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墨書 Inktalez
Winter has arrived, and the cold wind stubbornly knocks on the window panes. One by one, the classmates turn their heads to look outside, reluctant to pull away: there, a wave of excitement is quietly surging—following the earlier years of the Hong Kong TV series "Huo Yuanjia," domestic films like "Shaolin Temple" and "Shaolin Kid" are being screened in Gaosha.
The students are from impoverished backgrounds; aside from those who live in Gaosha Town and can afford it, most of the boarding students cannot even buy a movie ticket costing two cents, relying instead on the splashes of saliva from others to imagine the grandeur of the Shaolin Thirteen Stick Monks and the elegance of the Silk Robe.
Students have plenty of time, especially during the hours after school until evening study sessions. They often spend several hours either exhausting themselves on the playground or struggling with their books, which can become tedious over time. Perhaps those who are precocious and emotionally rich can find a secluded corner for romantic encounters every day; many others often skip dinner altogether to wander the streets, as the sights of the town are far more interesting than the monotonous school life.
During these strolls, the cinema at the crossroads is a place both yearned for and disappointing. It is appealing because it gathers almost all the young men and women in town with a "petit bourgeois" flair and lifestyle; in modern terms, it is quite "eye-catching." It also showcases the most fashionable and avant-garde films. If one has two cents to spare, they can struggle to squeeze to the ticket window, buy a ticket, and line up to enter the cinema for a glimpse inside. The disappointment lies in that most of our classmates lack both the material means to enjoy watching movies comfortably and do not possess the bravado of some street characters who might take advantage of the crowd at the ticket window to flirt with pretty girls or swagger into the cinema with a tough demeanor. Instead, they can only watch enviously from the sidelines, lacking even the courage to cheer or shout.
Fortunately, the school has noticed this mindset among students and made a decision that had everyone cheering—organizing trips for all teachers and students to watch two films: "Shaolin Temple" and "Shaolin Kid."
Walking into Gaosha Town's cinema for the first time, which can accommodate over a thousand people, I was struck by how different it was from our Xizhong Commune Cinema's simple benches. The wooden chairs were connected in rows and had backs; when unoccupied, they folded up to prevent people from jumping around fighting for seats. The cinema was built with a certain slope, lower in front and higher in back, ensuring that those sitting in the back would not be obstructed by those in front, eliminating any need to fight for front-row seats. Amazed by such high-end facilities, I did not pay much attention to the content of the films. What remained in my memory were scenes from "Shaolin Temple," where thirteen stick monks formed a formation and Wang Renzhe's fierce finger poses; from "Shaolin Kid," I could only recall the scene of an old abbot in a bright red robe walking into a pile of firewood and half of a line about "the robe made of cotton."
With these two films organized by the school, enthusiasm for Shaolin began to spread among students:
The trend of practicing martial arts started to take root in school, with some students who had trained in martial arts becoming popular. Our classmate Zeng Zhaoting is said to be a direct disciple of Ma'an Commune's famous martial artist "Three Mice." His eagle claw technique was impressive enough that he seemed more authentic than Wang Renzhe from the movies. Although his academic performance was only average, he became an idol for many classmates. In second grade, there was another student rumored to be from "Three Mice" as well; during a cultural evening organized by the school, his performance of "Three Sovereigns Hammer" captivated campus audiences for quite some time. Coupled with his well-proportioned physique and handsome appearance, he unexpectedly became an object of secret admiration for many girls. Besides "idolizing," many classmates also joined martial arts training—some followed teachers with martial arts backgrounds while others sought out local masters back home. From then on, our school's playground saw groups of students practicing punches and kicks.
More and more classmates ran to watch martial arts films; however, they certainly could not afford daily tickets to go to cinemas. At that time, many shops lined the streets set up televisions on their counters during prime time for television dramas to attract customers. Although these places were often crowded with people trying to catch a glimpse of what was playing on screen, students always managed to find a gap through which they could squeeze in and watch whatever was showing. The most captivating were still some popular martial arts films; if a long-winded romance film happened to be playing instead, groups of boys would quickly shift their attention elsewhere in search of better luck.
Thus, during that winter of 1984, amidst cold winds, the excitement sparked by "Shaolin" warmed our somewhat overly simplistic lives as we stepped into town and high school for the first time.
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