To Read Novels: Poor to Rich, Farming Pt. 1

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To Read Novels: Poor to Rich, Farming Pt. 1

List of novels in my To Read list for my favourite trope, rags to riches! To my best guess anyway since I haven't read them XD. Also usually slice of life.

I'll also put what made me want to pick the story up. Just be warned that I will delete the story from the list after I've read so the list will frequently change. I like to view the cover art of the book, and be able to see a lot of novel details on the list in one place instead of having to click to the web novel page. I also include any translation detail like where to find them if they aren't on novelupdates so I can read the whole story without getting stuck halfway because of no translations. Not in any particular order but I try to put similar novels, either in expected tropes or vibes together. And the incompleted ones at the back. Recommendations are very welcome!

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35 Followers

puregarnet

Created: Oct 8th, 2022, Updated: May 1st, 2024

Created Oct 8th, 2022

Updated May 1st, 2024

CN (4.5)

#51After Being Abducted by the General

165 Chapters Every 1.7 Day(s) 3505 Readers 22 Reviews 05-04-2024

Adult Fantasy Historical Mature Slice of Life Yaoi

Translated 152/197. Army building with farming.... more>>

CN (4.6)

#52To Rule in a Turbulent World

1 Chapters Every 1019 Day(s) 5462 Readers 34 Reviews 07-24-2021

Action Adult Adventure Drama Historical Mature Romance Slice of Life Yaoi

No poor to rich tag but it is from Farming/business themes in ancient times (danmei) list by thebadgirl05.... more>>

CN (4.1)

#53Infrastructure Frenzy

22 Chapters Every 57.9 Day(s) 874 Readers 9 Reviews 09-03-2022

Action Adventure Fantasy Mature Shounen Ai

Translated 20/159. Clan building. Apparently it is easy to MTL.... more>>

CN (4)

#54I Built a Territory in Ancient Times

93 Chapters Every 10 Day(s) 2345 Readers 14 Reviews 04-10-2024

Fantasy Historical Mature Shounen Ai Slice of Life Yaoi

Translated 91/163. Kingdom building.... more>>

CN (4)

#55Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains

0 Chapters Every 975 Day(s) 1622 Readers 16 Reviews N/A

Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen Ai Slice of Life

Looks like a primitive clan building story which after Stone Age Raising Husband Journal, I'm pumped.... more>>

CN (4.3)

#56Travel to a Primitive World to Build Infrastructure

79 Chapters Every 16.9 Day(s) 2586 Readers 22 Reviews 10-07-2023

Adventure Fantasy Shounen Ai Slice of Life Yaoi

Translated 66/132. Clan Building.... more>>

CN (4.1)

#57Banished to Another World

760 Chapters Every 57.1 Day(s) 8173 Readers 106 Reviews 04-24-2024

Action Adult Adventure Fantasy Mature Psychological Romance Supernatural Yaoi

Original TL is completed but seems terrible. But Chrysanthemum Garden is translating at 89/759, Gonna wait for that.... more>>

CN (4.1)

#58The Survival of the Wild Tribe

42 Chapters Every 6.4 Day(s) 957 Readers 5 Reviews 05-01-2024

Action Adult Adventure Fantasy Historical Romance Slice of Life Yaoi

Translated 39/240. Clan building.... more>>

CN (4.2)

#59Bestial Blade

75 Chapters Every 77 Day(s) 2586 Readers 8 Reviews 07-22-2023

Action Fantasy Martial Arts Mature Romance Shounen Ai Supernatural

Translated 68/105. It's by Priest! Kingdom Building."It's about two broken young men who rely on each other's strengths to find happiness in an uncaring world.... more>>

CN (4)

#60Protect Our Patriarch

24 Chapters Every 14.5 Day(s) 686 Readers 11 Reviews 05-07-2024

Action Adventure Comedy Psychological Slice of Life Xuanhuan

Poor to rich and clan building.... more>>

CN (4.1)

#61General, Madam Called You To Farm

253 Chapters Every 2.3 Day(s) 2165 Readers 18 Reviews 05-06-2024

Comedy Drama Fantasy Historical Romance

Translated 246/1211. The raws are still ongoing so that's a bad sign. Poor to rich, transmigrate, slice of life... more>>

"MTL is fairly easy, beginners can try" ~ whitespade

"This is the second novel I've read from the author. I must say that this author is really talented in writing very vivid, dynamic characters. All her characters shine in their own way. Because of her talent in writing very nuanced characters - from the leads to the side characters to the villains, the story becomes very engaging and interesting to read.

