and scaling is so bad its not enjoyable to read anymore. The stories included will have things like improving the quality of life of the village/kingdom, introducing modern advancements into an ancient/medieval culture type of place. And with likeable characters to keep you going. I'll only include the novels where I read 100% of it or most of it. Probably won't include any dropped novels.
Hard-Working ProtagonistModern KnowledgeCraftingAncient ChinaAncient TimesBusiness ManagementPoor to RichClan BuildingFarmingKingdom Building
28 Followers
Created: Aug 22nd, 2022, Updated: Apr 20th, 2024
Created Aug 22nd, 2022
Updated Apr 20th, 2024
JP (4.2)
115 Chapters Every 124.2 Day(s) 13201 Readers 160 Reviews 08-15-2023
5 Stars!... more>>
I love this series! It's ongoing, so ugh but the official translations + extra comics + art are so worth the wait! This series has awesome worldbuilding and cool magic when it gets there, it feels like an actual fantasy series with real characters and feelings and plot and love and care in its crafting! I adore all the characters introduced with my favourites being Rozamyne and Ferdinand! I've read some minor spoilers(in that after I don't know how many books, we still don't get many hints of it) for the Ferdinand and Rosamyne romance! I'm not squick about the age difference because Rosamyne's age is too obviously mature enough for it haha. I adore all the building up from scratch knowledge and info that goes into introducing future advanced knowledge into a medievalish setting by Rosamyne and of course, profiting from it haha. I just love this type of stuff. Add in all this lore, character relationships, super likeable and fascinating characters, fantasy setting and all that ahhh I love it! Not to mention the humour all over. The vibe is wholesome-ness with an ambitious and likeable heroine and her friends and family. I adore this series.
Part 2 Vol 4
Dayum, I'm more and more impressed by these books as I go along. I even look forward to reading the short stories in other characters' POVs when I normally hate reading those because short stories usually are very boring and lacklustre compared to the main story but the books really hyper focusses on Myne's pov and there are surprisingly a lot of things she is not involved in that when you read these short stories you get so much new information, worldbuilding and scheming by everyone that it's so interesting! Plus, you really feel the love Myne and the people she cares about feel for her. The ending of this book was so sad I was a sobbing mess T.T
Part 3 Vol 1
Hahahahaha, the whole thing with Ferdinand was hilarious! I actually laughed out loud so many times! And the whole bringing the idol thing from modern times into these ancient fantasy setting is brilliant hahaha
Part 3 Vol 2
Oh wow!! This was the best book yet! Mostly because of all the family drama part with the archduke! Pheww, Rozemyne was so very cool there hehehe. The only thing I was disappointed in was that there was no pov about the whole scene in the short stories :( I wanted someone, Karstedt, to actually narrate what happened when all this was going down. I wanted to see what he thought from an outside perspective of Ferdinand, Rozemyne and Sylvester discussing Willfried hehe. Especially when Ferdinand was displaying how bitter and furious he was when he came in! Speaking off, we have learnt a bit more about Ferdinand and Rozemyne also finding out about how all that made him who he is today. And I also loved how she's helping him stop piling on unnecessary work on himself even if it's for her own selfish intentions haha.
Part 3 Vol 3
8/10
Still good but not as satisfying as the previous volume, only because that one had such a cool scene of Rozemyne being super capable and informing the archduke family what's what and also helping out Ferdinand all the way. I wanted more in regards to the Winter debut but I now realise that would have been too naive because these are just seven-year-old kids who barely know how to read and write and play compared to Rozemyne who is basically in all ways an adult, not in any way shape or form their equal lol. I love reading about people close to Ferdinand observing how he has changed and come to like Rozemyne in the Prologue and Epilogue haha. But I didn't really like Ingo's pov, I sympathised but didn't like feeling all of his feelings just because they were all negative feelings lol. And of course, the bonus comic scenes were very nice as usual.
Part 4 Vol 9
Nghhhh, Ferdinand's departure kinda unnoticeably broke the distance between MC and himself and all the feels is glorious. And guh, the art has a dramatic upgrade in displaying the sadness that is happening and the depth of the emotions involved. And ahhh, you can see more character development for Ferdinand because of all this! He asks for help and especially from Rozemyne! In fact, he asks her for help so naturally that it isn't until the end or when you are reading all the POV from the other side characters that you see the breaking of barriers hehehehe Ahhh, why aren't the translations complete so I can just binge and stay in this world until the end T.T
<<less
CN (4.5)
315 Chapters Every 118.3 Day(s) 11416 Readers 164 Reviews 08-16-2019
4.55 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
The translation I read is from C1 to C265~ is by lesyt. It was pretty good. Very readable with some errors that are not really noticeable. However, after 265 ish, the translator is FangMama and it's such a whiplash from the previous translator. Some names and important terminology were changed. Some snippets of the story were also removed. Also, there are more errors. In the end, I also read from the novelhi website. The names and terms are more consistent with the previous translator and have the missing tiny bits of text. Less errors too. Not the same or as good but much better than the new translator. It was weird. It was like reading two different descriptions of the same event. The WangMama one is missing so many details and even has different meanings. Like Gui Ze was peeking at our MC having trouble tying knots and wondering what happened in the novelhi website translation. But the WangMaama one skipped all the lead up to this scene and then translated as the MC was staring at his knotted hands and wondering if he is s*upid for not being able to tie knots. Two different meanings here. However, I also basically read the two translations side by side because of some slightly awkward new terminology.
At C286~, the quality of both translations kinda fluctuates. Some parts are better than others. So, again, highly recommend reading both side by side. If when reading one translation something feels off, it is highly likely the other translation is a bit better. And vice versa from this chapter on.
Ahh, I’m too lazy to note down all the details anymore lol. Basically the first TL was the more easily readable and enjoyable one while the rest had all their own little issues. So it's best to read the other for more info when the current scene or whatnot is confusing or seems off somehow. You won't regret the extra work because it clears things up. But anyway, please read the story! The different TLs aren't a deal-breaker! Most of the details are kept, so it's still quite enjoyable!
Pacing: 4.6/5
The pacing is pretty smooth, except for the last 40 chapters and especially the last like 5 chapters. The ending was kind of perfunctory and things weren't as detailed or explained as much as expected based on the previous parts of the story.
Plot: 4.8/5
The setup is pretty good! I like how we are thrown right into the story after the MC is transmigrated in. I also liked how we followed the MC 6 months after he arrived in the new world because we immediately got into the juicy details of this new place haha. This was my favourite part because we saw things through his eyes as a 6-year-old child. So he's basically at rock bottom lol. He has to learn everything from scratch. This intimacy gets less after the tribe achieves one of its major goals. Then more characters appear, so it's less just him and his mind haha. This part just sets up so many mysteries to learn about and explore! I love the anticipation of it all.
After that, in the middle, it was more about setting up their base and foothold. They are kind of an underdog because everyone else has progressed more than they have. This section also had a lot of group and togetherness feels.
The last third of the story was a bit more tribal politics with their various tribe mysteries in this vast ancient world as the Flaming Horns really builds up their tribe and deals with tribal politics which wasn't quite my thing but still very enjoyable just because of the setting, their unique thing and all the worldbuilding along the way haha.
Sadly, the ending was too lukewarm for me. I also don't understand how that thing is somehow the cause of the MC landing in this world. How did that thing appear in the modern world? Does it mean the MC was transferred to the ancient past then? Why would this thing have the function of transferring people to that era? Also, that last scene with the MC flying over the "edgeless" river. Isn't it just the Flaming River? Why suddenly call it edgeless? Since the disaster had already happened and the river shrank? It felt a bit like the author really wanted to include this thing in the story but it was already ending, so they had to slot it in willy-nilly at the end lol. Also, the final big bad. I just don't really get him as a villain. What was his goal anyway? He planned many things over so many years and did all this stuff supposedly for revenge, but then we see that he actually doesn't really care about it and treats the targets as tr*sh that is so useless that they might as well not clutter up the world? Then why did he go through all that 1000 years of effort?? Also, I feel like there were one or two plot threads that didn't get used? For example, Sapphire’s last shackle and its cult. I thought they were going to have some important role in the final battle but nope.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.9/5
So good! The worldbuilding is fantastic! So far, the best worldbuilding in a CN novel I've read! Mostly because it hit the spot for me, ancient world, mysteries, adventure, wonder and unexplainable awe over nature everywhere! I love the feeling of not knowing what is beyond! Most of this was focused on the first 300 ish chapters but there are all kinds of new things to discover in all the later chapters too!
Characters: 4.5/5
The MC is a quiet, smart, calm and silently adventurous guy haha. He's older than his physical appearance so he's more mature. I liked following him around :) The cast of characters is quite big, all have their own quirks and feel real. Especially the various tribes. They all have their own distinct beliefs, traditions, oddities and what have you. The only issue I have is that the longer the story is, the less quality time we spend with any character.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Sooo much fun XD. I read a good chunk of this during my first and so far only, COVID experience XP. So there was a lot of time alone that I willed away in this world, exploring things bigger than myself. And it's so deliciously long too! I think I spent two good weeks on this, so fun! This is my second tribal story I’ve read (I think lol). The Stone Age Husband Raising Journal was the previous one. That one, the world was super vibrant and I loved the whole setting. Their special characteristic was the dinosaurs as the animals haha. I love nature-focused stories so XD This. This is like an upgraded "real" tribal story hahaha. Just about every aspect is at least a little bit better than that. Except for the romance lol. Here, it is non-existent, while the previous one was a BL novel. This one is so much longer with so much more content; the MC has actual drive and is an active main character; the focus is on clan building which is executed far better; and the world is more vast, unfathomable and rich. I would like more deep character development too though ahaha.
<<less
CN (4.4)
261 Chapters Every 107.6 Day(s) 11687 Readers 184 Reviews 01-12-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
Overall
The beginning, when meeting with the neighbours and the ML made me a bit hesitant because I felt it was too fast. Because I just read the other zombie story by this author before this one. The previous story was very self vs others until like 3/4th of the way through while in this story the MC is open for a companion and other people right from the start. Anyway, I love it! It has all the things I love, heartwarming scenes with friends and family, amazing resource gathering, varied and distinct characters, and a MC that isn't dumb but instead is the meticulous planner and leader of the group, building a life they can thrive in an apocalyptic world. Eventually, there is a kid, then a baby, and then lots of adorable pets near the end! Unlike other zombie works, there is no magical space or golden finger, so everything is somewhat realistic, and wealth growth is smooth and believable. One thing to note is that there is no golden finger so the scale of growth is small! So whatever they do or whatever happens, it will have more weight on the lives of the MC and the team. This makes the story more enjoyable instead of no matter what happens, they will be fine anyway because of [insert golden finger here]. It's a slice of life, farming, resource gathering story with lots of zombie action haha. They level up quite smoothly too. It's only I really wish they didn't include the timeskips in the last couple of chapters. I would have loved to read about all the things they did before those points! Ahh, I already want to reread this!
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from WhiteMoon x BlackSun. The translation is not as good as it could be. I felt that some details in the setting up/planning by the MC such as how the locations of the planting spaces were set up or how the space is organized were lost because of the translation. Mostly because I don't know if the words chosen for the place are correct. For example, "Plants grown on the terrace." From what I googled, "terrace" means floor to ceiling windows, how can plants be grown on them? If compared to the author's other work, that one was translated beautifully, I got all the nuance. But this one, not as much. Maybe 10% is lost? However, don't let that stop you! It's far more readable than MTL and the detail lost is regrettable but not a dealbreaker. You can get the gist of the space organisation more or less. Other than those, all the other happenings are very readable! I seriously enjoyed it haha. I also think the translator got more experienced later on.
Pacing
The pacing is pretty consistent throughout the entire story except for the last couple of chapters for some people. Before then, you can assume it's already a happy ending if you want actually. The last 2 chapters have a couple of longer time skips because they want to wrap it up.
