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In 2019, Zhang Shangwu, who has been selling art on the streets of Beijing for 8 years but has found nothing, decided to go to Shanghai to work hard.
But after arriving in Shanghai, life was different from what he imagined, not only did no one report on his former gymnastics champion, but no one was willing to "give" him a job.
In July of the same year, Zhang Shangwu, who had no job, had to continue wandering in Shanghai.
And the place where he wandered happened to be haunted by thieves, and the film police asked Zhang Shangwu to help stare at it.
However, three days passed, Zhang Shangwu found nothing, and his stomach was hungry.
The dry heat of the weather prompted Zhang Shangwu to walk into the mall and rub the air conditioner.
But just as he was about to rest, the bag on the chair attracted all his attention.
Unattended, uncared for the bag, lay alone in a chair.
Zhang Shangwu was moved, and he tried to pick him up three times, but found that no one paid attention to him.
Zhang Shangwu was ready to take away the "discarded bag", which he felt should not be considered theft.
He took the bag and sold the most valuable SLR in it for a stomach-filling dinner.
But what Zhang Shangwu did not expect was that when he stole the bag, the owner of the bag was only separated from him by a pillar.
There is no doubt that Zhang Shangwu was caught on the day of the theft.
Finally, the owner of the bag is still lamenting: "All accidents can become stories."
But for Zhang Shangwu, such an "accident" is not the first time it has happened.
From a gymnast who is expected to win the world championship to a thief who enters the palace for the second time, what has Zhang Shangwu experienced?
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In 1987, at the age of 4, Zhang Shangwu was sent to the sports athlete by his grandfather.
A year later, he officially joined the amateur sports school, and since then, sports have become the whole of his life.
His coach, on the other hand, was ecstatic and said, "Zhang Shangwu is a genius, rare in a hundred years." ”
Zhang Shangwu listened to these words and began more than ten years of day-to-day training.
Before dawn, I get up, eat breakfast, and start warming up, exercising, and completing one action after another to challenge the limits.
This day-to-day life is zhang Shangwu's entire childhood memory.
At the age of 12, Zhang Shangwu was sent to the national gymnastics team because of his talent, and the next training would only "become more intense".
Fortunately, Zhang Shangwu has a talent for gymnastics, and with enough effort, good results follow.
In 2001, zhang Shangwu, who was only 18 years old, replaced Li Xiaopeng and participated in the Beijing University Games, and came into view with two gold medals.
The Zhang family who was standing in front of the TV was immediately ecstatic, and the whole factory knew that Zhang Xueli's grandson had won a medal and could be the future world champion.
At that time, Zhang Shangwu, who had a childish face, was still shy in front of the camera, but his ability could not be underestimated.
In this game, Zhang Shangwu let the Chinese people see the hope of being within reach of international competition.
Even Zhang Shangwu thinks: "I will definitely be an Olympic champion in the future." ”
At that time, Zhang Shangwu had hope for the future and began the final sprint of the Athens Olympic Games.
But all the good stories and endings ended in that preparation training.
In day-to-day training and competition, Zhang Shangwu was unfortunately injured and all the Achilles tendons were broken.
And all of Zhang Shangwu's expectations were "broken" on this day.
"A rupture of the Achilles tendon means the end of a gymnast's career."
The sudden bad news made Zhang Shangwu unable to accept it, but the end was the only ending he could face.
After recuperating for 10 months, Zhang Shangwu returned to the provincial gymnastics team, when he was still the star of the team.
However, with the resentment in his heart and the personality of "not in line" with the coach, Zhang Shangwu scrawled out of the army after only three years.
At this time, the fork in the choice of fate once again appeared in front of Zhang Shangwu's eyes.
One is to take 38,000 retirement pensions and pensions, completely disassociated from gymnastics.
The other is to go to a sports school and work within the system when you come back.
Under the helpless choice, Zhang Shangwu was forced to embark on the first road and return to his hometown.
Because at that time he could no longer practice the all-around project.
But if you want to study, you must practice the all-around project in the team, as for how long to practice and what results you have achieved, no one can tell Zhang Shangwu.
In this way, Zhang Shangwu, who had the fate of "almost a little bit", returned to his hometown.
The money was quickly spent, and Zhang Shangwu fell into loss and panic.
Every day Zhang Shangwu stayed in the house, closed the doors and windows, in addition to eating or sleeping, this life lasted for more than half a year.
But the pressure of life once again weighed on him.
Grandpa is sick, Dad is serving in prison, and Mom has long since divorced His father, and a few pieces of old furniture in his hometown are Zhang Shangwu's last occupation.
Zhang Shangwu, who is already 22 years old, has not tried to find a job, but each time it has ended in failure.
He first went to a nursing home as a nurse, but the work was too tired, coupled with the recurrence of waist injuries, Zhang Shangwu only worked for a month before resigning.
Later, he began delivering takeout to a restaurant, but the staff here always laughed at his short stature, and Zhang Shangwu, who had always regarded his height as a humiliation, left the place again.
Even the security guards have restrictions on height, needing more than 1 meter 65, but Zhang Shangwu, who is only 1 meter 55, does not meet the standard at all.
Years later, Zhang Shangwu said full of grievances and resentment: "Can I tell him that I could not be pressured to practice sports for the glory of the motherland?" ”
Although Zhang Shangwu was aggrieved and unwilling, afraid of tiredness and bitterness, his grunting stomach would always force him to find a way.
Zhang Shangwu, who wanted to get something for nothing and decided that stealing something was not a disgrace, began to engage in petty theft in the Tianjin area.
Soon, Zhang Shangwu was detained by the Tianjin police for 2 months, but just out of the gate, Zhang Shangwu's thief heart did not die.
After returning to Beijing, Zhang Shangwu began to wander around Internet cafes, looking for the best place to commit crimes.
