Back in the early 2000s, regardless of the season, suspicious men in oversized padded coats and dark sunglasses could always be found loitering on the streets.
They would stand by the roadside, pick a target, follow them, and then lower their voices while pulling open one side of their coat to reveal the lining. "Want some movies?" they’d whisper.
They had everything: smut, foreign gore, cult classics—and besides the usual bootlegs, there were the "notched discs."
The advantage of bootlegs was the price—five yuan for three, take your pick. The downside was the terrible picture quality; you were lucky if you could even make out the actors' faces.
Notched discs weren't bootlegs. They were original imports seized by customs due to their content. A notch was cut into the edge of the disc to mark it as scrap, but people would scavenge them from the trash. Since the notch often didn't affect playback, these discs were sorted out and sold on the market, where they were very popular. Their only flaw was that they would occasionally skip or freeze.
After class that day, Liu Kan rushed to Class 1 to find Chang Ying.
Chang Ying was napping at his desk when Liu Kan shook him awake. Chang Ying opened one eye, saw it was Liu Kan, closed it again, and turned his head to keep sleeping.
"I saw you open your eye! Stop faking." Liu Kan shook him harder, even pinching his throat to mimic Junzi’s voice: "Brother Chang, wake up~"
"Can you stop being disgusting?" Chang Ying looked up at Liu Kan. "What is it?"
Liu Kan mysteriously revealed a corner of a disc tucked into his school pants pocket. "Bought this after school yesterday. Want to watch?"
Chang Ying glanced at it, but before he could get a good look, Zhang Da walked by and snatched it out. "Hey, what’s this good stuff? Hiding it away like a treasure—let me see."
Zhang Da held the disc high and read the words on it aloud: "Lady White Snake and Fahai..."
Halfway through, he realized something was off and tucked the disc under his arm.
Liu Kan tried to grab it back, but Zhang Da hooked his arm around Liu Kan's neck and lowered his voice. "Kan, I don't get it. Why isn't Lady White Snake wearing any clothes on this cover?"
"What don't you get? You're asking what you already know. So, whose house are we going to?" Luo Zihan walked over and naturally plucked the disc from under Zhang Da’s arm, acting as if it were already decided.
Just then, Tan Junzi returned from getting water. Seeing the boys huddled around Chang Ying looking shifty, she asked, "What are you guys watching?"
Chang Ying used one hand to spin Junzi’s chair around so she was facing the other aisle. "Nothing."
To avoid prying eyes, the boys moved to the hallway outside the classroom. Qin Ke walked by with his hands in his pockets, performing a mock jump shot, when Zhang Da waved him over. "Ke-ke, stop shooting hoops. Get over here, something good's happening."
Luo Zihan said excitedly, "So, whose house? Let me state for the record: my place is no good. My grandma is a devout Buddhist. The house is full of Buddha statues; we can't play something... unclean like this there."
Zhang Da shrugged. "My mom’s been home every day lately. My place is out too."
Qin Ke said nonchalantly, "My family is poor. We don't have a DVD player."
Liu Kan stared straight at Chang Ying, feigning ignorance. "Then whose house should we go to? Whose house is empty?"
Chang Ying looked at the group of schemers and almost laughed from anger. So, his house was the only one fit for "unclean" things? But he knew that if he didn't agree today, he probably wouldn't make it out of school in one piece. He threw up his hands helplessly. "I never said I wanted to watch it."
The boys cornered him against the wall, grinning mischievously. "You're watching it whether you want to or not."
Liu Kan slapped his thigh. "Tomorrow’s Saturday. Eight o'clock tomorrow night, Chang Ying’s house!"
***
When Qin Ke was heading out around seven on Saturday night, Yuan Guo looked at him suspiciously. "Where are you going at this hour?"
Qin Ke patted his pocket. "Going out for a smoke. And I’ll stop by the supermarket; we’re almost out of rice."
On the way there, Liu Kan didn't forget to remind Chang Ying over the phone: "Are you sure no one’s coming over tonight? Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Junzi."
Chang Ying snapped his fingers on the other end. "Not tonight. She’s watching *Toshiba Animal Paradise*."
Zhang Da was almost at Chang Ying’s house when he turned back to the supermarket to buy two bags of drinks and snacks. At the checkout, he even bought a pack of Vinda tissues and stuffed them into his pocket.