Plot
We follow our MC strive to live the life he envied and dreamt of when he lived in the bas**ent for years in his previous life. To survive without as much hardship with a companion(a dog haha) to alleviate loneliness in a post apocalyptic world as an ordinary nosuper abilities person. We see him slowly gain companions on this dream along the way until this dream isn't feasible anymore and they have to make a big decision to rely on themselves in the outside world! That happens like 50+ chapters before the end of the story. A lot of the cool lifestyle design happens there haha.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This is a slice-of-life, farming, resource gathering and a mass fighting zombies for their nuclei type of story. It is super heartwarming halfway through when the team gets closer and feels like family later on. There is lots of delicious food and bonding through meals that happens. I also love all the thinking and planning that happens in a zombie infested world. How to obtain stuff without dying? I also love all the action! It really spices things up very nicely from all the calm, soothing farming scenes haha. The excitement and anticipation throughout the novel, XD. Man, I loved it! I also love how all the things they do feel like they have actual impact! This is because the scale is small, so any of the actions by the MC and the team has a lot of impact on their lives. Because the plants produced are small, they have weight. If there was a magical space, there would be hardly any weight because it would be too easy! The author's other zombie story was like that. There wasn't as much weight as here because the couple could just live in their space indefinitely if they needed to. Here, there is just enough weight that you really root for them! If something bad happens, you feel angry and a bit anxious, if there was an unexpected harvest during their missions, you feel excited for them! Ahh, how the scaling was done. Reading all this, I hope the author will write more stories like this! Wealth building, poor to rich style with close friends haha.
For the romance part, eh, I feel like it's just as a backdrop to the rest of the story. I don't feel the love. I just assume this is an MC ML love thing and move on to the other parts of the story that interest me.
Characters
I love the MC. He's actually a shou but a smart and capable one! He was lonely but a practical survivor. He is very good at planning and leading people. The ML is okay, I feel like he's an afterthought in terms of romance as in I don't feel much as a romantic lead. But he's a cool and strong ability user for the MC and the team in this apocalyptic world! I like him much more as that than the romantic lead lol. The side characters are good people that really help lighten up the atmosphere especially since they are so prominent in the story. I love their presence here. There is a group bond that creates the feels. The you are my people, so I will fight everyone else for you together with you haha. Love that. Then, there are the cute kids in the latter part of the story haha. As for the bad guys, well, this isn't a revenge or faceslapping story so the villains kinda fizzle out or have anticlimactic ends. Not really the focus of the story.
Why 0.5 Star was Deducted:
- I'm still curious about some things that weren't explained. Maybe the author just didn't think it was important for the story. Eg,
1) How the zombies came about, why they were travelling in groups, how were they coordinating like they had intelligence, were they being directed by a leader?
2) What happened to the ML's father and the mother's lover in the end?
3) What happened to Captain Guo in the end?
4) Also, what exactly happened in the leadership shakeup?
- I felt that the story could have been even longer with no issues.
1) The last chapter timeskiped 3 years to a very interesting small bases alliance nearby that they sell things at the market (so interesting! Why didn't the author include these parts in the story?? So many potentially new and interesting characters!)
2) I wanted to know the progression of the pairing up that happened within the team!
3) I would have liked to read how the final nationwide battle 8 years later actually went XP.
<<less
CN (4.5)
0 Chapters Every 727 Day(s) 4686 Readers 94 Reviews N/A
4.5 Stars... more>>
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by TheIronTreeBlooms. The translation is pretty good, there were zero awkwardly translated bits or wrong pronouns. But there are a few typos but it's easy to dismiss. The writing is pretty detailed compared to regular web novels. You can visualise everything, the setting, the mood, the people easily without it being dense.
Plot
Wow, it went on such an amazing journey. We travel from a farm to the best emperor of ancient China. It was epic and the scale of problem solving went from how to set up a safe place for his family in the country to how to give all the common people in China a better life. We watch Lin Yuan grow so much and all the different decisions he has to make until he becomes such a powerful and rational emperor. So epic haha.
Pacing
The beginning was farming and small scale development but from 1/3rd onwards it gets more military and espionage focused, in between exploring law making, researching, kingdom building and the execution there off. I only liked the military fighting parts the least, so that part was a bit slow for me but I just couldn't help being drawn to the story no matter what was happening.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The main thing here is kingdom building and man, did it succeed. I've read a few other kingdom building stories, not many, but the breadth and width of the details written is amazing. I actually wish there were more details included even though it is impossible to put in everything. Once the provinces were conquered and then the capital, there were just too many things being introduced and implemented that I wanted to know! The author cherry picked some stuff to explain in detail but ahhh I wanted more! It felt super realistic and the setting is really apparently here. It was such a joy to explore ancient China. The only slight con is that there are lots of mentions of apparently famous people in ancient Chinese history? They are now important side characters in the story but I don't have any familiarity with them at all haha But it's still fine, you can get the gist.
Other than kingdom building, the characters are all super developed and with so much variety that the world feels alive, you can really see what is going on with all these small povs scattered everywhere. I feel in other kingdom building stories, either the kingdom building is the focus and the characters get the short end of the stick or the kingdom building is very light and happens too easily. For this story, both the kingdom building and the characters were fantastic. So the whole story had no major point that was bad.
Characters
We follow all kinds of characters in the story, many of them only appear once to represent part of the population to showcase how people who are not the MC are reacting to the changes the MC made. I normally don't like reading about other povs than the MC but here it happens so smoothly and was so interesting I didn't notice haha.
It was such a journey to watch our MC grow and develop into what he finally became. He's so level-headed, with compassion and yet the ruthlessness to achieve what he wants. His close officials came up with a good sentence, the MC is harsh to his officials but indulgent to the common people. I only wish there were more heartwarming scenes but alas, he's way too busy for that. And also, he's at the top now, so it's hard to have anyone close. For the ML, he really doesn't appear much so I don't have any opinion on him in particular. I do like that the MC has someone to be close to though. T.T Ahhh, the ending was so bittersweet! They were alrd past middle aged and they were alrd lovers for a long time by then, the MC said that he wants them to be in the same coffin after they die. That's the final pov we get from the main couple T.T Wahhh, I wanted an extra of them reincarnating in modern times where the MC doesn't have to work so hard and just focus on living happily with his BF T.T
All the side characters were just great. Mister Song, sniff, that ending for him was so freaking emotional gah. If you minus 30 years of his age, all his scenes with the MC can be considered romantic in a different perspective hahaha He has more screen time than the ML lol I loved the Big Brother, he was almost the only source of lightheartedness in the story. It's a bit sad that the generals all lived at the border for so many years. I wished the MC could have kept more brotherhood with them later on in life without worrying about power.
Overall
This story isn't just a simple one-note web novel but a real book haha There were all kinds of emotions from me reading this. The MC is a pretty rare character, there were no major or s*upid mistakes from him, but you don't feel that he is a Gary Stu. He's not a cold-blooded person to reach the status of Emperor but he doesn't let his compassion hinder him. I admire him very much! I do wish we got to see what happened to all the major side characters at the end though.
<<less
CN (4.2)
297 Chapters Every 46.3 Day(s) 9173 Readers 137 Reviews 07-12-2022
4.5 Stars... more>>
Overall Comments
This family building trope really hit the spot for me for the slice of life part! I love the romance, the MC takes the ML along on his work instead of them doing separate actions and then spending time together when they go back home. But I minused the half star because I didn't like the last 1/4th with them having to abandon all their land and hard work to another country sigh. By that point, it was all rushed until the happy ending. I didn't mind because those parts weren't interesting since by then, I felt they were in a good place alrd anyhow.
Writing/Translation
I read the translation by Ontimestory. In the beginning tens of chapters, there were a few mistakes but they were pretty small and infrequent. I think the translator got an editor later on so it got better. However, a couple of chapters at the end felt very unedited but otherwise, it is pretty good. Everything flowed well and was consistent and easily understood. The writing this time is 3rd person pov and you basically read the characters' thoughts on the page so it's pretty immersive. The way it's written, all the bad guys make you really feel so much anger! Very nice haha.
Plot
The first, like 30ish chapters, things were kinda bad for the MC and the things being told in those chapters don't really give you any happy warm feelings. The MC's body's family are seriously self-entitled to him and it really makes you want to slap their delusional faces. The good on the other hand, is how the MC straight up commits violence lol. How he treats them is super satisfying! However, since you as a reader are only just getting to know the MC, he doesn't come off as likeable in any way in these few chapters.
However, as the story goes on and the family is mostly dealt with, we proceed to the improve-the-quality-of-life of himself and his beloved ML part! This part is more interesting and you can see him being nice to people now. For the majority of the book, it is a slice of life, slowly accumulating money, business making and being happy with his ML. However, near the end, like from 120–160, it became obvious that people were making countless trouble for his success, so he had to go out and fight. Then, in 160+, they became fugitives invading another country and setting up modern China... The extras are all very nice though. Needless to say, my favourite parts were all when the scale was still village and county sized. All the heartwarming, working hard to improve their family's quality of life through honest means takes place there. The rest became quality of life preservation almost which wasn't as nice.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The family/village/kingdom building. What I consider in this category to me is specifically the MC's actions in working hard to improve the MC's lover, family and friend's quality of life. So, for the first 3/4th, I absolutely loved it! It was so fulfilling and satisfying to read how the MC slowly made more and more money to give good things to his wife and in-laws XD. And then, as we got more and more side characters, he took them as his own and gave them a good life too! It was also nice to read how he improved his village as well.
But then, the story started to scale even higher which, of course, comes with its own troubles when you get too successful. People higher up get wary and want to hammer this nail for fear of the nail overpowering them. And all the other bigshot peers want to take down the competition. So I normally do not like it when the hard work gets to this level where it's more about preservation instead of building and growth. So, yes, while this does fit the theme and the characters, it wasn't enjoyable to read. Also, the last part was kinda rushed too.
I do want to put in a comment, I really did not like the last part where the MC had dealings with foreigners and straight up invaded their country, destroyed their culture and brainwashed them to become his vision of modern China. The whole deal with the Japanese ronin and their original country felt so icky and uncomfortable. He treats the Europeans with respect for their technology but treats this Japanese imitation so callously. I really wish the author had just made up a country that has no culture or foreign language that was being controlled by a cruel dictator so he could save them instead. And that the citizens gave their country to him in gratitude or something instead of doing this.
The romance. I actually love them as a couple! I find their dynamic really refreshing from the current CN novels I've read. The MC is the confident "seme" while the ML is the shy, uncertain "uke" haha. Normally, I read the opposite. I also really really like how the MC takes the ML along to be involved with all his endeavours! Usually, we get them doing separate things and then some romance or s*x scenes to progress the romance. But here, Jiang Zhen brings Jinge with him everywhere! I really like that. So much of the work the MC does, the ML is present! For most of the long trips, the ML follows. This way, all the time spent together, the couple is able to have all these different experiences with each other, which really made me believe in their care for each other. How could they not? There are so many events whose situations made their love (especially from the relatively sheltered frog in the well ML) grow in the same direction. I really like them together haha. Also, a great pro for me for the romance, is the lack of explicit smut! And any romps are all in euphemisms and relatively short haha. I normally find all CN novels' s*x scenes either very in-your-face explicit or so cringy. And usually, a lot of words kinda demeaning women and the men or the seme being, they got so excited they couldn't control themselves! And then the women or the uke who's the MC will be like ... ahh, so tired the next day, ahh the bottoms hurt hmm. The subtext is that their man is extremely powerful! *rolls eyes* But this story, since it's all euphemism and kinda short fade to black ish, it wasn't too bad haha The only part that seemed a bit iffy to me was the beginning of the romance. I felt that the MC was coming on rather strongly and that the ML kept being stiff when the MC behaved inappropriately. I felt a wee bit uncomfortable seeing that. But eventually, the ML started to have feelings and became more proactive so at least I was more clear that the feelings were mutual.
Pacing
The pacing overall was decent for 3/4ths of the story and then rushed at the last 1/4th. The first 3 quarters were consistent. Lots of things were happening but we were following the MC all the time in his head. The romance-building was present throughout too. But in the last quarter and especially the last chapter, a lot of things were just narratively told to us. To be fair, I didn't mind that it wasn't too involved because I wasn't interested in the power building and the fighting. There wasn't really much romance here either. The extras were a very nice epilogue though.
