Vernacular fiction from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
#1照世杯
#2无声戏
#3三遂平妖传
The older 20-chapter version is pretty short (fewer than 80k characters) and the writing is simpler than most. Very fantastic and disconnected stories following a young girl in the Song dynasty.
#4红楼梦
It is really hard to put this one down. However, it destroys your brain (in a good way, but leading you to put it down).
#5十二楼
Twelve short stories written on the premise of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. More approachable writing.