The plot is nothing very complicated, to be honest. The story is interesting but what makes it better is how the characters progress in the story. This is a character-driven novel. In this 1000+ chapters novel, there are many characters that appear and disappear along the way. This is unavoidable because the author often brings up new people when the main cast gets thrown into a new plotline. Some background characters are then only mentioned but they no longer appear upfront after that. So if you like long novels that focus on people, minimal faceslapping, intricate political + drama storylines: you'll definitely enjoy this story.

There is also cute kids in the story that often get into trouble, but bring a lot of joy in the story. Author doesn't make the young 2-4 year old kids too smart. They're appropriate for their age group which is good.So anyway:-OP female lead transmigrates into ancient times into a chubby girl. FL is powerful. She has a lot of gold fingers. She seems like a Mary-Sue but because of how everyone else around her also have their own respective powers/gold-finger, she doesn't become overly blown up in power. She's like a humble Mary-Sueish FL. She's a facecon, gossipy, and mischievous. A fun character. Sometimes she does feel like a side-character when the story focuses on her other cousins/brothers/family.

ML is a black-bellied man who's really smart and cunning. He's very mensao. Along the story he continuously improves on his martial arts and becomes better-tempered. Initially he is quite hot-tempered with a strong desire for revenge but after things settled down, he's more calm now and his cunningness shows even more." ~ ntww12 <<less

CN (4)

#62Farmer’s Blessed Girl

0 Chapters Every 53.9 Day(s) 938 Readers 8 Reviews N/A

Adventure Comedy Fantasy Romance Slice of Life

Has poor to rich tag. Apparently, the translator took their tl down for some reason. Could be MTLed. Good reviews. Combination of historical setting, interstellar,... more>>

CN (4.2)

#63The Resplendent Farming Apothecary

200 Chapters Every 33.9 Day(s) 4039 Readers 27 Reviews 03-15-2023

Adventure Drama Fantasy Romance Shoujo Slice of Life

Translated 89/1169. Has poor to rich tag.... more>>

CN (4.4)

#64Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

109 Chapters Every 1.9 Day(s) 1130 Readers 12 Reviews 05-08-2024

Drama Fantasy Historical Romance Slice of Life Supernatural

Translated 91/212. Has poor to rich tag. Seems good except the ending so might just skip the last 15 chaps?... more>>

CN (4.3)

#65Chang’an Small Restaurant

95 Chapters Every 3.5 Day(s) 1110 Readers 7 Reviews 05-05-2024

Josei Romance Slice of Life

Translated 58/110. Has poor to rich tag.... more>>

"Also keep in mind of the tags 'Slice of Life' and 'Slow Romance'. This novel doesn't have much 'action', it'll mostly be able the MC introducing different foods from the future dynasties and from the modern world. Of course, behind the calm is the brewing of palace politics. We get to find out what happened to Shen Shaoguang, as well as the secrets behind our ML. Though this is very subtle, but everything mentioned in the earlier chapters all play a part in the development of the plot. But like I said before, it's mainly slice of life.

I myself enjoyed such stories; as some can tell from the past novels I've translated, this is right up my alley. Every chapter is written vivaciously and leaves me wanting for more. I have to use a lot of brain power reading this novel, so I just read as I translate, but Shen Shaoguang is definitely one of my fav female portrayals, she's mature, smart, crafty, and sometimes slightly rogue. It's a rare combination of traits for a female MC and I love it. Our ML looks quite elegant and cold on the outside, but he's also slightly black-bellied, a pursuer of justice, and very devoted to his loved ones. There's no misunderstandings, the communication is there, and even though the love is slow to bud, it's visibly developing each chapter. I like it because there's no love at first sight. It's the many times they meet and acknowledgement of each other's strong points where they slowly fall in love and accept one another's shortcomings... I'm not a good reviewer, so I'll end it here, but please enjoy this novel and wait patiently for the translation for the greatest gratification. <3 Pure" ~ Purelove

"I liked this one alot. I was in the mood for a historical book thats more peaceful without alot of drama or scheming and this one really hit the spot. It's set in ancient china with an MC that transmigrated from modern day. It's a chill, slice of life money making romance novel with food as focus and imo great side characters who might not have like a huge backstory but their personalities are very distinct and memorable. Will elaborate more on all areas below.