Characters
The MC isn't all that likeable in the beginning before you get to know him. He's violent on the first infraction by other people. And he took food from his baby nephew. I mean, yes he's starving but he alrd took the food from his family, did he need to take from the baby too? But as you read more, you slowly see him being nice to other people too so I slowly got used to him. Then, I got to see how he adored his family so I got sold on him haha For the ML, I found him rather cute? He's a strong, manly figure but he's actually a ger, kinda like an omega. I love his backstory and how he grows. His challenges in life and his s*x and how they interact. It makes him pretty refreshing to read about haha. He's actually uncertain and quiet but he loves the MC so he quietly works hard to be as good as he can for him.
The side characters are all good and likeable! Nobody feels like a caricature. The MC made a lot of good relationships here so that is just nice to read about. My only issue is that a lot of the underlings who are there a lot in the beginning and have some character development aren't followed up closely after their quality of life improves. I wish they were present more often alongside the new characters that get introduced too. It's like once their conflict is settled, we don't really see them anymore in favour of new characters with their newer conflict. However, I am sad we don't really see how the children grow or get to know more about their personalities. The daughter was okay but the son felt a bit bland since he's the kid that just follows whatever the elder sibling does. And the last kid is only a baby in the extras.
For the bad guys, nice! I love all the bad guys! Whenever I read about the new thing they are doing to fight with the MC, I always feel so angry! And then they get face slapped so satisfyingly by the MC directly! The MC will actively do something so you can feel his agency and his character. It's all very nice haha. I've read a lot of other CN novels where the villains get faceslapped by their own actions while the MC was just passively living their life doing nothing, or the faceslapping happened off screen which was unsatisfying, or it just took too long to happen. The faceslapping here is just right in every way haha.
<<less
CN (4.3)
333 Chapters Every 3.2 Day(s) 6085 Readers 27 Reviews 04-22-2024
4.5 Stars at C94 at least... more>>
I read the translation by Rainbow Mushroom Translations. The translation is pretty good.
So far, veeeery interesting! I really love kingdom building elements especially when it is done slowly with thought and proper escalation! The first part was this kingdom building and it is super nice. I love family/village/country building because it's just so satisfying. There is a goal you can support. It cannot be done in one shot. There is a lot of planning and thinking and executing to be done and every time something is accomplished, the feeling of satisfaction is so good! The MC has the power to design the tutorial/beginner mission system for new players so the players won't go crazy and start killing his people to level up as players do haha. And he's basically the designer of the gaming experience for all these players, sooo good!
This story is like a normal CN novel about the MC being reborn as a low-status person, then striving to improve their family's poverty situation to a happy and healthy quality of life. But the scale is multiplied by a hundred because it's not just a few close family members but all his people living on the planet! I love all the characters! They have such a variety of nobles, dead poor, mercenaries, elementals, the army, kids, students, researchers and there are so many just living their lives! Then add in the players XD The large cast of characters really makes the world feel big, alive and breathing. And the MC cares about them so he's working on levelling up the entire planet! It's nice haha. The only con is that I'm not too impressed with the romance and the ML. He's just a typical possessive ML so cue the normal seme uke relationship in bed which I'm not a fan of.
<<less
CN (4.5)
701 Chapters Every 52 Day(s) 8007 Readers 191 Reviews 03-22-2022
This is is long and sooo satisfying in the getting rich part. There are so many ways the money making was done, and the process doesn't happen too quickly one after the other so the money made felt a bit more meaningful.... more>>
4.25 Stars
Overall
Ahh, such a journey. We follow the MC for so many years, for 700 chapters T^T It has basically almost everything I want in this type of genre. Some of the endeavours were detailed, some weren't, but so many were done that I couldn't stop reading. It is truly slice of life, getting rich with family and friends haha Yes, it's definitely not perfect and there were some forgotten people and foreshadowing that resolved quite fast at the end but I enjoyed myself so much binge reading everything. It was very satisfying to read them set up all the pieces to be wealthy in the future. I only wish they wrote more detail of them just enjoying themselves and more people exclaiming how rich they are to make it more satisfying haha I also wish the 3 sons were main characters in the 2nd half of the story, like they were back in the village. The further along the story, the more characters are introduced and the older the kids got, the less they appear. Really, it was only the third that kinda stayed until the very end lol. But ahhh, we followed until the end of the life of the main cp so now I'm super sad and need to read a fluffy story lolol
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by Explore, Maggie. It sounds like she only did it because of COVID isolation and made daily updates, so the translation isn't perfect or polished. There are careless mistakes littered throughout. But it is much better than mtl, they included pictures whenever needed and it was perfectly understandable all the way through. There are some name mistakes and a couple of missing words/plural to non plural/gender mistakes and so on but honestly, it's very readable. The flow was uninterrupted for me.
Plot
This is a slice of life story from MC at 20+ to 40 at the end. Then a summary of everyone's lives until 90 and their peaceful death. It really follows the title of the story, raise the kids at the beginning, then develop their families in the capital and/or other cities.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Truly a properly realistic development from poor village level to mega-rich story. With so many chapters, the author can really detail step-by-step how the cp can go from a to b and didn't skimp on the variety. At the beginning, there is a raising the family with good food arc. In between that, how to actually get the food via the black market with all the coupon restrictions in the 60s. Then there is the studying part to get to university. Then comes the capital part, where they really start doing business and really get wealthy. In between, all the family connections are being deepened and helping the others raise themselves up too. And matchmaking in the last parts.
I love all the business parts, it really ramped up at the capital. But also, in the capital, was also when the cp started going off by themselves to date or make money. It's just this part where they don't go into as much detail anymore. I would like them to describe the real estate more haha But I guess since then there is a lot of them so no need. I like how the author will periodically tell how much money was saved or how much monthly income was made in total. It really helps visualise the scale up to there.
For the side characters, there are sooo many that were given love. It made things vibrant and heartwarming because they are all family. I liked seeing how they will treat each other to food and how they can ask for help and advice and it is given. We see many of them grow up too so it feels close.
I also want to mention the setting. It is quite vivid. This is China in the olden days so the temperament of the characters matches it. I'm Chinese, though not from China, so I am familiar with the beliefs there. So I have to mention that it does get a bit annoying to read about them giving gifts to each other and then the other saying, "Aiya, no need to bring gifts ma, just yourself is enough!" Then the demurring, etc., happens. Then the other party visits the other person instead, and the exact same thing happens. Gifts, saying no, etc., Sigh, doing this a few times and when done well, like when the relatives set up shops and the MC visited there for the first time, when they gave gifts to the cp and let them stay over, I could feel the joy and sincerity because their success and happiness were due to the MC. It doesn't feel like a poor person giving to a rich person anymore, but truly equals sharing their joy. It was heartwarming. Later on, when this happens with the newer, richer people, it just feels a bit fake, even though they aren't. I guess I just don't like the demurring attitude when accepting gifts in Chinese culture. Just freaking accept the gift and say thank you and pay them back in some other way later. So much unnecessary "no you don't have to pay, no we haven't finished what you gave before, nooo I can't possibly accept this expensive thing, no you don't have to give me this thing that I also have a lot at home." Lol.
The other thing is probably also a cultural thing. This was published in 2014 and was probably written earlier. The romance mindset is kinda a typical macho man in bed, just brute forcing their way through and it is romanticised. This is true with the main cp especially vivid in the earlier chapters and even in the extras for the 2nd's daughter. The attitude in normal life is all more or less okay, just the entitlement the men have to the girl's body.
Pacing
The slice of life tag is definitely warranted. With 700 chapters, you can also read it as part get rich activities and also like those tv dramas with the family drama haha Addicting. Some parts are a little slow, some parts a little fast but overall, very slice of life.
Characters
The MC is quite stubborn and domineering. One is and two is two and nobody can say otherwise. She has a big heart for people who are good and if they are bad, straightforwardly cuts off contact decisively and immediately. She's smart and a planner. As for the ML, I don't know if I like him in particular lol. I love how much he loves his wife, his brothers, his family and how he works hard to support. But in all other aspects, he's a typical male of this period. There are some bad parts, like the s*x attitude and the preference of a daughter over the sons.
For the bad guys, wow they can really rile you up sometimes haha. All of them contribute some nice drama for the MC to conquer haha I do find that for the 2nd sister-in-law though, near the end of the village arc, it seems like she was getting okay? But then, it felt like not enough drama, lets change her to a bad guy again. Lol.
Some things that I found imperfect
- Some characters that feel like they will be a bit more important seem to have been forgotten lol Like Wang Li, the university best friend. They promised for the child to be the MC's godchild, but the character was forgotten until hundreds of chapters later and then, it was only a summary.
- The progression of the godchild relationship when the MC got pregnant was way too fast for me. She was there for like four months only. Also, it felt a bit hypocritical of the MC in how well she treated them. The Jiang family very quickly suggested to each other if they wanted to create a godchild relationship for the kid and the parents were very willing to climb up this capital family. But the MC were also quite willing to let them. It kinda feels weird that this family wants to use the Mc to raise up, the MC lets them so fast while others who are worse off does not because of bad character or something. Sure they gave a bad impression first it still feels a too benefit seeking for this Jiang family.
- The transmigration novel's plot didn't have much of an impact in this 700-chapter story. The two leads don't do anything. They don't have any role in the story. They were like only 1/30th of the story lol I wanted more from them. Maybe make them rebirth too and make them bad in character and cause some drama haha
<<less
CN (4.5)
206 Chapters Every 102.7 Day(s) 9686 Readers 162 Reviews 02-20-2020
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall Comments
Overall, I enjoyed reading this a lot. It could have been better but all is well. I definitely liked The Only Favourite Ugly Husband by this author more because the MC actually actively works hard to improve his husband's and his family's lives but this story is enjoyable enough to read too. The new-to-me setting (it was super vivid to me) and the amazing translation kept me reading all the way through.
Writing/Translation
The translation by XIIN is very good! Top notch! The translator has 2 dedicated editors so there were no errors and everything can be read smoothly! The group seems experienced and passionate about translating so that is to be expected. The writing of the story is also nice, we don't feel distant from the events of the story and it is easy ish to be invested.
Plot
The plot follows half half the romance and the MC raising the ML as he earnestly works to improve the life of his tribe. The extras in the story further follow what happens to the couple and incidentally, the tribe as well in the years that follow. And the last extra follows a parallel world where the MC in the original world at age 48, dreams of the happy life of himself in the main story and decides to check out the Beast King ML. Pretty good.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The story follows the indifferent MC, who has been living in a terrible apocalyptic world by himself. Now that he has transmigrated to this new Stone Age world, he just wants to be alone and live life. It is understandable that all his actions are to just be emotionally and physically distant from all these strangers after such a life. So all his actions make sense. The person he likes is really the only one he truly cares about. He won't go out of his way to proactively help the tribe but he won't prevent them from learning from him. However, the main draw of a village/kingdom building is when the MC you are reading the pov from has a desire to actively improve the village or kingdom. In the normal trope, this creates this delicious cycle of making the MC likeable and easy to root for so when you see the character's hard work pay off, you also get a sense of satisfaction of seeing something less become more. The feeling of happiness that comes from helping the people you like that appear in the MC is also there to add more dopamine. Then, with the increasing quality of life of the MC, they can continue to earn more stuff. These quick cycles of dopamine hits keep the story addicting for the readerto read.
However, in the story it isn't like that. For one, the MC's situation is not bad. He can grow his own food without any help as much as he wants. He can also hide himself from other dinosaurs with no problem. He can just live by himself anyway so we don't feel any urgency to improve a super bad quality of life situation. Then there is the ML. He's basically the young master of the tribe because he's so capable. Everyone generally likes him because he's a strong yet caring person for them. So his situation isn't bad and is, in fact, much better than the MC. So no need to help him improve either. Only the tribe in general is always hunting for meat but it's all pretty liveable. No one the MC cares about needs to have their life improved. So when the tribe's living situation is improved indirectly by the MC, we don't really care because the MC doesn't care about them enough to actively do something. So for me, the impact of all the tribe building isn't particularly high.