Luo Zihan had a bit of trouble getting out. His grandmother said it was the Medicine Buddha’s birthday and insisted on making him recite the *Medicine Buddha Sutra* with her. As he forced himself to chant, he felt waves of guilt. He comforted himself by thinking: *I’m not following a path of evil; I’m going to witness the Dharma with my brothers.*
***
Chang Ying’s sofa could seat three people at most, but five large teenage boys were currently squeezed onto it. The lights were off, the curtains were drawn, and the atmosphere was subtle yet tense.
Everyone leaned back against the cushions, pretending to be calm, acting like they were men of the world who had seen it all.
The disc was a notched one. At first, Liu Kan was worried it would freeze, but the opening credits played smoothly.
Chang Ying muttered, "Boring," and pulled out his phone to scroll through sports news.
Zhang Da pressed his phone down. "Chang Ying, I’ve realized you’re such a poser. How interesting can the credits be? Are the director’s names going to do a dance for you?"
Luo Zihan, eating spicy beef jerky, chimed in, "Exactly, exactly."
Qin Ke frowned and made a serious shushing gesture. "Shh!"
Ten minutes in, the plot was still developing. On the screen, Lady White Snake began to act provocatively. The boys simultaneously began to fake stretches, reaching for nearby cushions to pull over their laps, trying to hide their adolescent "preoccupations."
There were only three cushions in total, and a scramble for them ensued.
On the TV, during the "Flooding of Jinshan Temple" scene, Fahai and Lady White Snake began their duel—and as they fought, their clothes began to fall off.
In front of the TV, some boys were standing on the sofa, others were on the floor, cursing under their breaths, hitting each other with cushions, and wrestling with each other's arms.
Zhang Da snatched a cushion from Luo Zihan and pinched the pressure point on his arm, nearly bringing Luo Zihan to tears.
Seeing he couldn't win the struggle, Liu Kan walked straight into Chang Ying’s bedroom and came out with pillows. "There are two more pillows in Chang Ying’s room. Stop fighting."
"Fuck," Chang Ying cursed, one hand clutching a cushion and the other trying to grab the pillows. "That’s what I sleep on! What are you thinking?"
Suddenly, Qin Ke held up both hands in a "stop" gesture, listening intently. "Quiet. There’s noise at the door."
The room went dead silent.
The TV volume suddenly seemed exceptionally loud. Fahai, already shirtless, began his "incantation": "You demon! I’m going to subdue you today, you little hussy!"
The key in the lock began to turn with a *creak-clack*.
Tan Junzi’s voice drifted in from outside. "Chang Ying, who’s at your house? Why is it so loud?"
The hair on all five boys' necks stood on end.
Zhang Da glared at Chang Ying. "Why does she have a key?"
"She’s always had one." Even though Chang Ying’s voice sounded calm, he was panicking internally. He rushed to turn off the DVD player, but the remote had been lost in some corner during the earlier scuffle.
He gestured to the others and rushed to block the doorway himself.
Just as Junzi poked her head in, Chang Ying used his body to completely block her view.
He braced one hand against the doorframe and put the other around Junzi’s shoulder to hold her in place.
His forehead was covered in sweat, but his voice was unusually crisp. "What is it?"
"Grandpa said you didn't come over for dinner tonight, so he sent me to bring you some buns." Tan Junzi looked at him suspiciously, trying to peer through the gap into the living room. "Is someone here?"
Luo Zihan leaned over, perfectly blocking the gap, and gave a casual wave. "Hi, Sister Tan. We’re all here."
"Yeah, we’re..." Chang Ying pinched the bridge of his nose and started making things up on the spot. "We’re doing... we’re..." But clearly, the blood in his brain had flowed elsewhere, and he couldn't think straight.
"What?" Tan Junzi raised an eyebrow. These guys were acting very strange. They were inexplicably hyper and nervous.
Zhang Da said calmly from behind Chang Ying, "We’re watching a horror movie."
At that moment, Liu Kan successfully found the remote under the sofa and hit pause. The moaning finally stopped. The image froze on Fahai’s bare back and a snake tail beneath him.
"Yeah, Liu Kan bought the disc," Chang Ying said, quickly shifting the blame.
Junzi ducked under Chang Ying’s arm and tried to walk in. "A horror movie? I love those. Count me in."
"Aren't you watching *Toshiba Animal Paradise*?" Chang Ying tried to block her, but Junzi swiped his arm away. The girl was surprisingly strong. He winced internally. It was all in vain.