To start, the MC is my favorite part of the book. Shes a modern girl (food writer) who transmigrated into a palace maid then paid her way to get released early and then opened a restaurant. Shes shameless, clever, and observant. Shes also really funny! Not funny bc the author forced it down our throats but like I was geniuely laughing at the things she said. Shes similar to the cat that got the cream, with sly fox like temperment. She also likes money but only because she wants to buy a house and enjoy the mountains and lakes in leisure. Shes also pretty bold and has a ruffian like temperament, she mol*sted the ML alot in her head lol. Shes also very innovative and uses her modern knowledge in a reasonable way while never going crazy about it. Like she doesnt know things the average person doesnt know and the things she does know have reasonable explanations (she learned etiquette and poems/books and calligraphy from the palace people who made all palace maids learn, and she knew about food from her prev job).

The ML for once isnt the emperor. Hes like a 4th? Ranked official I believe who has a bright future. Hes stern and cold at first, often just observing the MCs antics from the side. MC regards him as a beauty lol. His temperament makes the MC want to ruin his perfect facade and mess him up (MC is really a Rogue lol). But he finds MC amusing and also admires her then comes to care for and like her. When he realizes he likes her, he patiently chases her. Hes a perfect gentleman with a hidden side and a good partner to have a repertoire with the MC.The romance between the two is slow but has alot of good moments and they communicate often. ML visits her restaurant alot. MC is at first wary bc obv this is ancient times three wives four concubines plus her current identity is complicated (the daughter of a criminal minister) so she is resistant to being with him despite liking him. But he breaks down her defense one by one by gently infiltrating her life and brushing his presence in front of her. The romance was great imo and while there were people that liked the MC and ML at the begining no one was actually second lead material so the romance was truly one on one.

The plot itself is fairly simple it's about her opening a restaurant getting rich and falling in love. Dont expect any drama or face slapping or big villains or scheming or palace fights. There is none of that here. This is a really laid back book. Later on there is the bit with the emperor retrialing her fathers case but aside from that there are few conflicts.

The side characters make this book imo like I said before they actually arent given alot of depth but theyre super memorable. From the beginning when MC stays at a nunnery and meets the head who is a foodie. To her maid A Yuan who is chubby and simple girl that likes to eat and is good at fighting. Shes also the MCs die hard fan. To Yu San the cook/servant who is tsundere like crazy and prob the smartest person in the house (I liked him the most. The MC gave him the nickname Princess Yu San bc hes so moody lol). To the princess who really reads like a modern girl stuck in an ancient body shes def ahead of her time. To MC business partner Shao Jie who is straight forward and open. I liked that she had a male friend that admired her but didnt like her romantically. Breath of fresh air. Best of all every character was reasonable and not s*upid. Even the characters one finds annoying never did anything unrealistically s*upid. For instance an opposing restaurant wanted to get rid of competition and they did some tricks but after suspecting she had a big backer they stopped everything instantly. As quoted from the book, "The city is intricate even a rat on the street could be the Prime Ministers pet" which basically means anyone could be a hidden big shot and it's best not to provoke anyone. Every character in this book essentially follows this principle. A nun at the nunnery dislikes the MC but leaves it at that. No tricks, no plots. A nearby food stall is jealous, but aside from some jealous words nothing crazy happens. Theres no crazy scheming or plotting from anyone (aside from remnants of a king faction I believe but that has little to do with MC herself). Its just a very refreshing book.

Lastly I want to say that the wrap up is good but kind of lackluster. To put it simply I wanted more extras and more closure. But the wrap up is still nice just wanted more. I felt like there alot the author couldve wrote more of. But it's still a good book. The MTL is kind of hard to read tho. Read when you want a simple romance book about food set in ancient china. " ~ ApolloAresZues <<less

CN (3.8)

#66Wonderful Life After Exchanging Fate

140 Chapters Every 11.1 Day(s) 1244 Readers 16 Reviews 03-26-2024

Fantasy Historical Romance Slice of Life

Translated 136/157. Poor to rich tag. Second chance. Looks interesting!... more>>

There were two daughters in Jiang Family. Each of them was as beautiful as flowers and jades. Time had caught up with the famine season. One must be sold to survive. Jiang Yun Zhu pulled the shorter stick and was taken away by a human broker.

Seven years later, Jiang Yun Zhu’s face was even brighter. She was dressed in rich clothes and surrounded by servants. At this time, she was already the young madam of Marquis An Ping Manor. It went without saying, she was extremely honorable.