For the setting though, I really like it! It's so unique from what I have read so far, something in the stone age + dinosaurs + tribes + people who can turn into mammals. This is my first story in this clan building genre, so everything is a bit refreshing. From other reviews, it seems there are better stories of this kind out there, so I'm excited haha
As for the romance part, this author has yet another unique ML and a refreshing couple dynamic! I've read The Only Favourite Ugly Husband by them just before this one, and that one has a unique couple dynamic too haha. Here, you can't quite tell who is the shou and who is the gong at first. And even later on, when we realise the strong tribe chief ML will be the shou in the romance, it gives a unique spin haha. Such a manly strong man eagerly volunteers to be the shou in s*x because he's scared being the bottom will be too painful for his lovely, delicate mate haha. It was believable how the romance came about. Lots of convenient situations happened to easily let the couple develop feelings, but it was nice to read. Also, for the s*x stuff, there was basically nothing on screen lol. Everything was super vaguely referenced in like one or two sentences, then the story just skips over and moves on. I don't mind it because I find s*x scenes in cn novels super cringy or someone forcing the other to have s*x, which is unpleasant. The topping and bottoming things also happen here but so much is in euphemism and very short, I didn't have to skim anything which is great for me XD
Pacing
Everything is slice of life so the pacing is like that. Interesting things always happen soon after an interesting thing finishes, so you aren't bored. There will usually be a whole chapter of the Mc cooking nice food after an interesting thing happens, so some people who don't like this type of stuff might find it slow. As for the clan building stuff, it feels a bit more draggy than if the Mc had actually genuinely wanted to improve the clan. As it is, he only wants the clan to be better because the ML and the MC's living situation might become marginally better and not bother him in the future lol.
Characters
The MC is so so for me because of how indifferent he is to everyone. Even when he slowly learns to accept this world as his own, we don't really read this feeling from him so it still vaguely feels like he's not really close. Like, if it was between the tribe and his ML, he would choose to save the ML with zero hesitation. So while he isn't unlikeable or anything, he doesn't make it easy to really root for him and like him. I wish the author had made the MC more vulnerable actually. Maybe with the ML. This would have made us feel closer to the MC and made the relationship between the couple even closer. Here are a few scenes that do this but it's like only one or two scenes and it's only by one character being present in the scene. It would have been so easy to do so! The MC has a horrible past of surviving an apocalypse alone and now has ptsd and all the effects of living in such a place. If the author made him cry or tell something of his situation in a vulnerable way to the ML, I feel like it would make the ML fall deeper in true love! Because this MC who is always too jaded and distant to protect himself, if he can be vulnerable that means he has let down his walls for the ML to really get to know him. I believe there were missed opportunities there.
As for the ML, I adore him! He is just so freaking cute and such a cinnamon roll who just wants the people he loves and his tribe to love happily for all time. He's so excitable and easy to fool because the people at this time just don't have time to learn intrigue because they have to find food to eat! But he wants to protect his tribe and to get as much food as his people wants so he will train hard to be strong enough to do so. He's just so adorable and very likeable XD My favourite character in the whole story.
The side characters are all varied and nice to read about. Barely anyone really sticks around a lot but it is nice to read about when they are there. The villains are okay. My favourite villain is Shi Li but he's not there for a whole chunk in the middle. I really like to see his expectations all overturned and his plans all messed up hahaha.
<<less
CN (4.4)
511 Chapters Every 7.3 Day(s) 5432 Readers 63 Reviews 02-28-2024
4.13 Stars... more>>
"I like how the mc acted like a green tea. But although she’s a green tea, she’s a good one. It’s fun and interesting, I enjoy it. The children (her siblings) are cute too. The story is heartwarming and nice. The face slapping scenes also really nice and satisfying. The mc is clever and strong. Male lead is also nice, he’s kinda cute, a shy type person. " - Jechan95
---
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from fringe capybara from C1 to C388. The rest I read in MTL using Google Translate. The TL is pretty good. It's just that each chapter is broken up into short bites, so it's quite annoying to always have to click on the next chapter. The MTL, this was the easiest story to MTL I’ve ever read. Even when the sentences are so garbled, I can still easily understand what they mean. The flow of reading barely had any pause lol.
Pacing: 3.9/5
The pacing was pretty smooth, except for a few instances at the end. Near the end, there were a lot of time skips, so it was a little jarring and weird. But this is normal with CN web novels so...
Plot: 4/5
This was pretty fun. Although it wasn't a farming poor to rich story set in the 70s that I love, it was still a super nice poor to rich story with a good romance and a nice face-slapping story. The starting point of the MC is low and she upgrades her family's quality of life pretty quickly, but it was still interesting to see the MC’s actions in dealing with other people and setting up for her future successes. She does make a point to make money, although she doesn't really go into detail about constantly selling stuff like in other stories. But all her actions are done with the focus of improving their lives, so people who like that will like this.
I only wish the final end of all the bad guys weren't decided to get the worst end in just like two sentences. They spent years of labor on the farm and next thing we knew, they were dead there. On one hand, it is pretty nice to know that for once, the bad guy is dealt with once and for all. On the other hand, this meant the author had to come up with new bad guys. I have an issue with the last bad guy. The whole thing with the friend turned jealous idiot that turned traitor to the country felt kind of out there and not a big enough villain to end the story with. I thought the mother would be that but she died earlier than this girl.
Romance: 4/5
The romance is nice. The ML is pretty cute haha.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The setting is different than normal. It's in the capital city from the start but the story is still a poor to rich story. Normally, the capital is the final destination haha. We also get some different settings than normal, like state-run restaurants and scientific research stuff. Also, military.
Characters: 4.5/5
The main characters are all very good. There is chemistry and life in them. No one was really generic, except maybe the greedy relatives. The stars are all the kids haha. They are hilarious in a childish way. I admit that I thought they would play a more important role later on because at the start, there was some focus on their endings previously but they were kinda in the background later. But, ah well haha.
Personal Enjoyment: 4.5/5
I enjoyed it very much. It was one of the few better 50-80s-era story I’ve read.
<<less
CN (4.6)
80 Chapters Every 57.3 Day(s) 4116 Readers 89 Reviews 02-24-2022
4.08 Stars... more>>
Read: 06/04/2024
Short Summary: The world turned into a survival game called Apocalypse Calamity. The MC is a quiet, solo-playing beta survivor of the actual game and received a camp-level territory at the start. The story is her using her beta-given skills as an advantage to play a resource gathering/management and infrastructure building game in real life to level up her territory, mostly to survive and because she legitimately likes to play this type of resource hoarding game. While all the other characters play a survival and adventuring game lol.
Plot: 4/5
It is a survival infrastructure hoarding novel. There was also a surprising amount of foodie scenes haha. Nice and chill town then a city-building story where no one knows the MC is the lord so she can happily go about gathering and hoarding resources for her territory to level up. The ending couple of chapters, especially the last chapter before the epilogue was such a cop-out though. It is an ending so there was a resolution to the MC's efforts but it was so rushed. Also, I feel like some of the characters' efforts, like the teams who bought farmland, I wish we got some scenes of them reaping their efforts for winter at least lol. A consequence of the rushed last couple of chapters.
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from dreams of jianghu. Pretty good. I didn't notice anything wrong.
Pacing: 4/5
Honestly, it was pretty smooth. I only got stuck at the very beginning with the Lord token. It felt too cheatlike and made me stop for a bit because I thought it would be too easy too quickly. It is just many other reviewers praised the tropes I like which are hoarding, apocalypse and village building/infrastructure. After I accepted all the cheatlike skills the MC got at the start, it was pretty even.
Romance: -/5
The romance is almost non-existent lol. It's not a romance novel so I won't rate it.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
Pretty interesting. It was different from the normal generic modern or ancient china world where nothing is really described because it is common knowledge. There are some mildly new things like the gaming system, game items, skills etc. And the different weather patterns. Nice variety from the flow but nothing amazing. Just disappointed that we don't get any info on how and why the game appeared. It's like it was just there so we can get a story out of it lol.
Characters: 4/5
Honestly, everyone is a typical person encountering this situation. They feel like people, it's just we only get a few snapshots of their lives. There was such a nice and large variety that it was lovely and refreshing. They give nice world points on how people are handling the game. It feels lived in. The MC and ML are kinda bland and unchanging lol. We don't know anything about the ML either.
Personal Enjoyment: 4.5/5
I love exactly this type of story! Progression through hoarding, resource management and gathering and lots of slice-of-life happy scenes with the food. My only con would be that ending, how I wished it went on for longer and that I wish the MC had more tight relationships with other people like The Reborn Otaku's Code of Practice for the Apocalypse. Maybe by making the NPCs like people. It would be such an easy change. Give them more personality and good feelings for the MC and done.
<<less
CN (4.1)
34 Chapters Every 2.3 Day(s) 1224 Readers 13 Reviews 04-20-2024
4.04 Stars... more>>
*Update 07/04/2024: Ahhhh! Crysanthemum Garden picked up the novel to TL!!! One of my favourite novels in the poor to rich slice of life genre!! Same author as “Stone Age Husband Raising Journal”, “The Only Favourite Ugly Husband” and “I Want To Be a Good Person in This Life”. I love their progression type stories, they are all so satisfying. Poor to rich, weak to strong XD I read this novel with MTL, I am so unbelievably excited CG is picking it up! It was tough reading the browser translated version using 2 different browsers just so I have 2 different translation to better understand. And I am pretty sure I lost some nuances and detail from the story. Ahhhh, I can’t wait to reread it in actual English squeeeeee XDDD*
"Really satisfying poor-to-rich, working, business, to construction with proper safety controls."The Heavens most likely took pity on him and he was reborn back to the year 1994. At that time he had just come of age. He was hungry, and lived beneath a bridge, but the events he regretted had not yet occurred. His beloved person was still alive.
---
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
I read the MTL version. The translation is the default Google and Safari translation. Both have different parts that are not understandable so I will go to the other to have a slightly better understanding. The MtL is actually quite good. The author uses a lot of names in the text instead of pronouns, so when mtled, there are not as many pronoun mistakes as expected. Even all the technical detailed parts of making money were pretty understandable. I say you won't regret giving it a shot if you like this type of novel.
Pacing: 3.9/5
The beginning, when the MC had nothing and was rock bottom, was my favourite part. Because there was so much detail in describing how he made money and how their lives were slowly yuan by yuan, improving. Later on, the details got a bit more high-level, which was sad. It wasn't as day to day detailed, but week to week and month to month. But still, I didn't lose interest at all.
Plot: 4/5
I love this type of story where the main focus is improving their lives and those of their other poor relatives. The businesses were more detailed than most others. Exactly what I wanted!
Romance: 3.9/5
I did like it. No one was unequal here. Both have their own vulnerabilities that don't feel typical BL, fake or not executed enough. The whole thing was surprisingly mature and real enough.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The setting feels really real to a person who has never been to China.
Characters: 4/5
The characters feel different from other CN web novels of the same type. The side characters are all self-serving, but in a very normal way. It's kinda refreshing. The relatives and family of the MC from a poor rural mountain all want to sincerely improve their lives, so they all work hard to earn money. In the same way, the stepfamily of the MC is always worried that if they take sides, the husband or son will dislike them and kick them out of the family. So whenever something happens, especially for the stepmother, she thinks about whether this person will take care of her when she is old and sick. But this is all not in a bad way; this is their situation and this is that type of era, and anybody with their submissive temperament will think the same. The interesting thing is that they won't do bad things, so although there are many flaws compared to other similar web novels, these characters feel very very real in terms of attitude. I like this glimpse into the culture in China at this era.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Loved it! It almost hit 100% of my ideal poor-to-rich type of story! If the author had used the same type of family connection vibe from their The Only Favourite Ugly Husband story, it would have been utterly perfect.
