General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Cute Programmer (程序员那么可爱)

Cute Programmer (程序员那么可爱, Cheng Xuyuan Na Me Ke Ai) is a 2021 Chinese romantic comedy television drama about a female programmer who disguises herself as a man to join the startup of the programmer she admires, which does not hire women. It ran for 30 episodes on Tencent Video from September 10 to October 1, 2021, and stars Xing Zhaolin and Zhu Xudan.¹

Key fact	Detail
Native title	程序员那么可爱 (Cheng Xuyuan Na Me Ke Ai); also known as The Programmer Is So Cute¹
Run	30 episodes, September 10 – October 1, 2021; Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 8:00 PM CST, about 45 minutes each¹
Network	Tencent Video (web channel)¹^•²
Source material	Manhua No Programmer Can Be So Cute! (程序媛哪有这么可爱) by Tianyi Icartoon and Vitality Studio¹
Main cast	Xing Zhaolin as Jiang Yicheng; Zhu Xudan as Lu Li; Yi Daqian as Chen Yiming; Tian Yitong as Jiang Zitong¹
Production	Directed by Wu Qiang; screenwriters Peng Yiying and Han Yuting; produced by Tencent Penguin Picture³
Ratings	IMDb 7.3/10 from 619 votes; Viki user score 9.3 from more than 92,000 ratings⁴^•⁵

Spoilers

Premise

Lu Li (Zhu Xudan) falls in love with the programming genius Jiang Yicheng (Xing Zhaolin) and follows his path, enrolling at the school he attended and taking his major, computer science.⁴ When she seeks to join the startup company he founded, she finds that it does not hire female programmers, so she disguises herself as a man to enter the programming department.⁶^•²

The disguise does not last long: according to one review, Lu Li's gender is fully exposed by Episode 5, and the cross-dressing plot ends there.⁷ After repeated setbacks and doubts about her identity at the company, Lu Li and Jiang Yicheng reach an agreement to become a "contract couple" for one year; as they live together, Jiang Yicheng gradually falls for her without realizing it.⁶^•² A parallel thread has Lu Li helping Jiang Yicheng handle a series of difficult blind dates.³

Cast and production

The drama was directed by Wu Qiang, written by Peng Yiying and Han Yuting, and produced by Gong Xu and Zhang Shanshan for Tencent Penguin Picture.³ Xing Zhaolin plays the cold, aloof programming genius Jiang Yicheng, and Zhu Xudan plays Lu Li.⁸ Supporting roles include Yi Daqian as Chen Yiming, Tian Yitong as Jiang Zitong (Jiang Yicheng's sister), Guan Xin as Gu Xiaoqi, Joy Sheng as Li Man, and Pang Hanchen as Lu Jingwen.¹^•³

Reception

Viewer scores diverged by platform. Viki users gave the drama a 9.3 from more than 92,000 ratings, while its IMDb score stood at 7.3 from 619 votes and its JustWatch rating at 34 percent.⁵^•⁴

Critical reviews were mixed. The Dramaslot review called the plot a rehash of familiar romance tropes, cross-dressing in the early episodes, then a contract marriage, cohabitation, and a jealous ex returning, and judged that many plot points do not hold up as sensible, such as a cross-dresser getting a tech job without anyone questioning her gender.⁷ A DramaBubble reviewer, herself an engineer, found the depiction of programming unrealistic and noted that the female lead shifts from extremely submissive to downright dominant between the drama's halves, though she credited the leads with good chemistry.⁹ An IMDb reviewer took the opposite view, praising the leads' onscreen chemistry and the simple storyline without over-the-top conflict.¹⁰

Availability

The series streams on Rakuten Viki with subtitles in English, Dutch, French, and more than ten other languages, and is also available on WeTV, Tencent Video, and Prime Video; it can be purchased as a download on Amazon Video. It is not currently on Netflix.⁵^•¹¹^•³

Context: programmers on screen

The drama's premise touches a documented issue in how the technology profession is portrayed. A study of IT expert characters in five television shows found that all displayed some stereotypical characteristics, with technicians portrayed the most stereotypically, and argued that the male "geek" stereotype reinforces the masculinization of the discipline; female characters were less stereotypical but also less well recognized.¹² Research on media and career choice notes that popular shows depict computer scientists as mostly male, socially unskilled, and obsessed with technology, and that high-school students report their ideas about scientists are influenced more by the media than by any other source.¹³ Studies of the programming profession also record how stereotypes of women in computing persist in workplaces and platforms, even as the field's image varies across regions and disciplinary roots.¹⁴ Against this backdrop, a romance centered on a female programmer who must pose as a man to be hired dramatizes, in a deliberately exaggerated register, the hiring barrier its plot assumes.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Cr to In

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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