"Dayao, I think it's too tiring to live under your aura. Why do people always look at me with colored glasses? In the long run, I will go crazy! ”
The outside world has always believed that Ye Li must be extremely happy to be able to marry Yao Ming, a well-known basketball star, however, few people know that Ye Li, who has been shrouded in Yao Ming's aura for a long time, is under tremendous pressure, aggressive questioning by the media, paparazzi following the shadow of secretly taking photos, Yao Ming's increasing weight... They were all dark clouds that had shrouded Ye Li's head.
Today, Yao Ming and Ye Li have been married for 16 years, and they have a daughter of good height, and this once high-profile "basketball couple" has not left the public eye, Yao Ming is exploring the future of Chinese basketball in front of the stage, and Ye Li has also regained self-respect and become the head of Yao Ming's business empire.
01 I couldn't look at Yao Ming
At the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Yao Ming, who was 2.26 meters, led Ye Li, who was 1.9 meters, to walk in the middle of the Chinese Olympic delegation, announcing their relationship in a high-profile manner and becoming a high-profile lover.
Ye Li and Yao Ming really thought that their relationship would be blessed by everyone, but what she didn't expect was that what awaited her was not a blessing, but the media's endless persecution and questioning.
After returning from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the Chinese women's basketball team opened closed training in Beijing, Ye Li just finished training, and before she had time to take a bath, the then women's basketball coach Gong Luming hurriedly walked over: There are hundreds of reporters waiting at the press conference outside, naming you to interview you! ”
In that era, the women's basketball team received far less attention than the men's basketball team, and basically no reporters would come to interview, even if the interview, it was also an interview with Miao Lijie, the captain of the women's basketball team, and Sui Feifei, who was known as the "first beauty of the women's basketball team", and would not pay attention to Ye Li, who played a substitute for Chen Luyun, which made Ye Li surprised and curious.
When Ye Li walked into the venue, she was immediately surrounded by a group of journalists, and some reporters asked a few impolite questions in a row:
"Yao Ming is a superstar, the pride of the whole Chinese, you really have vision. Can you reveal how you got his hands on him? ”
"Yao Ming earns hundreds of millions a year, you must be very rich, right?" ...
Every question has nothing to do with women's basketball, every question involves Yao Ming, every question is sharp and tricky...
I don't have a lot of experience in interviews, and I am overwhelmed by these sharp questions, and I want to cry first...
In fact, Ye Li did not chase Yao Ming, when the two first met, Yao Ming did not have any achievements, like a black and thin big bamboo pole, Ye Li's first impression of her was a "silly big man", which did not conform to the image of Prince Charming in her heart at all.
And Ye Li's mother also thinks that Yao Ming is too tall, thin, and has no money, worried that Yao Ming will have physical problems in the future and become a drag on her daughter, so Ye Li's mother has always opposed Ye Li and Yao Ming's relationship, Ye Li, who has been taught very strictly since childhood, obeys her mother's advice and has always been very cold to Yao Ming.
However, Ye Li's indifference did not make Yao Ming retreat, since the first time he saw Ye Li in 1997, Yao Ming has identified Ye Li, and launched a fierce pursuit offensive, chasing from the Shanghai team to the national team, although it has been in vain, but also happy, and even refused the kindness of the national team teammates to introduce him to the women's volleyball beauty Zhao Ruirui.
The turning point happened in 2000, when Yao Ming, who repeatedly sent Ye Li a date request that was rejected, asked Wang Zhizhi's agent Xia Song (Yao Ming and Ye Li's fellow Shanghai) to help, and under Xia Song's matchmaking, Ye Li changed her opinion of Yao Ming.
During the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Yao Ming learned that Ye Li liked to collect Olympic badges, so he painstakingly collected more than 200 Olympic badges during the Sydney Olympic Games, and selected 50 of the best ones to give to Ye Li as her 19th birthday gift, which was also the first time he made Ye Li feel excited.
But what really moved Ye Li was Yao Ming's actions during her injury, Ye Li suffered a serious knee injury shortly after being selected for the national team, she returned to Shanghai for surgery but failed, her career was in jeopardy, and she was in constant fear.
Just when Ye Li was most vulnerable, Yao Ming found the leader of the Oriental Women's Basketball Club and asked them to arrange for Ye Li to go to the United States for treatment. When Ye Li was undergoing surgery in the United States, it coincided with the 911 incident in the United States, which made her very uneasy, and Yao Ming sent comfort messages to Ye Li every day from thousands of miles away.