<<less
CN (4.3)
61 Chapters Every 11.1 Day(s) 2814 Readers 39 Reviews 12-14-2023
4.04 Stars... more>>
Date Read: 16/04/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.3/5
I enjoyed finally finding a transmigrate to ancient China and making money with a heartwarming family moments novel. And I liked it until the end. I do wish it was longer and that they would add more details for some things like travel times, the later hiring process, more bonding moments with the s*aves and hired people etc. But well, it has a certain charm when it's written like this so maybe the charm would be gone if they added more stuff. I like it. Heartwarming family bonding and the money-making were paced reasonably well at least compared to others :) I love the relationships the MC made too. It's nice :)))
Short Summary: Orphan tsundere hardworking MC transmigrates to ancient China after the original body hanged himself in despair because of being married off when he has someone else. Follows the typical make money using cooking and bringing along his family and friends up together.
Plot: 4/5
A more condensed and efficient version of the transmigrate to ancient China to make money storyline. Things go pretty smoothly for the MC. I like how step-by-step the making money part is. Some of the ones I dropped were because there was so much dilly-dallying or additional boring stuff in between or how cheating the money-making was that it completely broke my suspension of disbelief. Or that the MC had a big capital from the start. This one he did small things to get some capital to start doing bigger and bigger things. There is a better sense of progression. It is only that it took a quick few days within the story to get the capital.
My other slight issue is that the author didn't really pay much attention to the physical distance between places. It kinda felt like the MC took a short walk to a shop to buy things when in actuality, the shop is a half-hour walk in the sun outside the village into town. I wish this was included just to make the world immersion deeper.
The progression ends at the town stage which I am happy about. It keeps things within the realm of believability lol. I find when things get bigger, the authors usually get more vague with the money-making details.
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from KnoxT. Pretty good overall. Just some minor pronoun mistakes and one or two name mistakes. But there are lots of hidden footnotes to explain the cultural ancient china things. With some pictures if needed.
Pacing: 4/5
Pretty good actually. I'm kinda impressed. Mostly because I've been reading similar stories but dropped them because the pacing is so bad. Very efficient and condensed. The ending 5 chapters had a sharp danger spike but was resolved within a couple of chapters. And then the last chapter was the house unveiling and a short look at the couple's kid. I wish there were more for these but I also think it's good as is.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3.7/5
It could be better but it could also be worse.
Characters: 4.3/5
I love all the characters. It's nothing too deep or complex but they are all quite likeable. The Tu family are all sweet and normal people and they help if they can. I love the heartwarming family relationships here. I especially love how the MC has this found family after transmigrating. And he now has the chance to act cute and spoiled with his mother-in-law and the ML after having a short childhood previously. It's nice. All the characters close to the main characters are nice. So genuine haha. And the ML is so cute! Such a big burly gong character but silly, honest and always getting bullied by the MC haha. Similar to the ML in the Stone Age Husband Raising Journal hehe.
Romance: 4/5
The romance is sweet and nice. I love the dynamic between them. There isn't a blushing shy shou and the looming gong here. Kinda the opposite a little bit haha. The MC is the shou and looks like it but he is the one always teasing and bullying the big gong ML. The MC is a bit of a tsundere haha. But the level is always just teasing for a short while so it is short and sweet instead of annoying and uncomfortable to read. The s*x scenes all fade to black and are only hinted at which is good. Since what hints there were is a pet peeve of mine, oof my waist is weak, my legs can't stand up, everything huuuurts because of the wild s*x. It was in a lighthearted jokey way that didn't overstay its welcome :D
<<less
CN (4)
17 Chapters Every 44.8 Day(s) 683 Readers 10 Reviews 03-24-2024
4.04 Stars... more>>
Overall
My thoughts are mostly the same as tr*sh_generalist's review. It was quite a solid novel. It is unfortunate that I couldn't find the extras though. I think those might have the ending of that cousin who was transmigrated and also reborn. I think that would have the events in the synopsis of the novel because that didn't happen in the main text.
Writing/Translation: 2.5/5
I read the MTl version so there is undoubtedly a lot I missed. Also, the MtL is not as readable as it could have been. But I still quite enjoyed it. If it were translated, I would have loved it even more.
Pacing: 4/5
Plot: 4.25/5
It was really satisfying to read all the face-slapping XD
Romance: 4.5/5
The romance is actually rather good. Healthy boundaries and all that. The couple has substance. Both the MC and the ML aren't just there to be a typical macho ML of that era.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
I love these types of era XD
Characters: 4/5
Ahh, the bad guys were so good to hate. And they keep coming back which is very satisfying hehehe.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
<<less
CN (4.2)
75 Chapters Every 9.3 Day(s) 3101 Readers 54 Reviews 03-24-2024
4 Stars... more>>
Overall
I enjoyed myself very much. The story's writing is definitely at the web novel level where it's a bit like a trail of what is happening right now without much transition from place to place or scene to scene. But since I love this ancient time, business wealth-making trope, I didn't care and was totally hooked. A unique trait for this story is that the MC starts over more than once, kind of. Compared to other similar stories that go linearly a bit unbelievably from poor villager to business tycoon in the capital with huge jumps, this one is smoother. Also, the time that passes by between jumps in wealth or business ideas is more reasonable. The money doesn't go from a hundred to 50 000 one shot haha. It's interesting. Some parts of the story are too simple and straightforward in the writing and dialogue but others feel more sophisticated in the execution, like the business making, especially in the first 2/3rds. It was also surprisingly quite heartwarming! The moodmaker is the "special" youngest third brother. He's adorable and livens up all the scenes. And happily, the author kept all the original characters from the beginning together in the main scenes until the end more or less. I hate it when characters I like get shoved away after their spotlight.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is at ArchiveOfOurOwn hosted by MelisaGarcia. I don't know who was the original translator since there isn't a group at novelupdates anymore but I read it here. The translation is okay. It could do with another look through because there are a few wrong names/pronouns/missing words but after a bit, it is easy to autocorrect in my head without a pause in the flow. The writing is too web novel for my personal taste. For example, at the beginning, we get a summary of what we need to know for the story in narrative style from the MC. Then, it feels a bit abrupt when we are thrown into the ML's family so fast. Another example is at the beginning, when I wasn't used to it, it's a little difficult to ground myself in what is happening because the transition isn't clear. Like, we will be focusing on a character and then in the next sentence, the MC who wasn't there originally, suddenly says something. I didn't realise until a few sentences in that this was some time later in a new scene. This only happens for the small transitions. The bigger ones with bigger timeskips like weeks or more or between the bad guys' pov back to the MC are clearly mentioned. Also, after the first few times, I got used to it and have no issues at all. I think I liked it because I could get to the parts I liked the best haha. Honestly, don't worry about it.
Pacing
The first few chapters were kinda rushed and abrupt because the author wanted to quickly start the meat of the story lol. Then, it was all smooth. But the second time the MC restarted at a new place was kinda a wild choice. That part was a little bit quicker, probably because the author assumes we get it. Then, the third time was far more quick. Some parts were new and unique but there were more frequent small timeskips and finally a longer timeskip in the last chapter. It could be better but it wasn't actually a bad thing.
Plot
The MC set up 2 successful branches with ideas from the modern world to sell. Then, he started over in a poor county after selling his hard work in the town, improved the entire poor county, made money, sold off all his hard work again, and transferred to a richer county at the last 20-30 chapters. And live happily ever after near the people he loves.
I really like the idea of starting anew at a different place without a fallback base. It gives the story new opportunities to be creative in wealth making in a new setting with different geography and local materials. So the MC can do new things to make money. It definitely didn't get stale. I only wish that the author would make the characters deliberate more and take some time to discuss the pros and cons before they sold off everything they had to travel to the new places. Because when they sold off the house in the village the Ml was hesitant. When I first read that they sold off all their properties that could have made so much money in the future, I was afraid it was a sign that the next parts would be super rushed since they sold off everything in a couple of sentences. I also feel like someone in the family and followers would have shown some hesitation and advice to not sell everything. That would have felt more real.
Themes/Main Point of the Story
I love wealth-making! Lin Lu is profiting by making novel items until the copycats in the market appear, then creating a new thing to sell and repeat. I love how there is always something new eventually. It kept things very fresh. Especially since the business parts didn't feel cheap. As in, the author didn't make the MC just keep throwing ideas over and over very quickly like fast food. There is some setup and a little bit of legway before the new idea is executed in the business so it felt legitimate and real to me. There are different target markets for the different ideas that were thought of by the MC too so it didn't feel like just throwing ideas onto the wall and hoping something sticks. I also like how they stayed in the thousands for a few years because Lu Lin was already satisfied and didn't want to cause more trouble for more money.
The romance, though, wasn't really there. I didn't feel the chemistry much. It kinda felt like the ML was already there, lets build another room for the kids so we can have sex! I can feel how the ML might like the MC but the MC from the start just liked how good looking the ML was and that's it. It didn't help that after we got to know the ML, he felt a bit like a kid and not like an adult until later. They also weren't really sticky in love with each other. Anyway, I just thought the romance was okay.
I love the family though! The scenes were cute and heartwarming eventually. It was all because of the third youngest brother being a kid and adorable. Since he's "simple", "slow" and "special" when we get to know him, he isn't to me. He just feels straightforward and only cares about things that catch his interest which is anything novel and exciting, just like a kid. Very likeable. The MC will keep making delicious food and sharing it with a lot of people and making many people happy. It's nice to read about.
Characters
I loved the characters. There weren't any deep and draggy plotting people but people who are hard-working and love food. If you love food, it immediately makes the characters more approachable, warmer and lighthearted. I love the Chens and the people who followed the MC. They are all nice and cheerful more or less. I also quite liked all the new characters at the new places they started over at. I was quite surprised because usually, the new characters would be friends very fast without the care taken to win each other over properly. The author did a good job. It's a bit sad we don't bring all the side characters from the village/town/county together with the MC though. Only the major ones.
The bad guys are very good and annoying. They are all just relatives who are entitled and super jealous of the couple. I wouldn't say it was the most satisfying to see them not get what they wanted (the faceslapping in the Favourite Ugly Husband is the most satisfying for me haha), it was quite pleasant to read them getting foiled. Sadly, there wasn't really a final faceslapping for them though haha.
<<less
CN (4.2)
94 Chapters Every 64.7 Day(s) 3957 Readers 85 Reviews 09-16-2021
4 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation
The translation by Shanghai Fantasy is not the best but it is basically 95% understandable. Much better than mtl. There are some pronoun mistakes throughout the story but it is not too bad and you can always still understand the story. A couple of name errors, but all good. No grammar or spelling mistakes that I know of. Some sentences are a little bit awkward or could be better but you can easily understand the gist of it. Basically, it is easy to understand and read. Apparently, this was an edited mtl.
Plot
The plot structure is pretty good. It is a basic transmigrator rags to riches story with a happy ending. No face slapping or at least it is too minor to be considered the usual cn novel face slapping.
Themes/What it Tried to Achieve
It sufficiently achieved a rags to riches plot using an interesting skill of makeup to succeed. The makeup medium used by the author was very interesting to read about and how this could be done in ancient China without modern technologies. It was satisfying to see how the MC slowly used her sole skill to improve the lives of her family and even friends. It was a very nice wish-fulfillment type of story without being over the top or too unbelievable.
Pacing
Pacing was good, I was kept interested at all times. Was never bored or thought anything was too slow or too rushed.
Characters
They were all likeable! I loved the MC, her new husband and the new kid. The husband is a good man given a bad course in life. He turned out to be devoted and kinda dreamy with how he quietly supported the MC. The little kid was so adorable that it was a pleasure to read how the MC would earn money to buy him little snakes and good food to feed him, who also had a bad start. The side characters were not bad and nice to root for. The villains were all nicely self-entitled that they made you dislike them. However, they were not particularly memorable, just a normal type of bad guy in this time period.
