The Early Spring Is No. 2 on Netflix, Streaming Now
If your feed is suddenly full of a sharp-suited advertising office and a slow-burn romance, this is why. The Early Spring, a new Chinese workplace romance, has landed at No. 2 on Netflix's Global Top 10 for non-English TV, and it is streaming in Malaysia right now.
The ranking covers the week of 24 to 30 August 2026. Only the crime drama Blood Sacrifice sat above it, which puts a mainland Chinese series in the global top two of the biggest streaming chart there is, days after its release.
What the show is about
The Early Spring follows Shang Zhi Tao, a fresh graduate who unexpectedly lands a job at one of the world's top advertising firms and walks in as a complete rookie. On her first day, her sharp-tongued boss, Luan Nian, tells her to quit. She stays, takes the pressure, and slowly proves she can do the work. As the two of them keep colliding, the friction turns into something quieter, and they begin a relationship they keep to themselves.
It is adapted from Gu Niang Bie Ku's web novel of the same name, and it leans on a familiar rookie-and-the-boss setup while keeping the focus on the actual job: pitches, clients, and the small daily wins that build a career.
Cast and episodes
Jing Bo Ran and Sun Qian play the two leads. Around them, Zhang Yezi plays Lumi, a colleague who becomes Shang Zhi Tao's mentor, and Peng Yang plays Tracy, the HR manager who spotted her talent and hired her.
The series runs to 24 episodes of roughly 45 minutes each. It premiered on Youku on 26 August 2026 and went out globally on Netflix the same day, with new episodes dropping daily and the final three arriving on 5 September. It has also drawn attention as the first mainland Chinese production to bring an intimacy coordinator onto set, a role that is standard on many Western shoots but new here.
Why it is worth a look
Chinese workplace dramas do not always travel, so a No. 2 finish on the global non-English chart is a real marker of how far this one has reached in its opening week. For anyone in Malaysia who already follows C-dramas on Netflix, it is an easy add: the whole run is on the platform, the episodes are short enough to binge, and the story lands its office setting without asking you to have watched anything first.
