In the late autumn of Beijing, a cool breeze blows at Babaoshan Cemetery, and a woman stands alone in front of a tombstone, her face full of mourning. She is Wang Zhuanhong, the wife of the late basketball star Mu Tiezhu.
Wang Zhuanhong stared at the tombstone with gloomy eyes, recalling how one afternoon a long, long time ago, she became the husband of the "No. 1 center forward in Asia" by chance.
At that time, she was just an ordinary lumber mill worker, playing basketball in her spare time. One day, she inadvertently saw Mu Tiezhu's heroic dunk on TV, and was deeply impressed by this tall, heroic, and athletic man.
On the spur of the moment, Wang Zhuanhong wrote a courtship letter full of sincere emotions to Mu Tiezhu, expressing his incomparable reverence and admiration for him. Unexpectedly, this ordinary courtship letter was regarded as a treasure by the leaders of the Bayi team, and after they secretly sent someone to inspect Wang Zhuanhong, they found that this girl was not only well-bred and outstanding, but also a loyal fan of Mu Tiezhu.
In this way, fate finally brought this fateful couple together. In her married life, Wang Zhuanhong was often impressed by her husband's perseverance, courage and resoluteness, and free and easy sportsmanship.
Despite her uneventful life, she is content as long as she can be with her beloved.
Wang Zhuanhong remembers the experiences of her husband Mu Tiezhu on the road to pursue his dream of basketball. Mu Tiezhu was born into a poor peasant family in Shandong Province and has been working hard in the fields since he was a child.
At the age of 16, he left his hometown and came to Xinjiang alone, driving donkey carts and working part-time jobs.
By chance, Mu Tiezhu was discovered by Director Zhang, who was working in the Shandong Sports Commission at the time, and his extraordinary basketball talent. Director Zhang vigorously persuaded Mu Tiezhu to give up his life of driving donkey carts and devote himself to sports instead.
After much thought, Mu Tiezhu was finally moved by Director Zhang's sincerity and agreed to join the Shandong Sports Team.
Under the guidance of Yu Bangji, Mu Tiezhu was eager to learn basketball knowledge and skills, tall, vigorous, and brave and powerful on the court, and soon bloomed dazzling on the court.
In 1972, Mu Tiezhu joined the sports training team of the Chemical Defense Regiment of Jinan Military Region to start his career; In 1973, he became the number one center of the men's basketball team of the Jinan Military Region; In 1976, he was honorably recruited by the Bayi men's basketball team.
With an astonishing height of 2.28 meters and outstanding basketball skills, Mu Tiezhu soon became a well-known basketball superstar at home and abroad, known as "Asia's No. 1 center".
In Wang Zhuan's red eyes, her husband Mu Tiezhu is undoubtedly a well-deserved "first person in Chinese basketball". From an unknown little person to finally becoming the focus of national and global attention, all this relies on his noble perseverance of tenacious struggle and self-improvement.
Wang Zhuanhong's painful memories go back to the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 14, 2008, the day her husband Mu Tiezhu died. Mu Tiezhu, who was 60 years old at the time, suddenly suffered from thrombophlebitis in his left leg, and the pain was unbearable, so Wang Zhuanhong sent him to the hospital overnight for first aid.
thought that a small operation could solve it, but who would have thought that Mu Tiezhu's condition would be out of control in the hospital. It turned out that years of participating in high-intensity basketball training and competitions had caused a heavy burden on Mu Tiezhu's heart, and this sudden heart attack aggravated his condition.
Looking at her husband who was lying on the hospital bed and dying, Wang Zhuan's red eyes were full of tears. She couldn't accept that this tenacious "basketball warrior" was leaving like this.
At this extremely painful moment, Mu Tiezhu used his last strength to say to his wife the words that Wang Zhuanhong still remembers: "I should have personally cooked the meals for you today, but I really feel sorry for your hard work, so I won't let you be busy today."