Overall
The only few cons I have is that I wish we could have read some scenes about their reactions to the success of the MC. Make it a bit more cathartic. The second one is the s*x in general. The whole scene about s*x that were shown did not feel romantic in any way. I just feel a bit uncomfortable, maybe it was the sentence choices used. For the MC and her husband, it felt like they did it, next day, she's in pain and the husband treats her like she's porcelain when he was the cause and she dryly jokes in her mind that he should be more gentle, etc. I personally don't like this type of trope/attitude. But the s*x scenes are really quite few and really quite fade to black so I can ignore them. The other thing was that I wish they didn't include the wedding night s*x scene for Xiao Bai the little kid. We spent the majority of the book on him as a kid and only like 2 chapters on him as an adult. It felt too jarring to read about him on his wedding night lol.
Otherwise, I quite liked this story. We go into detail how the MC slowly made more and more money and then improving her family's quality of life quite clearly. I really really like this trope or making use of modern knowledge in the ancient world. And who doesn't like a rags to riches type of story? This was surprisingly wholesome ish with a couple of sudden anxiety during a bit of action. But it was mostly calming and just need to read about the MC working hard and be rewarded for her hard work. It felt earned. I would definitely recommend it.
<<less
CN (4)
86 Chapters Every 44.1 Day(s) 2455 Readers 28 Reviews 08-23-2023
3.99 Stars... more>>
Its not a poor to rich using business or farming to get better in live. But it sure does use other ways to do so for the family and themselves..
"Su Yu is the most streetwise MC I have ever read. It's not just the plot but also the way she speaks and how she builds relationships. Even though this is fiction, I think it is very helpful for anyone who works in an office or who have complicated (family) relationships. Where there's a group of people, there'll be politics. The story is quite realistic in this sense. Su Yu is quite the political animal without being b*tchy at all. Sometimes, I think what she says seems over the top, but she did mention the necessity of being noticed and being thick-skinned. She is not pushy in promoting herself and is only indirect in her approach. She plays politics at a very high level - but we are not surprised because we are told right from the start, the background of her past life." ~sassyzoe
"Su Yu is the definite QUEEN of BUREAUCRACY! This story boasts one of the most pragmatic and real female bosses in existence, not a sweet FL but an adult capable woman with the hability of being flexible in pretty dangerous political times. I also liked the light shed on real historical events that happened before this story takes place and that helped me understand a lot more about the reasons behind China´s deep dive into comunism. We can all despise the misery, death and genocide caused and made worse by comunists politics but those happened and it is important to understand why they did. It is totally worth the read if you are looking for real female power and not for sweet, delicate princess like protagonists."~Lissie Furen
---
Writing/Translation: 3/5
The translation I read is from MTL which is not bad. There is a drop in understanding which means you don't really truly get what is happening but for me at least, I could still enjoy it. I actually stopped for a few days thinking to drop the story but thinking that there probably would not be anyone translating the story for a long time, I picked the MTL back up to read.
Pacing: 4/5
The majority of the story's pacing is good. No complaints. It's just the ending as usual that feels more quick than the rest. It's typical of Chinese webnovels though. The ending has more frequent time skips and such.
Plot: 4.3/5
Pretty good. It's refreshing to read a more political/bureaucratic (in a way) type of story for a transmigration to the 50’s era type of story instead of a get rich type. It helps that the MC is so smart and capable. Cunning? So the setting is like that haha. I also really love that all those small-minded take-advantage relatives got tamed by her and became part of “hers”. Also nice is the ML. He feels just like her in a way. I only wish the story also continued after they reached Beijing and all the restrictions were lifted.
Romance: 4/5
The romance is pretty good haha. Kinda refreshing. The relationship is more like partners and that makes more sense haha.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.3/5
The setting is a pretty important part of the story. Read it if you want to know more about what is happening among the leaders of that time period. This also meant that it was better for the MC to go the political route instead of the business route at the time. It is also explained by her in the story. Nice.
Characters: 4.3/5
Very good. There are so many different characters, although not many are really delved into, but our MC especially likes to make connections so we get to know a lot of characters.
Personal Enjoyment: 4/5
I enjoyed myself a lot. The score would have been far higher if I had read a proper translation of the whole story though. Mostly because a lot of the titles and group names are probably wrong in the MTL so I don't quite know what they really are.
<<less
CN (4)
299 Chapters Every 29.1 Day(s) 6696 Readers 123 Reviews 02-28-2023
3.96 Stars... more>>
Personal Enjoyment: 4.25/5
I say, like the first 75% of this story was all to my taste! Poor to rich, so much business management, such a hardworking and sympathetic protagonist, rebirth with lots of dog blood, face slapping and yet, also a lot of heartwarming feelings. All good. But then, I don't know why, the author expanded on the whole rebirth/reincarnation cycle situation and it felt too off and kind of broke my immersion. I wish they had just stuck to a simpler end because it was too messy. I also thought it was unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot. It doesn't help that the last few TV shows and movies that Tan Mu was involved in felt less special and too similar to each other. After the Flesh and Blood TV series, he made a military TV series and then a military movie and there wasn't any personal oomph by the MC in them. So when all these hooha about breaking the record tv ratings and ooooh, on par with Hollywood blockbusters in revenue, all kinds of rainbow farts that completely worked for me in previous other MC works, did not work for me this time at all. It wasn't believable at all, broke me out of the immersion and also made me impatient to finish the story because it was alrd near the end. I'm not sure if reading these parts in MTL was part of the reason why I didn't believe in the story haha. Anyway, if it were only the parts I liked, this would have been in my favourites!
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from Iron Tree Translations. The translation is quite good. The only issue is that some words have weird spelling mistakes. In the beginning, some words have numbers in the middle, like "w6rld" instead of "world." It's almost like in the process of copying over the translation to the website, it got converted. It's not too common and didn't affect my reading experience. I read the translations up to chapter 249 before I ran out of translated chapters and moved to the MTLnovel website to finish the story. So, it's readable enough to get the gist but it is definitely not as pleasant an experience as the translated version. I would say that if the translated version is a 9.5, the mtl would be 8. There are constant "I" and "you" mistakes, which got a bit confusing in some paragraphs but not too often. Surprisingly, most of the sentence structure is intact. The humour also managed to get through. But some of the whole rebirth explanation and the subsequent characters’ planning, I am not 100% confident I understood everything. So take that into consideration of continuing to MTL haha.
Pacing: 3.9/5
I say it is pretty good up to where I read the translated chapters. But maybe it was the MTL, I got a bit impatient and kinda lost interest by then, so I wanted the story to be finished more quickly.
Plot: 3.9/5
This is quite self-indulgent, as the author said hahaha. But filled with all my favourite tropes. Poor to rich, business management, family and friend with heartwarming feelings, rebirth and faceslapping drama XD The plot isn't as tight as it could have been, like some plot points weren't followed up later on, such as the Zhang family. I wanted to know if they succeeded in not going bad, and about the Zhang girl, why did she wait for that bad neighbour at the toilet? What was her intention exactly? Is it to help the MC? Or help herself somehow? Her motivations weren't explained or hinted at at all. On the business side, I don't know if the MC made any money from them too. I also wanted more follow up from the chef academy too, money wise haha. In a family-building kind of way. For the orphanage as well, did the small business take off? Are they financially stable now? Was a sustainable ecosystem able to be set up? All these things, haha. Otherwise, I love this MC because he is a workaholic, a perfectionist, super smart and very detailed! It definitely helps with the immersion and I love learning new things. I also liked all the financial stuff thrown in, it felt like the author knew about this stuff and slid it in appropriately. The programming stuff too. I am a programmer and am very interested in personal finance, so it was refreshing to see some realism about these two things in the story instead of, they are so smart they can predict the market, picked stocks and made a boatload of money without actually going into any detail whatsoever. Or you know, they just learn all kinds of programming knowledge, developed a program single-handedly in like a week on an old laptop to capture all the market data and are able to make predictions on the market to day trade and make boatloads of money. This is too unbelievable because that is big data and needs maybe a supercomputer to do all the computing, or at least a bunch more servers than just a laptop, etc. But I definitely believed in the Mc’s knowledge and actions, so I was even more immersed which is wonderful. I like most of the acting stiff too because it felt real. Just my issues with the whole China is great, the military is super cool and everyone should love it, ehhh not my thing. I despise war and military stuff because it causes me anxiety and angst. Also, I'm not sure why the author made the MC do so much military-themed entertainment so close together. Just story-wise, it's repetitive.
Romance: 3.7/5
The romance is quite little overall but when it is there, I enjoyed its development. It is rather slow burn because the MC is just so work-focused and has a very clear line between business and anything else that he believes everyone else is that way too. After that, there is also the fact that he is a highly suspicious person and wary of betrayal due to past experiences so the ML has to put in a lot of work haha. Also, it can be surprisingly very sweet XD. After that, well, relating to the whole rebirth expanded explanation and the romance, it felt like the author wanted to make it a thing. It's just that I couldn't quite buy it. Again, maybe it's the MTL’s fault haha.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The entertainment industry is fascinating to read about, with how the various production elements work together to create a TV show or film. Investors and actors and stand-ins and props, all kinds of things. I also like the Hong Kong part because I don't really know what their relationship is with each other XD. ALSO, there are a lot of details about the financial world, business stuff and the entertainment industry, so I’m happy.
Characters: 4/5
The MC, Tau Mu is very rootable and made me quite quickly immersed in the story. He's sad, hardworking, full of regrets, has a poisonous tongue and is good at taking revenge. Despite this, he is a huge softy at heart for his people. I love watching all his schemes haha. The ML doesn't appear as much but he is surprisingly sweet and fun the longer they know each other. All the other characters are super distinct, real, and have a lot of depth and vibrancy. It's just that some of them don't get followed up on after their arcs, which they were active in sadly. Well, this story is pretty long, so...
They're so delightfully super annoying, the bad guys. Sometimes it makes the blood boil in a good way because then you look forward to seeing the MC kick them away and stuff lolol. It is enjoyable to read how the MC takes his revenge on hurting his people.
I do have to mention that I did get a bit confused on their motivations and what part they are playing in the story. Like the bad guys at the beginning, because the MC has no power and if fighting won't bring enough benefits, he will just suck it up and smile, the bad guys just keep hanging around as friends. Couldn't make up my mind if the author was trying to make them friendly or what lol.
-----
"[Second Chance, Slice of Life, Poor-to-Rich, Modern Day] This novel surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, if you consider my usual addiction towards poor-to-rich stories) kept my interest for so long! The premise of this novel is similar to most rebirth/second-chance novels. The MC (Tao Mu) ends his first life in complete misery after being brought down by the people he thought were on his side. As such, he welcomes his new life with every intention to live better. Unlike some novels though, his main focus is not on revenge. It's to stay away from the bad elements in his previous life — especially after discovering that he wasn't the protagonist of the story, and that even fate seemed to be working against him.The MC of this novel is the perfect-Gary-Stue type. He starts off very strong in terms of skills, and only continues to make himself stronger by taking advantage of his foreknowledge. If you enjoy novels where the main character levels up constantly in terms of reputation, wealth, abilities, etc." - tr*sh_generalist
<<less
CN (3.5)
8 Chapters Every 58.3 Day(s) 246 Readers 5 Reviews 04-23-2023
3.9 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 3/5
I read mostly in MTL for the whole thing. It's surprisingly understandable. Even when the sentences are almost gibberish, I can still understand them so good that there were hardly any interruptions in the flow. And sometimes, when I don't understand but want to know, I can just check the translation from a different browser and that always comes through. I would rate this much higher if there was a TL.
Pacing: 4/5
Not bad for a story this length. We go from junior high to just graduating from college. There is a time skip in the middle ish from high school to college which I wanted in detail but eh.
Plot: 4/5
I give it a 4 just because it's so long and I was invested the whole way haha. I love this type of stories and it's so long! It's more dealing with adversaries who are jealous of them or want to take advantage of them because of blood relationships and doing business to get wealthy. This part isn't that detailed and a bit hand-wavey, but there is constant doing stuff to make money.
Romance: 3.8/5
The romance is okay. It's not the focus but it is there. The ML is also an interesting enough character. And they only get together near the end lol.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
Nice haha. She has so many business ventures.