It turned out that the human broker sold her to Marquis An Ping Manor back then. At this time, Jiang Yun Xiu’s face was battered by wind and frost. Every day, she worried about firewood and rice. After receiving the brocade handed over by her elder sister, Jiang Yun Xiu gritted her teeth until blood came out. If she was the one who was taken away by the human broker…

Returning to the day of drawing lots, Jiang Yun Xiu snatched the short stick first. This time, she wanted to be the one above others. Jiang Yun Zhu smilingly took the long stick. She thought it was so easy to go from a maid to the Young Madam of Marquis Manor?

Note: The wealth and honor in the heroine’s dream was earned by her own struggle, not by being sold. Don’t get sold, live even better!

---

"TW: s*xual assault of 2 side characters; in*est in ch 70.

It begins with a very sad premise: a horrible famine forces a poor family to sell a daughter. However, the tone isn't as bleak or serious as you would think. It's actually a really pleasant way to pass the time. No angst or dog blood. There's a series of crimes interspersed throughout the novel, and they are wrapped up quickly. It's all speedy, easy reading. Throughout the novel, you see the MC and her family trying to eke out a living by selling delicious food. In between, she has a series of run-ins with the ML." ~ DojaDoge

"It's very similar to another novel I'm following, Chang'an Small Restaurant, but I think the other novel executes the story a little better. Both are girls from the modern world who first worked as maids in a high status family. After extricating themselves, they open a stall and later upgrade it into a whole store due to the popularity of their food. Likewise, there's a bigger restaurant that want to knock down their place, but fails. Both MLs are high ranking officials, but I'm not a big fan of ice bergs so -1 for Wonderful Life After Exchanging Fate.

But I think the difference is where what makes Chang'an Small Restaurant prevail as the better novel. Firstly, there's a lot of family members and starving people the MC of Wonderful Life After Exchanging Fate extends a helping hand at. Don't get me wrong, it's a kind gesture, but the amount of people present in the novel after 60 chapters is so many I don't even know who's who anymore. I feel like these characters are added just to pad the story, some of them don't even make a difference in the story later. There's way less people in Chang'an Small Restaurant, and even better, not many share the same surnames.

Also everyone hides their thoughts, there's much more push and pull in this novel. I'm not a fan of that. Also her greedy sister is a turn off, there's nothing redeeming about her, she's flat, just a greedy pretty girl. As someone who's lives through a lifetime already, I would expect both girls to be a little more mature. There's actually quite a few 2D people in this story now that I think about it. Even the MC is a little flat, she only knows to cook and avoid people of status, I still don't have a clue what she likes other than cooking. We, as the readers, rarely get a peak at the character's thoughts, there's no foreshadowing, and everything is just written out right, I think that's why its so difficult for me to like this novel. " ~ MissQ <<less

CN (4.3)

#67The Journey Of The Peasant Mother-in-Law

251 Chapters Every 9.8 Day(s) 1037 Readers 10 Reviews 04-12-2024

Drama Fantasy Josei Romance Slice of Life

Translated 217/1842. Has poor to rich tag.... more>>

"This novel is a gem. I laughed and cried with the Zhou family from their humble beginnings in the countryside to being a powerhouse in the capital." ~ snickerbst

"This novel is really...I can't say that it's misnamed, because it's true that some of it is about a peasant mother-in-law, but still. It's like if you summarized your life with that one time you argued with your mom in fourth grade. Ignore the questionable dogblood transmigration novel the summary makes you think this is, because it's just... not. It has maybe the most deceptive title and summary of any novel I've seen here & read in a while. It's also excellent. 5/5.

It's about family. It's about meting out punishment and reward and teaching and teaching some more. It's about becoming an official and bettering one's life, and about the responsibility that comes with that. It's about ancient imperial courts and how, even if you're close to the Emperor, at the end of the day, you're always still just a minister. It's about knowing where to draw the line. It's about trying to improve things for the whole country and planning to fend off floods, earthquakes, and disaster. It's about traitors and bloody schemes that could topple a country and wars and refugees and the day to day happiness of a family that knows where they stand and what they have to do.

The novel has an incredibly high number of chapters, but that's because it basically chronicles the two MCs' entire lives after crossing over. The description makes you think that it's mostly about Zhulan, but really, Zhou Shuren is just as much of a protag.

Genuinely, I really want to know why the summary is like that. I was expecting maybe a casual, 3.5/5 or so light read full of dogblood and perhaps some standard counterattacks with "I made epic modern thing in ancient times". What I read was a story about a family's slow progression from countryside farmers to court officials, with detailed worldbuilding and decent development of quite a lot of side characters.(And there are seriously a lot of side characters: kids, grandkids, in-laws, friendly court officials, unfriendly court officials, you name it. The novel manages that horde of characters without them turning into cutouts.)