After saying these words of love, Mu Tiezhu passed away peacefully, leaving his wife and two children Mu Rong and Mu Tong forever. At that time, Wang Zhuanhong was heartbroken, she was afraid that she would miss the last meeting with her husband, whenever she heard the sound of the door, she thought it was the footsteps of her husband's return, and turned over and looked forward to him pushing the door in.
On the night of bidding farewell to her husband, Wang Zhuanhong was like a walking corpse, spending the long night that was destined to be unable to sleep. Her daughter Mu Rong persuaded her to let go of her pain and cheer herself up, but Wang Zhuanhong couldn't extricate herself, and her heart seemed to be hollowed out.
After her husband fell ill, Wang Zhuanhong took a temporary leave and served her wholeheartedly. She strictly controlled Mu Tiezhu's diet to ensure that the meals were light and nutritious, hoping that his condition could be improved through conditioning.
But fate is ruthless after all, and although Wang Zhuanhong has put all his efforts, he still failed to save the life of this national-level basketball player.
After Mu Tiezhu's death, Wang Zhuanhong fell into deep pain and despair for a while. She looked at the jerseys and trophies used by her husband all day long, and recalled the bits and pieces of the past, and tears flowed down her eyes.
Sometimes she will look through the video of Mu Tiezhu participating in the game, watching him heroically on the court, and she is endless nostalgia and reluctance.
Fortunately, with the support and explanation of her daughter Mu Rong and son Mu Tong, Wang Zhuanhong finally slowly regained the courage and hope of life. After graduating from the National University of Defense Technology in Beijing, Mu Rong has been working in the banking system and has a stable life. Mu Tong is also a graduate of a well-known university in Beijing and now works for a technology company.
Although the life trajectory of the siblings has nothing to do with their father, they have infinite admiration for Mu Tiezhu, who is known as the "legend of basketball". In order to make their mother, who was deeply affected by the loss of her husband, not so lonely, Mu Rong and Mu Tong often took their mother back to their home to reunite and share the bits and pieces of life.
Watching her mother Wang Zhuanhong gradually come out of the haze of sadness and regain her old smile, the sisters and brothers finally let go of their guilt and reluctance to pass away from their father.
The family snuggled up to each other and supported each other, and slowly regained the peace and strength of life.
Sometimes, Wang Zhuanhong will also look through the video materials of Mu Tiezhu's participation in the competition before his death, which was his most glorious moment.
In the video, Mu Tiezhu is tall and straight, eyeing the tiger, and his burly figure is like a solid copper wall, giving people an unparalleled sense of majesty.
Whenever he slammed his arm, the twist of the muscles embedded in the skin was imbued with the beauty of power; Every time he passed, the powerful arc almost tore the air through the pitch; Every time he shoots, the moment the basketball leaves his fingertips seems to condense the flow of time.
The audience was often impressed by his courageous skills, and erupted in deafening cheers anytime and anywhere.
In 1977, Mu Tiezhu was successfully selected for the national basketball team and became the main center. In the same year, with his amazing performance, the Chinese men's basketball team won the championship in the Asian Championships, and Mu Tiezhu was widely praised by the world as "Asia's No. 1 center".
In the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games, Mu Tiezhu once again led the Chinese men's basketball team to win the gold medal in this heavyweight event. After the game, some media commented: "Without the existence of Mu Tiezhu's shield, it would be difficult for the Chinese team to win the championship in the Asian Championships and Asian Games."
In fact, Mu Tiezhu, who is brave and good at fighting on the field, is also undiminished off the court. Once against the American college basketball star team, Mu Tiezhu, who was in the prime of life, although his height had exceeded 2.28 meters, he still showed unparalleled vitality and explosiveness, and showed off his strength in the restricted area many times, helping the Bayi team win two cities in a row and defeat this seemingly invincible team.
This victory is tantamount to the pride of the Chinese men's basketball team back then, and Wang Zhuanhong, who has experienced it personally, is even more proud of her husband's tenacious fighting spirit of never admitting defeat and never giving up.