Characters: 4.5/5
Very good! I love all the side characters. They all kind of grow especially the ones close to the MC. Nice to see. Also nice is that some of the bad guys became good guys hehe. That's a bit different.
Personal Enjoyment: 4/5
I like that it's so long and set in one of my favourite era. The length and story are similar ish to Back to the Sixties Get Wealthy and raising cubs or something like that. It's not quite as step-by-step with lots of numbers to get rich but it's good enough lol.
<<less
CN (3.9)
336 Chapters Every 2.9 Day(s) 3213 Readers 36 Reviews 04-26-2024
3.9 Stars On-Hold:C208... more>>
Overall
Currently, I'm waiting for more chapters to be TLed before I go back to finish it. It will probably take a year++ lol. I am enjoying it so far. I would rate it as 3.9 ish so far?
Writing/Translation: 3.9/5
The translation I read is from ontimestory up to C106. It's pretty good, no complaints. The rest I read through mtl. It is understandable most of the time. And how to say, thte story is a typical poor to rich ancient time type of story so I didn't need to know everything to get the direction of the story iykyk.
<<less
CN (4.4)
223 Chapters Every 73.9 Day(s) 7094 Readers 121 Reviews 05-25-2021
3.8 Stars... more>>
Translation/Writing
I read the translations by Foxaholic. There are some typos, awkward sentences and grammar mistakes but you get used to them and the translation improves as the story goes. It's definitely quite readeable though and doesn't break the immersion once you get used to it. The translator is pretty enthusiatic in the translating with footnotes so no worries on not getting it. It feels a bit like the level of English is not as fluent as Chinese. No hate though, they know 2 languages haha. As for the writing style, it's not bad, it doesn't focus heavily on just dialogue or just descriptions.
Plot
It's slice of life, making a better life by farming and doing business in the first half, then the capital arc twice, and then a modern world arc. I definitely liked the slice of life, farming and business making way more than the capital parts until the end. Once they become important figures in the capital, we don't get that slice of life warmth anymore. Other than that, there are unfinished plot threads or plot holes in the story. One is the part where there was foreshadowing with the MC helping a pickpocket that apparently will be a super good turn later in the story but it was never mentioned again. Another was the MC's real body, what happened to it? The MC appeared in a 14-year-old's body but we find out in the modern world arc that his body had actually disappeared. I also feel like at the halfway point, the author didn't really know what exactly they wanted to write and was rushed to finish. It was like they included some plot points, then decided they didn't want it and rushed the plot points to the end.
The capital part I actually didn't mind and still enjoyed in spite of some things that I didn't like. First is the whole medicine stuff. I found it rather unbelievable. The MC with zero training can use all these practical diagnosis techniques like just by feeling the pulse, he can tell what ailments they have faced, how many years in between ailments, how long to live etc, all unrelated to what, blood pressure? Heartbeats per minute? Too unbelievable.
But then, after this, they had to rebuild a county. This was done so quickly, it only took a few chapters, none of the detail from the first half. We only got the broad strokes. Then, we get to go back to the modern world. I have no idea what the author actually wanted to do here. The acclimation of the ancient people to the modern world felt like a joke. In what, 5 days/ They can move around in the modern world like they were born there? -.- Next, it felt like they set up lots of stuff like career for the ML, acting for the twins, medicine stuff for the MC, the MC's original family who treated him badly, but then they made the MC change his mind to just have fun sightseeing. It felt like lots of things were left hanging kinda. Then, very quickly they went back to the ancient world again, the end.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
I think the author meant for this novel to be pure wish fulfilment and self-indulgent for themselves haha. There are so many tropes in here that some do feel out of place. I was expecting a mostly farming/business making story but it has more stuff. First was the golden finger space of the MC. This is Ancient China so I was expecting like 85% of the story to be kinda realistic and 15% of the story to be able to happen because of the golden finger. So I thought this space was the golden finger. But then we get cultivators with all the related cultivator elements like pills, moving the Force, controlling other people, spirit sensing, soul leaving the body, illusions, flying, etc. This was kind of a genre clash for me but eh, I went with it. After that, we find out the old man who thought the ML fell through space to get there so he was the only cultivator in the world at that point so then I felt, wow, now there are space time elements too? So then it feels not realistic anymore but it's not really a fantastical setting because really only the main couple uses these fantastical elements. Not only are there too many and too clashing, they've been expanded way too little. Like it just says, there are pill refining and tool refining workshops and books but this was told in like one sentence and all the processes and ingredients and whatnot weren't explained at all. This happened for basically every golden finger except the business parts. So I really wished the author had just stuck to farming and making money because that was the most interesting to read! And actually relateable haha
It can feel self-indulgent, as I said, some parts feel like fanfiction to me. An example is when the couple made a stable high income and finally got good clothes, the description of those clothes and how amazing the author described definitely felt like fanfiction because it was only then that the author really described anyone's clothing in that much detail lol. And then they added all those tropes I said above to give the couple as many good things as possible. So much emergency money, the mystical space that was actually created by a random artificer and alchemist from dunno where that was never spoken of again, intelligent pets that can also cultivate, babies bron from 2 male parents, cultivator powers in a non-cultivator world, a mysterious past ML etc etc.
Pacing
As you can tell, the first half felt smooth more or less but then the ending felt kinda messy and in the end, quite rushed like the author just wanted to end it lol. Also, since from almost the beginning, we knew that the ML had saved a lot of money, there really is no urgency to make money. Just to have a peace of mind to have steady cashflow. I didn't really mind because it is slice of life and they could still live better.
Characters
The MC and ML were likeable. I really loved the first half when the 2 of them were cultivating feelings with each other, getting to know each other, taking action to improve their lives together and just spending time during holidays together. It was wholesome to read about haha.
The side characters are unique and nice to follow. The 2 kids that appear halfway through the story are also developed haha. It is too bad the village characters got left behind after the 2nd half. Then we don't really spend that much time with any side characters anymore unless you count the Emperor which I don't. He's kind of a villain to me since he made it so the main couple had to leave the village.
As for the bad guys, they were satisfying by making drama everywhere and I liked seeing them get beat down by the MC effortlessly hahaha. It's just that their final end all happened suddenly, randomly and offscreen. It's like living with a roar and then dying with a whimper. We don't personally see their end. The MC gets to know what happened to them from a 3rd party for all of these bad guys. So that wasn't satisfying. They were all conveniently taken out of the story just like that.
Overall
Overall, despite all the negative things I wrote above, I enjoyed my time reading this story. The first half alrd justified my time haha. It was interesting, there is a lot of delicious food, lots of cosy heartwarming scenes with the ML, etc. I did not feel like I wanted to stop reading at any point. I know this is no literary masterpiece and I am only here for my guilty pleasure, poor to rich, farming and business making tropes haha. As long as the main couple are halfway likeable, the writing doesn't break my immersion, and I can ignore everything else.
<<less
CN (4.5)
109 Chapters Every 6.9 Day(s) 5107 Readers 58 Reviews 04-21-2024
3.7 Stars... more>>
Personal Enjoyment: 4/5
I rather liked it. The business management side which is what I usually come to these transmigrate to ancient china, poor to rich stories for, is not quite the focus. But what is there I did like to read about. The thing that carried me through were the characters, a bit rare in these types of stories. The dynamic of the relationship between the couple was nice and a bit sweet. The gong MC really respects the ML. I was a bit put off by his intro because he was rather combative, loud and a little reckless. But once he transmigrates, I love how he acts toward his husband. I also like the ML here. The character setting setup is similar to "The Only Favoutire Ugly Husband." But the MC here is far less forceful towards the ML than that one. I like their dynamic here more. The ML also has character development and isn't just a wallflower. The changes in the ML between the end and the beginning are different haha. Like it! Furthermore, the ML comes from a wealthy family and is a martial artist, whereas the MC comes from a low-income family and is a businessman and scholar. Their expertise is different and I also like that. The ML felt like a proper character in a story.
However, some of the things lacking are: one, the translation after C59 does not exist so you have to rely on MTL. The experience surprisingly, doesn't really suffer despite that. It would have been preferable, however, if I had read the entire translated version. Next, the drama and potential faceslapping situations aren't resolved by the main characters. The plot just happens to naturally face slap the villains by other higher-up characters instead. It's too bad but it didn't really bother me. Just a missed opportunity. Next, as usual for most poor to rich, transmigrate to ancient times, business management type stories, I wish there were more detail in all they do.
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
The translation from C1 to C59 I read is from Yummy Yogurt. I wouldn't say it was great but it is at least quite readable. Common careless mistakes, but it doesn't interrupt the flow too much. I would rate it 3/5. The rest I read seems to be MTL at the readwn website. It's at MTL level, but it actually isn't bad. You still have to put in some effort to read it but anything you don't fully understand won't impact your understanding of what is happening. Since it's MTL, in one sentence, the order of its parts might be messed up. So you have to rearrange it in your head. There will also be some wrong nouns or weird names but you can either guess the correct person or it doesn't matter if you don't know who it is. The level of understanding the MTL is like trying to understand a little kid who doesn't quite grasp the language yet and has a habit of saying things too fast before his mind can arrange them properly. So the grammar and everything else are not correct at all but you can guess what the little kid is trying to tell you, more or less. Also, if you read this type of poor to rich, transmigration to ancient times type of novels, it's even easier to guess what is happening because of how familiar you are with the tropes. Like if the little kid is your own child, you can almost mind read the kid lol. I got pretty used to it by the end.
Pacing: 3.5/5
It was a little stuttering. There will be lots of parts where things are just going as normal, then suddenly, the characters just decide to go to the capital and within 3-4 sentences, they go from living a normal life to packing up and setting off immediately with no pondering or discussion. There are also not few parts that goes to the next event so quickly like that.
Plot: 3.7/5
Fyi, the parallel modern world plot line is chapter 44, 67, then the extras. Also, I am not sure if chapter 67 should be the start of the modern story instead of chapter 44, it isn't clear. Also, it definitely feels like it was unfinished. The MC is basically cast out of the family and at the end of the last extra chapter, he found a potential networking opportunity but we don't know why, what for, or how he's going to get it.
The main plot. It's story is a typical poor farmer, a big shot in the village, who passes exams, sets up restaurants, passes more important exams, sets up restaurants in more lucrative places, etc. There is a battle/war arc at the end which I surprisingly did not mind and kind of enjoyed. Normally, I don't like wars and fighting to interrupt my peaceful and calming farm life stories but the war arc really flowed well with the story and there were lots of instances where the MC doing modern knowledge in the war so that definitely helped. It was also quite short and the language was simple so the war didn't feel dark and grim. I only wish the MC was more direct with his faceslapping.
Romance: 4/5
The romance was rather nice actually. The MC is the gong but he is quite caring and has lots of respect for the ML’s silent wishes, thoughts and wellbeing. I also love this interesting dynamic of the MC Gong being the physically weaker scholar while the ML is this manly martial artist, Ger Shou. Unlike in The Only Favourite Ugly Husband, this ML really doesn't try to become feminine (in the Ugly Husband, while that ML is also a manly ger and actively trains to get stronger physically too, he still does small little things to improve his looks like shading from the sun, use creams etc. While I don't discriminate them doing that if they like it themselves, it just felt a bit conformist to the ideals in that story.). Also, the ML really takes into heart that his husband really loves him no matter what he looks like and gets more confident befitting his status. Nice character development to see there too.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
It's a typical ancient china setting. There isn't too much detail but I can get the farming vibe. I would like more detail about the surroundings though.
Characters: 3.9/5
The main characters are rather nice as said above. The MC is the gong but he isn't overbearing or anything. He runs around, working hard to provide a nice life for his husband and himself. He's confident and rather sweet to the ML. He likes to cook. The ML is insecure and lost his memories at the beginning. But after reassurance from the MC and getting back his memories, he slowly gets more confident and achieves his potential with support from the person he loves :)
We have some delightful side characters who are likeable but we don't really focus on them after a while. But I did like them. I just wish they were more present. The bad guys were villainous and all but I just wish the couple had confronted them head-on.