During this time, Ye Li found that Yao Ming was both humorous and responsible, and slowly accepted Yao Ming, but Ye Li's parents still did not look badly at Yao Ming, so the relationship between the two has been going on underground, and this relationship continued until Yao Ming was elected NBA champion before obtaining the consent of Ye's parents and gradually surfaced.
02 has been compared
Before Yao Ming went to play in the NBA, Ye Li personally knitted a pair of red ropes, she took her right hand, and Yao Ming took her left hand, hoping that the two could be firmly tied together.
Since Yao Ming appeared in the NBA with the red rope, the relationship between Yao Ming and Ye Li has slowly spread, so the question of whether Ye Li is worthy of Yao Ming has been moved out by everyone intentionally or unintentionally for comparison.
Some people say that Ye Li is 36 centimeters shorter than Yao Ming, and her basketball talent is far from the same; Some people also say that although Ye Li is a national player of the Chinese women's basketball team, she is only Chen Luyun's substitute...
In fact, Ye Li was once also an enviable women's basketball player, she was able to play the two positions of power forward and small forward, because both knee joints have two patellars, her movement is very flexible, running very fast, and she became the main force of Shanghai Oriental women's basketball team at a young age.
However, in the national team training at the end of 1999, Ye Li suffered a knee injury, and underwent knee surgery many times in several years, so that she almost disappeared from the national team in the next few years, and did not have the opportunity to enter the top six of the World Championship with Miao Lijie, Sui Feifei and others, and only returned to the national team in 2003, helping the women's basketball team win the Asian Championship (now the Asian Cup) with an average of 12 points per game.
In 2004, Ye Li participated in the Athens Olympics as one of the main players, in the quarterfinals with New Zealand, because Chen Nan and Chen Luyun were hit by opponents one after another, resulting in a shortage of Chinese women's basketball team, Ye Li and Sui Feifei were forced to top the inside position, under the fierce impact of the opponent, Ye Li left the court, the thin Sui Feifei was knocked out of strength, and finally missed the quarterfinals, failed to complete the goal of "protecting six and fighting three", otherwise Ye Li is likely to get better results than Yao Ming in that Olympic Games.
Since the relationship was officially made public, wherever Ye Li went, there would be reporters following, once, Ye Li just walked into the fitting room, found a reporter secretly photographing her from a height, Ye Li angrily asked the reporter: "Do you have any work ethics?" ”
The reporter was scolded by Ye Li and fled, but the next day the media reported a news: "Ye Li used to be very polite, but with Yao Ming's fame, she became withdrawn and arrogant..."
And the hat of the loss of the women's basketball team was also buttoned on Ye Li by some people: "She is busy falling in love with Yao Ming, how can she have the heart to play!" ”
These words are like a knife into Ye Li's heart, in order to fight back the doubt, Ye Li decided to participate in the WNBA draft, and the WNBA's Houston Heart Team also intends to choose Ye Li, so that she can escape the domestic scandal and meet Yao Ming in Houston.
But the Comet team did not report Ye Li's name until the end of the third round of the draft, and Ye Li was so disappointed that she locked herself in her room and sulked for several days.
As an athlete, ups and downs are common, but after being with Yao Ming, he hooked up with Yao Ming everywhere, fought the basketball court for many years, and entered the national team with his own efforts, Ye Li was scarred all over her body, and there was a lot of water in the joints of her shoulders, elbows, and knees, but because she was Yao Ming's girlfriend, all of them were ruthlessly erased.
In 2006, Ye Li received another invitation from the WNBA, and the famous Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Bobcats affiliated teams both invited Ye Li, so that Ye Li raised her eyebrows, because playing in the WNBA was her dream thing, so that she would not have to be separated from Yao Ming.
However, just when Ye Li fantasized about falling in love with Yao Ming in the United States, things suddenly changed, on the day of the contract, the Pistons hoped that Ye Li could cooperate with Yao Ming to do a good job in the team's publicity in the Chinese market, which made Ye Li completely confused: "My duty is to play, how can I do any marketing?" Besides, you can talk to Yao Ming about Yao Ming, I can't be the master! ”
Ye Li thought that playing in the WNBA was originally to prove that she could not rely on Yao Ming, but what she didn't expect was that she could never get rid of Yao Ming's shadow, and since then, she has vowed never to participate in the WNBA draft again...
After returning to China, Ye Li was eager to prove herself, and she worked hard in every game and every training, and was injured again in a game, her game condition seriously declined, and she faded out of the national team in 2007, and soon after, Ye Li retired with unwillingness and inferiority, and ended her basketball career at the age of 26.