In the end, the target was set at the sports school, and the sports school was frequently selected to commit crimes.
After Zhang Shangwu stole laptops, mobile phones and other items, he was arrested by the police.
After his arrest, Zhang Shangwu confessed to the police about the previous thefts and was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months.
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In prison, Zhang Shangwu began sewing clothes and working as a tailor, often working overtime until 12 p.m.
The daily green vegetables and steamed buns reminded him of his days in the sports team.
At that time, there was always endless braised pork and fruit.
But the glory and beauty of the past have become the dark light of today.
As soon as the prison term expired, Zhang Shangwu rolled up one of his quilts, took 100 yuan, and left the prison.
An illness prevented him from performing manual labor, and he bought twenty dollars for the only quilt left in the bed.
Zhang Shangwu, who had been in prison and could not do heavy physical work, came to Beijing's Wangfujing Station and begged by handstand and Thomas spinning performances.
When begging, he would put a sign on the ground that read, "Zhang Shangwu National Gymnastics Team, Selling Artistic Gymnastics Performances."
You can only earn a few tens of yuan a day, eat instant noodles for three meals a day, and spend the night under the overpass hole.
There are always people who do not believe that the former gymnastics champions will have such a life, but Zhang Shangwu explained:
"It's almost enough, it's all about life, you can't let me play with my life."
Zhang Shangwu will also carry a medal with him to prove that he is not lying.
But the medal, which symbolized honor, was eventually sold by him for 100 yuan.
With the money he bought two egg cakes and a lot of instant noodles.
At that time, in front of "living", honor and face are no longer important.
There are always people who come across Zhang Shangwu selling art on the street, it is winter, but he is wearing short sleeves, and some people passing by feel that they can't bear it, and take out a hundred yuan bill and stuff it into his arms.
And while he was incredulous, he said with tears: "I haven't received so much, you gave so much." ”
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The title "Former Gymnastics Champion Street Performance" was on fire, and Zhang Shangwu's life situation attracted a large number of onlookers.
Among this group of curious people, there is a special follower named Chen Guangbiao.
He is a well-known entrepreneur, and after hearing about Zhang Shangwu's experience, Chen Guangbiao intends to help him.
Chen Guangbiao recruited him to work in the company with a monthly salary of 11,000 yuan and gave him another 80,000 yuan in relief funds.
Chen Guangbiao said that the money could be left at the disposal of Zhang Shangwu.
But Zhang Shangwu made an amazing move: donations.
In 2011, Zhang Shangwu handed over tens of thousands of yuan in cash to Shi Fengxia, the "most beautiful mother", and also donated 6,000 yuan to a poor college student.
This time, Zhang Shangwu sincerely planned to change and decided to work hard and definitely live up to Chen Guangbiao's trust.
Within 2-3 months of his employment, the company hired professional teachers for Zhang Shangwu to train him in various aspects.
But this "sincerity" lasted only three months, and Zhang Shangwu gave up his life at his fingertips.
And the reason he gave was that every second of being discriminated against was extremely difficult.
Out of anger and inferiority, Zhang Shangwu resigned again, but this time he did not go to the bustling Wangfujing to sell art.
Instead, he opened his own company in Xicheng, Beijing.
Zhang Shangwu became the boss and sold "patent pillows", and the first person to receive his goods was Chen Guangbiao.
"Shangwu Brilliant Technology" several large characters hung impressively on the company's wall.
After a month of busy work, the company is gradually getting back on track.
This time, Zhang Shangwu seemed to have started a new life, but just a few months later, the young man held a press conference and announced his withdrawal from the company.
From street art to starting a company, Zhang Shangwu, a "former gymnastics champion", has accumulated too much right and wrong.
On April 3, 2012, Zhang Shangwu posted his bank card number on his Weibo, hoping to get funding from others.
But this time, Zhang Shangwu waited for a scolding.
Soon, Zhang Shangwu said that the original intention of his "begging" was to help a paralyzed female gymnastics player.
But just when Zhang Shangwu was about to wash his white, the female gymnastics team member spoke out in public and responded angrily: "I never said I needed funding." ”
Zhang Shangwu, who had no hope of whitewashing, could only apologize publicly.
After being cornered, Zhang Shangwu appeared again on the streets of Beijing to sell art, and after several comebacks, many people still cared about his life and introduced him to work.
But in Zhang Shangwu's view, those jobs are not as good as selling art on the street.
Before his second arrest and imprisonment, Zhang Shangwu also retweeted weibo posts of sports celebrities, especially the dynamics of his former teammates.
But no one reached out to him until the day he was arrested and imprisoned, when the grandfather at home was bedridden and the old man just cried when he saw his picture.
After spending eight months in prison, Zhang Shangwu, 38, has been released.
After being released from prison, Zhang Shangwu began to sell strawberries, a box of 85 yuan, three pounds.
But this road is not smooth, netizens feel that his pricing is too high, but Zhang Shangwu thinks that the varieties are different.
Then, another Internet celebrity company found him and hoped that he would live stream the goods.
But he pointed to his lungs and stomach, and refused because he was not in good health.
He said, "I just want to lie down right now."
In contrast, the athletes of the same period, Li Xiaopeng and Yang Wei, have now retired and lived a completely different life from him.
In the past, the talent who had unlimited scenery and was called "once in a hundred years" by the coach was imprisoned several times, which was really regrettable.
Once, Zhang Shangwu also introspected himself, recalling the first time he sold his art.
He only said, "I didn't know myself at that time."
But inferiority, growing up, and being out of touch with society have always been things he is not willing to face.
And his life always seems to be "a little worse".
Almost an Olympic champion, almost stayed in the sports world, almost became the next "Li Ning".
But this is out of reach.