<<less
CN (4.2)
90 Chapters Every 61 Day(s) 4984 Readers 69 Reviews 11-15-2021
3.7 Stars... more>>
Translation/Writing
I read using KnoxT. The translation is better than mtl but it's not really great. The sentences are a bit awkward and there are countless small grammar mistakes. It's readable and when you get used to it, it doesn't stop the flow of reading but it is noticeable. I believe it's because the translator is new? However, they do put in footnotes and even pictures of things like the food. There is one point that might bother some people. In the first half-ish, the footnotes are directly after the paragraph in the story instead of at the bottom. Some might prefer not having to scroll to the bottom to read them, some might find it annoying to scroll to skip them to the main story. The writing style, well, there are a few more idioms than I'm used to in these farming stories if that bothers anyone.
Plot
Its a typical food, business, poor to rich, countryside story but the peak of the cp lifestyle is only up to the landlord of their village and town which I am quite happy about. The farm/business/slice of life genre is there from start to finish, unlike other similar types of stories where the cp becomes country-level powerful which then involves action and politics which I dislike. I'm here for the slice of life yo not action.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
It's a slice of life story and a food business trope. It is pretty typical, and the food is easy to believe and understand that the MC can make them. All the food are kinda normal modern day food, so it's not unbelievable that the MC can make them. I also liked that the MC and the Gong didn't have any golden fingers to be successful. It's all a bit more realistic than normal farming business stories like this. I do wish there were more details in the business of making money though, like stating the prices more in the latter half of the story. Once the money started getting bigger, the author didn't say what cost what, not as detailed as when the MC was selling the noodles at the beginning. As for any drama, there isn't much really, definitely much less than other similar stories.
I kinda wish the ML kept his childish personality for the romance part. After he got better, he became a confident person so the MC could do less work. I actually thought making the ML a fool was a good idea for slowing down the pace of the MC's business because then, only one person is the head and providing most of the effort instead of a doting ML with so much capability that takes care of everything. This way, the MC gets a lot of time to shine. As for the s*x, ugh. The s*x dynamics are the kinda typical uke gong in bed where the more the uke struggles and frowns, the more cute and excited the gong is =_=. Although the uke here is not the shy rabbit type but a confident type, I didn't like the language used. The ML will hug the Mc tight and no matter how the MC struggles or pushes away the arms, he isn't strong enough and just gives up. I reaaaally don't like it. I kinda just skim, ignore the s*x parts and almost imagine the cp as other people haha.
Pacing
This is slower than other similar stories. For one, there isn't much action or drama after halfway. On the other hand, the peak of the cp is only at the village/town level for less than 100 chapters. The MC is also very cautious about trouble from being too successful so if it takes awhile to move to the next step, it is fine. At the end ish, there will be lots of tiny timeskips and time will pass by quickly so it's a little bit rushed. Although I admit, nothing much happens by then because everything is already on the right track.
Characters
I like the MC. He's hardworking and has friends instead of being focused only on himself and the ML. It's just at the beginning when you first see him, there were too many exclamations in his thoughts and words that I had a slightly bad impression of him. That disappeared once he separated from the in-laws, haha.
The ML is fine. I think it would have been nicer to have the fool ML for the whole story though haha. Cultivate all the caring feels XD I just don't like how the s*x dynamics are portrayed when he forces the MC and it is all portrayed romantically.
The side characters are all quite important here! They basically appear often and never fade away due to the plot. I like them all. There are even side pairings! The cp all also have good feelings of family and close friends with them. I find in other similar stories, the cp will treat them well but don't really put them inside their hearts.
As for the villains, they appear but are easily defeated right at the beginning and never shown in detail again. There will usually be a couple of confrontations that are shown in detail but the rest are just told in one sentence after they happen. So no drama or faceslapping unfortunately.
<<less
CN (4.2)
148 Chapters Every 13.3 Day(s) 4013 Readers 54 Reviews 11-04-2023
3.7 Stars... more>>
Overall/Personal Enjoyment: 3.9/5
I quite enjoyed myself. I've been in a reading slump since Nov so I said F it and started reading all the poor to rich not Completed webnovels in my list that I had reeeeally wanted to read. Normally, I would ignore the incomplete webnovels because I don't like the quality to drop halfway because of MTL but I didn't care anymore because I have read all the Completed novels with this type of trope haha.
I think I only read two other good transmigrate to the 50s-90s type of stories that were completed and that I really liked, Back to the 60s, Getting Wealthy, Raising Cubs and Bai Shumei in the 70s. The rest were quite disappointing. So I am happy to read this one. The story itself is pretty solid and I love that the business management part played a big role in the story. I wish the story focused more on that with even more detail haha. It only reached the level of the village and maybe the town or city. I wanted a business empire hahaha. I also would have liked more explicit information during the making of the products being sold like the recipe of the popsicles and what fruits exactly were inside. Also, for the greenhouses, I wanted to know in more detail each plant's drawing and planting detail like in the Pastoral Life. And also, what exactly are the greenhouse techniques the Mc learned in the capital. Well, this is my most common complaint for all webnovels most likely. More detail lol.
Writing/Translation: 3.4/5
The translation I read is from Lazy Sakura Translations. The translation is okay, there are often some mistakes but they don't affect the reading experience for me. Some missing words, things like that. Also, the writing is pretty simple and straightforward so any translation mistakes are easily ignored. It isn't finished yet at chapters 85/148 so I continued with the MTL at the mtlnovel website. Like another reviewer said, it's quite readable. Far superior to most MTL and some terrible translations, such as a tea novel, which is simply too difficult to read.The MTL has frequent add-ons to the names, wrong substitutions to nouns and so on, but the grammar is surprisingly good. And yes, sometimes there are paragraphs or something happens but you can't understand because of the mtl but it doesn't really detract from the experience. The cuteness of the baby isn't as clear but it is still there. Basically, if someone wants to clean up the mtl, it really wouldn't take much effort.
Pacing: 4/5
I thought it was pretty good especially during all the money making bits. Nothing really felt rushed or slow.
Plot: 3.8/5
The plot is really simple which is good for what it is. The MC moved to the 1980s with a 2-year-old, broke ass poor, he has to use his brain and rely on himself to provide for this poor child. The money making from the beginning to about 3/4 is quite detailed, especially how much was made exactly, which I liked. Then, as it got bigger and bigger, more people noticed and when it looked like he could live a good life no matter what happens next, the characters' past came back to make some drama. I admit that the drama part was okay but I wished it was more satisfying to faceslap and that it would have concluded much faster so I could go back to the business management part haha.
Romance: 3.3/5
The romance is kinda lowkey haha. It really only happened in the latter half of the story because the MC is just too busy making a living for his family. But I didn't dislike it. It's fine for me.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
This is a typical olden days rural China setting. I wish it was more detailed but the focus was more on the running a business part.
Characters: 4/5
The main characters are pretty good. The MC is lowkey, smart, hardworking and serious. His son is arguably also a main character because he appears almost all the time haha. He's 2-3 years old but he's quite eloquent. Although he is so eloquent, you can tell he's still a little kid which is good. A lot of other stories I read with kids either show them briefly then throw them to other caretakers or show the kid as a mini adult which is too unbelievable that it broke me out of the immersion. This is just right. The kid is super cute and the MC is really involved in the kid's daily life. I admit, the repetition of the kid's unique characteristics, ie, the constant food obsession and how the other characters keep teasing him about being handsome and/or a little fatty, got a bit annoying by the end. But I still prefer this kid. He added a lot to the story.
<<less
CN (4.5)
57 Chapters Every 73.5 Day(s) 2497 Readers 34 Reviews 06-22-2022
3.7 Stars... more>>
Also not really sure if I should put this one in this list. This has a minor part of making sure the family is provided for but it is not the main focus of why he's investing on all the famous companies of the time. But since there is a small part of it, I'll include it here anyway.
"2nd Chance, Poor to Rich, Business Management, all my favourite things!. It seems to really dive into investing which is novel considering how most web novels treat investments and picking stocks and choosing movies to invest in because of future knowledge and that's it. I've been eyeing Epiphanies of Rebirth becuse of the same tropes and this was one of the reccomendations"
---
Writing/Translation: 2.2/5
The translated parts from Miss Lemon’s MTL I read were quite good. All the investment jargon was clear enough. There were no errors that I remember.
The rest I read in MTL using the default browser translation for Google and Safari. Reading only one version of MTL was kinda bad but if I read two at the same time, it's quite readable. I understood the gist of what was happening. All the investment stuff got more dry and maybe a good translation might have helped in that department but I don't think it would have had much effect.
Pacing: 3.5/5
Hmm, the investing were quite detailed. But after the first setup and establishment of initial funds, the start of the main big business and the rest got quite dry and had a lot of telling what was going on. Yes, there are also a lot of show-not-tell parts but still a lot of info dumps haha.
Plot: 4/5
I think people who love this kind of stuff would adore this story. This is a pure power fantasy for someone who has future knowledge and is ambitious enough to fight on the big stage for it. For me, I am not really interested in such things haha. So while objectively, this type of trope is good but I personally didn't enjoy it that much.
Romance: 4/5
The romance is pretty slow haha. Only in the last fourth of the story did it really gain traction. I didn't mind it. It's better than the normal seme uke teenaged fantasy BL romance lol. The two is a bit more realistic or mature?
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.9/5
The world setting includes the US and various provinces of China. And in each there are different industries and businesses the MC is doing so the world is definitely bigger in this story. Also, lots of real-world history is being thrown around for that time period.
Characters: 4/5
The characters are pretty good. There are a lot of characters here.
Personal Enjoyment: 3.3/5
Not really a fan of these huge, mind-boggling amounts of money being thrown around. Not relatable anymore for me haha.
<<less
CN (4.1)
124 Chapters Every 28.1 Day(s) 4544 Readers 56 Reviews 06-07-2023
3.7 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 3.8/5
The translation I read is from Konila. Just small harmless errors like a couple of wrong pronouns and names but it only happened like twice or something. My only issue is that sometimes in the beginning, I didn't really understand a sentence. It got way better after awhile.
Pacing: 4/5
The pacing was chill and even the entire way really.
Plot: 3.7/5
It was good to provide this chill farmer lifestyle. The con is that there weren't really many ups and downs haha. Just two people working hard in their own lives to make up for not having a good life previously. This isn't perfect, though. As I can't quite get a solid handle on all their personalities, goals or motives. If you read it, you'll get it. The other characters kind of feel meandering. I can't really understand if they are bad, if they are good, what do they actually want and stuff. Ambiguous and a bit wavy. For example, the MC’s relationship with Mrs. Zhou. I can't get if she likes her, finds her meh or what. Mrs. Zhou too. Is she a weak-willed person to her four sons since they all keep going against her to marry? But then she was super cool when dealing with the separation and was so fair. And then, at the end, our couple kind of broke things off with her or at least wasn't as close as before. All the interactions between our couple and other people feel so up and down lol. But weirdly, I still get the chill slice of life vibe throughout the entire story.
For the money-making part, it isn't the best, despite what everyone is saying. This is because our MC didn't state any plans she has. So whenever they do something money-making-wise, it just feels like going with the flow. So there isn't that satisfying catharsis in buying more assets or making more money. Because there isn't any buildup. But this is still that poor-to-rich rural area type of story and the chill bibes are definitely there. The fact that it is fully translated definitely helps.
Romance: 3.5/5
The romance is sweet when it's there. At the beginning and first half, we don't really understand the ML’s personality. Is he the stoic type? Feeling inferior type? But he's unexpectedly a bit playful. The only con is that we don't get much romance since they kind of act like an old couple who likes to do things together in peace. Which I admit I do appreciate because normally, the couples in CN novels are very cringey to me.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
Live the vibe very mych.
Characters:3/5
I like that there are so many characters. But I don't like that they are so hard to pin down lol. An argument can be made to say that this is life and people are not static or whatever but I’m here to enjoy reading and it's hard to know if I should root for a character or not when they are so wishy-washy
Personal Enjoyment: 3.9/5
<<less
Comments (0)
- Blob
- Sushi
Post Reply
Cancel