Ye Li has always been compared with Yao Ming, and even compared with the beauty of the women's volleyball team Zhao Ruirui, Australia's basketball goddess Lauren Jackson, in terms of appearance, she is not as good as Zhao Ruirui, in terms of basketball strength, she is not as good as Lauren Jackson, but neither Zhao Ruirui nor Lauren has captured Yao Ming's heart, Yao Ming even strictly rejected Lauren Jackson's high-profile show of love, bluntly saying that he only loves Ye Li.
03 Open your heart and change your role
On August 3, 2007, Yao Ming and Ye Li registered their marriage in Shanghai, and officially held the wedding on August 6, in order to protect Ye Li, Yao Ming's wedding arrangement was very low-key, a total of only 8 tables, the whole wedding cost 242570 yuan.
Yao Ming's mother Fang Fengdi has always liked Ye Li very much, and after the two confirmed their relationship, she repeatedly proposed to let Ye Li retire to live with them in the United States, but Yao Ming came forward to refuse, and after the honeymoon between the two, Fang Fengdi, who was eager to hold her grandson, immediately let Yao Ming take Ye Li to live in the United States.
The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is a difficult problem for every family, and Yao Ming and Fang Fengdi are no exception, because of the difference in life background and concepts, a lot of embarrassing things have happened between Ye Li and her mother-in-law.
In Fang Fengdi's eyes, Yao Ming only needs to play, and he doesn't need to worry about other things, big things and small things are all arranged by Fang Fengdi and Yao's team, almost "clothes to stretch hands, food to open mouth", and this is exactly what Ye Li cannot accept, in her cognition, everyone should be independent ability.
When Ye Li and Yao Ming were on their honeymoon, their whereabouts were strictly confidential, only the mother-in-law knew, every time they arrived at a station, the mother-in-law's phone would call, shush and ask for warmth, thousands of instructions, everything about Yao Ming was arranged by the mother-in-law, as if in a remote control, in order to help Yao Ming get rid of his mother-in-law's "super care", Ye Li repeatedly asked Yao Ming to turn off the mobile phone and take care of himself.
After the two returned to the United States, Fang Fengdi learned that it was Ye Li who asked Yao Ming to turn off the mobile phone, and also asked Yao Ming to help with housework, Fang Fengdi resolutely disagreed, while complaining that Ye Li was incompetent, while feeling sorry for her son, worried that these trivial matters would affect her son's performance on the court, but over time, Fang Fengdi found that Yao Ming was not only unaffected, but also became more optimistic and cheerful.
Ye Li has developed the habit of thrift since she was a child, but Fang Fengdi is the master of spending money, Ye Li's careful calculation once made Fang Fengdi very uncomfortable, but over time, Fang Fengdi was gradually infected by Ye Li's thrift, even if it was a trivial matter of buying beef for Yao Ming, you have to ask Ye Li which supermarket is cheaper...
On February 3, 2008, Yao Ming suffered a stress fracture, and the team doctor of the rocket team believed that Yao Ming should announce the season reimbursement, otherwise it would affect this career, but Fang Fengdi immediately told Ye Li and the doctor not to tell Yao Ming about the condition after learning the news.
But after Ye Li returned home, he still told Yao Ming the doctor's diagnosis, and after Yao Ming learned the news, he beat his leg and cried bitterly, if the season is reimbursed for surgery, he will lose millions of dollars, if he waits until the end of the season and then operates, then he will definitely miss the Beijing Olympics...
Fang Fengdi heard Yao Ming's crying, and after learning that Yao Ming knew the truth, she pushed Ye Li away and returned to her room angrily.
After appeasing Yao Ming, Ye Li found her mother-in-law: Mom, I told Yao Ming the truth, there is a reason. Now only a few months before the Olympics, the Olympics are Yao Ming's life, and if he is not allowed to participate in the Olympics, his foundation as a human being will be gone. So, we must tell him and let him decide for himself. Besides, Yao Ming is not a child anymore, he should bear his own responsibility, Mom, you can't decide for him all your life. ”
Hearing Ye Li's words, Fang Fengdi finally understood the painstaking heart, and said to Ye Li with satisfaction: "Ye Zi, you are a child who knows a lot of things, and I am really relieved to hand Yao Ming over to you." ”
A few days later, Yao made his own decision: announced that he would be reimbursed for the season to undergo surgery in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
Although Yao Ming ultimately failed to lead the Chinese men's basketball team to make history, he also played the bloodiness of the Chinese men's basketball team on his doorstep, winning everyone's respect, and that was the last time the Chinese men's basketball team won the Olympics so far.
