I saw that this novel doesn't have it's own thread on the forum so I decided to make one I just started it but I'm going to be posting spoilers for the arcs for anyone who wants to check it out when/if they start reading this in the future. Please come discuss with me~
The novel introduction is a bit vague so I'm gonna give a little bit more backstory on it: The main character is Jiang Zhe. Basically, one day he's out with his friends and gets a call telling him his girlfriend was in a car accident and he rushes to the hospital. The system shows up and tells him that if he binds to it then it can help save his girlfriend. I don't want to get too much more into it because that would be getting more into spoiler-y things so this is like the most basic premise. There are 5 arcs total and then one ending chapter to wrap it up. The first arc is the longest (20 chapters) and the others are of similar length (from 5-9 chapters). It's really not that long for a QT novel (you know compared to those that are like 4k ch long). It's a bit more unique in that it's a male protagonist/MC but it's not BL. I'm going to add this one spoiler just cuz: Spoiler The female lead is his girlfriend who is world hopping along with him. (He's totally not supposed to know that this exists but he tricks the system into getting mad and confirming that his wife in the first world is his gf) The official novelupdates page: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/quick-transmigration-the-prodigal-son/
Oh I remember reading this novel. It was fun and short, probably the first BG quick transmigration story I read that focuses on the male lead.
Arc 1 Spoiler: The Eldest Young Master's Gentle Wife So our MC transmigrates into his first world which is supposedly similar to his original novel for the most part. [It takes place when western influences are starting to exist in China] Anyways, the MC starts off by not going around chasing girls like the original did - apparently some of these girls led to the downfall and eventual death of the original so yeah. He's coldish to his wife at first but is a little tsun (he shows such a cold face to her but is doing things for her without saying anything about it - so basically an awkward little child) - his situation in this case makes me wonder about his relationship with his gf because it doesn't seem like his friends in the original world knew he had one? There are some minor troubles that aren't that big of a conflict - Father Jiang's concubine tries to make things difficult for the MC and Mother Jiang doesn't seem to approve of the wife. The wife (FL/gf from the original world) was originally from a similarly affluent family when she and the MC's original body were engaged, but her family was bankrupted and ruined. Only her and her brother were left but the MC's father didn't dissolve the engagement so to pay for her brother's education she still married the MC. It seems the MC's family looks down on her and thinks she only married for money but actually she had met the MC's original body before and had liked him which is why the engagement was set in the first place. The female lead is the soul of his gf but she doesn't seem to remember the original world and only has memories of this world MC's father runs a big clothing business but it will go downhill with the introduction of cheaper foreign products so the the MC wants to sell some shops to make it look like they're declining and move into the pharmaceutical business (experimenting with and improving western medicine) We find out that Concubine Shu (Shu YiNiang) 's parents died protecting Father Jiang so he brought her back and arranged her marriage but she drugged Mother Jiang so she would go to bed early and then drugged Father Jiang and slept with him so he took her a concubine and let her do whatever she want out of guilt of her parent's deaths but he never knew what she schemed until MC rationalized the events back then for him. MC separated households and left the house w his parents and wife (Concubine Shu and her two children stayed at the old house) the assets were split 50-50 with MC taking cash and the properties/businesses left went to Shu and children. MC made a friends w a boss (3rd master Zheng) - protected them so Concubine Shu won't find trouble for them riding on the wave of gossip that portrays her as the righteous party With Zheng's help and his own money from the split MC buys a lab and teaches his brother in law as they complete experiments and interact with foreigners. As the war breaks out the family goes to a foreign country with his workers and there they establish themselves by helping the country's forces decrease casualties (with the medicine he was researching presumably) and help upgrade their weapons leading to the country being established earlier than they otherwise would. MC lives there with his wife (and the child they have) until he dies of old age (FL passed first) and then returns to the system space to stabilize his emotions. The system tells him his gf is doing better and they move on to the next world. I had some personal opinions on the arc: Spoiler I feel like this life was especially just smooth-sailing. The only people who could be considered villains were Concubine Shu and her son Jiang Chen. Out of those two Concubine Shu was particularly easy to clear up with a simple explanation of suspicious nature of past events - once Father Jiang decided to wash his hands of her they split households and that was that. I feel like the Third Master Zheng was just boss character shallowly created to tie up loose ends. Oh Concubine Shu wants to make trouble but Zheng is existent so can't even try to do anything. Oh people thought that MC was on the losing end of the split of the household but he's friends with Zheng so we don't dare say anything anymore. Jiang Chen was comparatively more disappointing because he had the potential to a multifaceted character but his thoughts were never really expanded upon - at first he seemed too scared of his mom to have his sense of existence but after the split of the household he had more of a sense of existence in that he seemed to bear ill will towards the MC. Except... he never did anything? Like he seems to just go along with whatever his mom says without doing anything himself but he definitely doesn't like the MC and wants him to fail? I feel like he was a missed opportunity. Overall I feel like this book is gearing up to be the kind of story where the MC transmigrates with his protagonist halo and everything in each of his lives goes super smoothly... Personally I'm not entirely opposed to such a story if there is sufficient fluff from the romance aspect... but the sweetness isn't quite sweet enough to balance it out for me yet.
So far there isn't any angst.... but I'm not entirely clear on what type of relationship they had originally? The first world was all fluff but at the same time the MC didn't seem entirely comfortable in the relationship dynamic with the FL at first... so maybe there might be like minor angst asp in the future?
