The Cuckoo's Nest

During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, Mianyang merchant Boss Chen accidentally killed his only son, Chen Yunqian, in a fit of rage after the boy failed at his studies and refused to mend his ways. Terrified, he buried the body in the vegetable garden under cover of night, unaware that a cold-eyed weasel had watched the whole thing.

The next day, his son came home alive and well.

But Boss Chen soon realized that the one who had returned was not his son.

The body was inhabited by the spirit of a weasel demon, which had come to repay a debt of gratitude.

To preserve his dignity and bring honor to his family, Boss Chen was forced to strike a deal with the monster: he would let it impersonate his son in exchange for the empty reputation of having a brilliant scholar in the family.

At first, the weasel did win him the praise he had long dreamed of. But beneath the false prosperity, one calamity followed another: the body's hidden decay, the demon's true nature coming to light, and its endless demands.

Step by step, Boss Chen fell into a web woven from vanity and regret, until his family business was ruined and he was left utterly broken in body and mind.

When he awoke on the verge of death and realized it had all been a nightmare, he resolved to turn over a new leaf. But the mockery of reality and the pressure of public opinion soon closed in once more.