During the time of taking care of Yao Ming, Ye Li finally realized Yao Ming's difficulty, opened her past knot, and was determined to do a good job of Yao Ming's virtuous help, and take care of Yao Ming instead of her mother-in-law.
04 The head of the Yao family
On May 22, 2010, Ye Li gave birth to her daughter Yao Qinlei for Yao Ming in the United States, because the child was born in the United States, so she gained the right to choose Chinese nationality or American nationality in adulthood, and Yao Ming gave this power to her daughter.
When Ye Li was pregnant, Yao Ming's biggest wish was to let her children see her playing in the NBA, but this wish was not fulfilled, and soon after Yao Qinlei was born, Yao Ming announced her retirement due to injury problems.
After Yao Ming returned to China, with a keen sense of investment, he created his own business territory, and with Yao Ming ascending to the position of president of the basketball association, Ye Li took over the power of the Yao family from Yao Ming and became the head of Yao Ming's business empire.
According to a financial media report, Ye Li now owns two funds, Hongyin No. 1 and Hongyin No. 2, and also indirectly holds shares of Ant Financial, transforming from a full-time housewife to a strong woman in business.
In addition, Ye Li also took over the "Yao Fund" created by Yao Ming in 2018, and after Ye Li took over the "Yao Fund", she continued to adhere to Yao Ming's original intention of alleviating the shortage of resources, sports activities and equipment for rural physical education teachers.
In November 2019, Ye Li attended the charity dinner jointly organized by Marriott International Group and "Yao Foundation", when she was wearing a professional suit, black-framed glasses, her tall figure was very conspicuous in the crowd.
Under Ye Li's operation, the "Yao Fund" has achieved good results in recent years, and in 2021 alone, the value of various materials donated by the Yao Fund from all walks of life exceeded 32 million yuan.
Yao Ming is also very pleased with Ye Li's achievements, he once said in an interview: "I am grateful to have such a virtuous helper to help me." ”
Over the years, Ye Li has been the backing behind Yao Ming, not only to manage the career created by Yao Ming, but also to take care of the family, because Ye Li and Yao Ming are both only children, the responsibility of taking care of the four elderly people and daughter Yao Qinlei fell to Ye Li.
For the growth of her daughter, Ye Li often takes her daughter to attend various public welfare activities, and will regularly arrange a family of 7 to travel, the health of several elderly people is not very good, Ye Li will arrange physical examinations for them every year, and the usual diet is also carefully arranged.
But what worries Ye Li the most is the health of her husband Yao Ming, after retiring, Yao Ming's body size began to grow horizontally, looking fatter than when he did not retire, it is said that he has weighed more than four hundred pounds, and it is not so convenient to walk.
Because Yao Ming's body size and weight are too large, family life has become very inconvenient, a lot of furniture has to be customized, the door frame and everything has been changed very high, according to Ye Li, the length of the bed in their master bedroom is more than 2 meters 5, and when sleeping at night, you have to leave a little slit in the middle to prevent being overwhelmed by Yao Ming and beware of "killing at night".
Now it is 2023, Yao Ming is 43 years old, and Ye Li is also 42 years old, which is the golden age of career, but in recent years, because of the repeated defeats of the Chinese men's basketball team, Yao Ming has suffered great doubts, and despite his great efforts, he is still criticized by many fans.
In the past World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team only achieved a record of 1 win and 4 losses, completely missing the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yao Ming's call for "leaving class" is increasing, and has suffered a lot of criticism and even abuse, but this is unfair to Yao Ming, in the officialdom, there are many things that he can not decide, in China, basketball is not simply "fight and kill", but "human affection".
Under great pressure, Ye Li is the warm post behind Yao Ming, and it is the "self-reserved land" where Yao Ming confides his grievances.
During the World Cup, Ye Li took four elderly people and her daughter to watch the game together, and some netizens took a video of Yao Ming's family walking out of the airport, from the video, it can be seen that Yao Ming's parents and father-in-law are still in good spirits, but the mother-in-law can only falter with the help of her daughter Yao Qinlei.
Ye Li and Yao Ming's daughter Yao Qinlei is now 13 years old, her height has long exceeded 1.8 meters, and she looks more and more like Yao Ming, but Yao Ming did not let her daughter practice basketball, which is also a big regret for many fans.
Yao Ming once told the media after getting married that he hoped to have 5 children with Ye Li, but because Ye Li suffered many injuries when he was young, Yao Ming couldn't bear to let his wife take risks, so he didn't have a second child, which made Yao Ming's fans very sorry.