Tan Junzi sat on the sofa by herself and picked up the remote with a flourish. "Oh, it’s only ten minutes in. Let’s start from the beginning. You guys don't mind, right?"
The five boys stood stiffly in the living room, staying far away from the sofa as if it were a den of monsters. Junzi turned to look at them. "Why aren't you guys sitting down?"
Qin Ke started heading for the door. "Uh, I just remembered Yuan Guo told me to buy rice. I’m heading back."
Chang Ying blocked the door, his expression dark. "Since you're already here, stay until it's over."
Zhang Da leaned his arm on the back of the sofa and quietly took the remote from Junzi’s hand, advising, "We only saw the beginning, it’s really boring. Let’s switch to something more fun. Want to watch *The Terminator*? Schwarzenegger."
"Don't be like that. You guys already started it. I’d feel bad if you changed it just because I showed up." Tan Junzi reached for the remote.
But Zhang Da wouldn't give it up. The two of them engaged in a tug-of-war. Tan Junzi gritted her teeth. "Give. Me. The. Remote!"
Zhang Da felt that competing in strength with a girl was unseemly, so he let go. He gave Chang Ying a desperate look that seemed to say, *I did my best.*
Time felt thick and slow.
Everyone held their breath as they watched Tan Junzi’s finger inch closer to the play button. The finger’s owner was excited, completely oblivious to the suffocating tension in the air.
Despair. For the first time in his life, Chang Ying felt true despair. This was definitely not something a teenage boy should have to endure. What sin had he committed to go through this? Liu Kan was such a moron.
Tan Junzi pressed play. Everyone gasped.
On the TV, Fahai laughed toward the sky, the brightly colored snake tail writhing beneath him.
Tan Junzi frowned. What kind of plot was this?
In the next second, Fahai laughed toward the sky again, and the snake tail writhed once more.
Fahai laughed toward the sky again, and the snake tail writhed once more.
Fahai laughed toward the sky again, and the snake tail writhed once more.
...
The disc was stuck.
The five boys nearly collapsed to their knees.
Tan Junzi and the boys looked at each other. Clearly, she was disappointed, while the others were jubilant at their narrow escape.
"Liu Kan, what kind of disc did you buy? You got scammed," she said.
Liu Kan’s eyes were brimming with tears of relief. He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling up, so he tried his best to suppress his joy and feigned anger. "I’m so pissed. What a waste of money."
Chang Ying leaned against the door, feeling weak. He couldn't believe his luck. He had never been more grateful to a crooked vendor for selling Liu Kan a broken notched disc. That vendor was almost adorably shameless.
For the rest of his youth, Chang Ying never watched that kind of movie again. It wasn't because he was noble; it was because every time the thought crossed his mind, he would instinctively start hyperventilating. He had developed AV PTSD.
***
Many years later, while cleaning the house, Tan Junzi crouched on the floor and pulled out a disc in a cheap transparent plastic sleeve. The printing on the disc was crude, reading:
*Lady White Snake and Fahai’s Three-Hundred-Round Battle*
She held up the disc and asked Chang Ying, "What movie is this? When did we buy it? I don't remember this at all."
Chang Ying was working at his desk. He glanced up, then looked back down at his documents, answering nonchalantly, "Oh, that’s a horror movie. Liu Kan bought it. Throw it away, it’s useless."
Tan Junzi dragged out a dusty DVD player from the corner, blew on it, plugged it in, and excitedly slid the disc inside.
"A horror movie? Let me see."
The fountain pen in Chang Ying’s hand hit the floor with a *clatter*.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 剪口碟 | Notched discs / Cut-edge discs | Imported DVDs with a physical notch cut into them to mark them as scrap/waste to bypass censorship/customs, often sold cheaply. |
| 东芝动物乐园 | Toshiba Animal Paradise | A popular nature/animal documentary TV show in China. |
| 药师菩萨本愿经 | Medicine Buddha Sutra | A Buddhist scripture. |
| 白娘子 | Lady White Snake | The protagonist of the Legend of the White Snake. |
| 法海 | Fahai | The antagonist monk in the Legend of the White Snake. |
| 水漫金山 | Flooding of Jinshan Temple | A famous climactic battle scene in the Legend of the White Snake. |
| 番外 | Extra / Side Story | Additional chapters outside the main plot. |