Arc 2: The Educated Youth Who Changed His Mind Spoiler: The Educated Youth Who Changed His Mind When the MC first transmigrated in he was injured in a forest and being chased by some people who were scolding him when they saw his condition they took him to treat his injuries first. The time seems to be during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) The original owner was running away after learning of his parents death - he was caught and then criticized for abandoning the team after which he blackened and did a bunch of stupid things. The MC instead said that he didn’t run away (the original didn’t take any bags with him because he wasn’t thinking properly due to the abrupt news of his parents death and the MC used this to prove he was right - who runs away without taking anything?) The FL is Xu Qing - her father is the team leader and her eldest brother is one of the ones who found the MC in the woods. Just like in the previous world she only seems to have memories of this world and she has liked the MC’s original owner for a while (but she doesn’t actually know him that well) Her second brother’s wife seems to have conflict with her mother. There is a child YaoYao who likes the MC... after the original was in a bad situation after running away she directly said she doesn’t care about him and people took the opportunity to throw stones at someone already down because he previously had the affection of the person they liked (YaoYao) Fluffiness ensues between the MC and FL. The FL thinks (for like a brief second) that the MC is in a relationship w Yao Yao bc she overhears the conversation of some random people. Then MC reassures her that he only likes her through a saying (which she learns the meaning of from an elderly lady in the village who is knowledgeable) One child tries to make trouble when he finds out the MC is with the FL and has “abandoned” Yao Yao - the MC beats him up. This marks the first example of the system calling its host black-bellied (referring to the original summary/premise) where MC beats up that person because he knows he won’t be punished for it because he has backing. FL’s family tests and then approves of MC. The National Exam (college examination) is reintroduced and the MC gets into a big name university and takes the FL and their child to Beijing with him. He uses the stash of money he has kept with the system (in my opinion the money stash is his biggest cheat) to buy a good place to live. The sweetness in this arc arrived early... happiness~
Arc 3: The Tyrant CEO’s Small Delicate Wife Spoiler In this world JZ is a ‘Tyrant CEO’ whose life went to hell because of one woman Qiao Shan. JZ decides to break up with QS first (who was totally cheating on the original body with another rich dude). QS is the ‘protagonist’ of this world - the system informs JZ that QS is also an ‘outsider.’ - this just felt interesting which is why I added it... she’s a character with no sense of existence The FL in this world is Qin Qing who is the original body’s childhood sweetheart. They go on a bunch of dates (well actually there are only two but I’d like to think there were more because two dates and then a n engagement seems a bit abrupt) fluffiness ensues and they get married. QS tries to make trouble but fails before she can even really start and JZ and QQ live happily ever after FLUFF^infinite
Arc 4: The Single Minded Boyfriend This is just a little note - on the translator’s site you can’t go straight from chapter 37 (last chapter of the previous arc) to chapter 38 (first chapter of this arc) at the bottom of the page. From what I gather the fourth arc’s raws were locked so you had to pay to view them and the translator couldn’t find free versions at that time so they translated the fourth arc later. Basically you go to the page the site has for the Prodigal Son linked in the top menu and scroll down to the fourth arc and use that link to the 38th chapter. Spoiler: The Single Minded Boyfriend In this world JZ is in the body of a scummy man and his gf Pei Yun is the FL. At the point he transmigrates the FL is in the process of telling him off and breaking up with him. JZ coaxes her into taking him back bc he recognizes her and promises to stop being so scummy in the future. The original had ambiguous relations with multiple women who came looking for trouble when JZ stopped contacting them but he clarified that they should keep their distance because he has decided to be whole hearted towards PY. JZ decides to start his own business and spends his time coding - he sells the software he created for $1M and uses that money to start his business. The FL’s roommates had a bad impression of JZ but when they see how well he treats PY now they start approving of him. Those random women heard that he had made a lot of money through the sale of his software and came to make trouble again but JZ clarified again in front of the crowd and they in turn threw the gifts he had given them previously at him. JZ had signed a contract to work for a company in a different city for a year. There they tried to decrease his pay giving the excuse that he was still a student so he resigned and started a business with two people he poached from that company. His company steadily grew as time passed with very few missteps - an exceptionally smooth growth. The FL came to accompany him later and they eventually got married.
Arc 5: The Crazy Dog Who Became A Loyal Hound This is the last arc and the shortest one (it’s only 5 chapters) Spoiler: The Crazy Dog Who Became A Loyal Hound The MC transmigrates into another scummy man this time. His family was wealthy while the FL’s family was not well off - but the original was scummy while the FL was ofc the opposite. Basically the FL’s father (Father Mo) was addicted to gambling and had run up a lot of debts - the MC’s father (Father Jiang) liked FL and decided to help her family out in exchange for her marrying his son. At the time the MC transmigrated into this world, the original had been married to the FL for two years already and they were on bad terms. MC sees the situation is a bit of a dead end because if he suddenly changes his behavior for no reason everyone would be suspicious so he goes out with the original’s shady friends and drives his car off a cliff during a race. After a minor little bit of angst the FL and MC rekindle their relationship and MC starts studying. MC eventually comes to work at Father Jiang’s company and takes over when he has shown his capabilities. He gives a large piece of land to his in-laws to farm and they become happy doing something productive. MC and FL have a son and a daughter together and live happily in that world.
Last Chapter Spoiler: The End MC returns to his original world - the system asks what he wants as a reward for successfully completing all the worlds and he says he wants the FL to be healthy and alive. In the hospital the doctor tells him that emergency treatment was given in time and FL is alright. FL wakes up and thinks that everything must be a dream because the MC has always been very aloof and guarded. She touches the MC’s head and he wakes up - his reaction makes her doubt that everything was a dream and she starts asking him if he knows the names of all the people she’s been in the worlds they’ve been to. (Li Cai Wei/Xu Qing/Qin Qing/etc). He stays silent for a moment before confirming and the FL and MC start their relationship anew. They go to register their marriage and quit their jobs. MC starts his own business again and in two years it is flourishing and he holds a wedding with the FL. They continue to live happily in their original world with max fluffiness.