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren both change and grow throughout the course of the novel. At first, they're just focused on not behaving suspiciously (unlike the third transmigrator) and trying to better their own lives, but gradually they become attached to the people around them (i.e. their instant kids) and you can feel their attitudes shifting -- slowly but surely (particularly slowly in the case of Zhou Shuren), until you can tell that they genuinely care about the people around them and are no longer just detached, otherworldly transmigrators trying to conceal their otherworldly transmigratorness. They start to want to do what they can to improve things, and maybe they don't do sudden, impressive grandstanding via mass rectification and importing 999 magical modern technologies, but their changes and gradual improvements work in a much more even way.

Also, I really like that even though it seems like Zhou Shuren and Zhulan are set up to be against the third transmigrator, Wan Ru, who actually does go hard on the "what if I brought 999 modern things to ancient China to get rich" route, they actually just try to avoid her and to avoid all of the other complicated plot pitfalls that would have otherwise befallen their instant families or the characters that they transmigrated into. They really aren't actively antagonistic towards Wan Ru, because it isn't necessary; no hardcore face-slapping is needed to solve a lot of problems.

So, tldr: if the summary or the novel title give you a bad impression, ignore them. Pretend you can't see them. Read the novel instead." ~ greenHills <<less

CN (4.2)

#68The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

76 Chapters Every 71.2 Day(s) 2750 Readers 20 Reviews 05-02-2024

Adult Adventure Comedy Drama Mature Romance Slice of Life

Translated 71/281. Translations seemed to have stopped since 2021. Poor to rich tag. But it seems to be more of how the MC from the poor countryside becomes an esteemed courtier and not necessarily the business side of things. ... more>>

CN (4.3)

#69Powerful Minister Buddha-like Sweet Wife

6 Chapters Every 152.5 Day(s) 1225 Readers 14 Reviews 01-10-2023

Fantasy Josei Romance

Translated 6/108. Will probably mtl it. Has poor to rich tag.... more>>

CN (4.4)

#70The Grand Secretary’s Pampered Wife

1039 Chapters Every 0.8 Day(s) 3655 Readers 43 Reviews 05-08-2024

Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Romance

Translated 576/1009. Has poor to rich tag.... more>>

CN (4.5)

#71I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country

104 Chapters Every 16.7 Day(s) 5283 Readers 37 Reviews 03-06-2024

Fantasy Romance Yaoi

Translated 97/180. Kingdom building.... more>>

CN (3.8)

#72The Princess’s Inner Thoughts Were Overheard by Her Emperor Father

87 Chapters Every 0.6 Day(s) 975 Readers 4 Reviews 05-07-2024

Fantasy Historical

Translated 31/234. Kingdom Building."This is a cute, heartwarming, nation-building fluffy novel with a good ending.... more>>

CN (3.7)

#73Rebirth to the Eighties to Get Rich

242 Chapters Every 5.2 Day(s) 2200 Readers 33 Reviews 05-05-2024

Fantasy Romance Slice of Life Supernatural

Translated 202/701. Has poor to rich tag. The MC seems pretty passive though.

CN (4.1)

#74Transmigrated as the Villain’s Wife

26 Chapters Every 36.8 Day(s) 1223 Readers 16 Reviews 05-05-2024

Adventure Comedy Romance Slice of Life Supernatural

Not sure why but the new translator started from scratch after 16 chaps so translated 4/120.... more>>

CN (4)

#75Strict Wife of the ’70s Manages the Household

729 Chapters Every 1.1 Day(s) 3193 Readers 48 Reviews 05-07-2024

Comedy Drama Fantasy Josei Romance Slice of Life

Split chapters. Mid 542 means its in the 30s out of 186. Now its at 723. Poor to rich tag.... more>>

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Kreya· Nov 8, 2022 06:19 PM
Oh my goshhhh!! I stopped reading for a while since was in a slump, having ran out of novels to read, then came this marvelous list with detailed reviews!!! Sometimes it's really hard to judge a novel with the synopsis alone since they can be very vague, while others have nothing to do with the story at all. I also want to know the general undertones of the story before proceeding in order to adjust my mood. You don't know how thankful I am
Reply · 1 Like · ·
- puregarnet· Author · Nov 9, 2022 02:13 AM
  Aww thank you! However, these are just snippets of other reviewers' comments that made me want to read the stories I haven't read them yet haha. If you want to see the stories I did read, rated and reviewed, you can see my other list, "All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating" XD
  Reply · 1 Like · ·

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