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It was a rainy day in 2008, and a grand memorial service was held at the famous Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing. Flowers and willows surround the main altar, silently telling the mourning of the living for the deceased.
A final memorial service will be held here for former basketball superstar Mu Tiezhu.
At the scene, the soldiers who marched on the battlefield stood solemnly around, wearing military uniforms and holding guns, with the most solemn etiquette, to pay the highest salute to the coffin of the deceased player.
The military flag fluttered slowly in the spring breeze, silently depicting the legendary life of an athlete.
Not far away, an elderly woman burst into tears, she was Mu Tiezhu's wife, Wang Zhuanhong. Beside him, the two sons looked gloomy, and from time to time they soothed their mother's back.
Watching her husband's body drift away, Wang Zhuan's red heart was like a knife, once upon a time they were still happy, but now there is only the pain of goodbye.
At this moment, a familiar figure caused a commotion at the scene. I saw a tall and burly middle-aged man coming slowly, it was basketball star Yao Ming. With a solemn expression, he personally came to pay his respects to this former idol.
Yao Ming stared at Mu Tiezhu's remains affectionately, and his eyes couldn't help but moisten. Many years ago, it was this legendary figure who inspired him to overcome obstacles and climb new heights, and now that his mentor has fallen, he can hardly express the pain in his heart.
Subsequently, several familiar figures joined in, and it was Mu Tiezhu's old teammates - Zheng Haixia, Zhang Weiping and others. They looked at each other and wept, immersed in mourning for their old friend.
In this way, a former basketball hero left the court forever, leaving everyone's field of vision, leaving only a colorful legendary chapter.
Time travel back to the end of the 40s of the last century, in a small village called Heze, there lived an unknown peasant family. They have worked on this barren land for generations, living a frugal and humble life.
In that era of scarcity of materials, a child was born, and he was Mu Tiezhu, who later became a legend of Chinese basketball.
Since the day Mu Tiezhu was born, he seems to have a different fate. He was tall and ate an astonishing amount of food, which was a heavy burden under the circumstances.
Whenever the poor mother saw the child's gobbling up food, her heart was not only relieved, but also helpless and worried, and she could only sigh and say, "Half the size eats the poor old man."
In this way, under the careful calculation of his family, Mu Tiezhu grew up little by little. But the good times didn't last long, and when he entered the youth, the life of the family fell into a more constrained situation.
In order to get rid of poverty, Mu Tiezhu could only take the initiative to ask to go out to earn a living.
At this critical juncture, life opened a window for him. Mu Tiezhu's cousin suggested that he could go to work in the Xinjiang Construction Corps, in addition to solving the problem of food and clothing, and also receiving living allowances.
A new hope appeared in front of Mu Tiezhu in this way.
After coming to Xinjiang, the young Mu Tiezhu started a new chapter in his life from an ordinary transport worker. However, his unique height advantage soon caught the attention of the local sports department.
An accidental trip to his hometown to visit relatives made his giant-like physique attract widespread attention from the villagers.
A familiar villager was surprised and said, "This kid is too tall, and he's about to catch up with the gate!" Soon, the news spread through word of mouth in and out of the village, and eventually to the local sports department.
A discerning official personally launched an investigation of Mu Tiezhu.
After layers of screening and physical fitness assessments, Mu Tiezhu was finally admitted to the National Sports Commission, officially opening a new chapter in his professional basketball career. Despite his late start and almost zero foundation, Mu Tiezhu finally blossomed into a shining basketball talent with his indomitable will and became the mainstay of the Chinese men's basketball team.
In 1979, a high-profile Sino-US men's basketball match kicked off in Beijing. This is not only a contest between two strong teams, but also the first head-to-head confrontation between New China and the United States in the sports arena, and the strength of the two sides will directly determine the sports status of the two countries on the international stage.
For the very strong team of the United States, they came to Beijing with confidence. After all, they have always had an absolute advantage in past events.
However, to their surprise, this time the opponent was unexpectedly tenacious, and he won the first game by a big margin.
Unconvinced, the U.S. decided to fight again to wash away their shame. However, the result was still disappointing for them, and not only did they fail to win a game, but they lost again.
Arguably, this was the biggest setback they suffered during their time in Beijing.
The Chinese team, which made the Americans taste defeat, was led by center Mu Tiezhu. In the post-match interview, the American team members were full of praise for the center forward, who is nearly 2.2 meters tall.
They praised Mu Tiezhu not only for being tall, but also for his unusual style of play and smooth movements, which can be described as a well-deserved "No. 1 center in Asia".
Behind this victory, in fact, Mu Tiezhu's painstaking management over the years is condensed. In the men's basketball field of the 1978 Asian Games a few years ago, although Mu Tiezhu's scoring line was not too high, his physique and accurate ball control won the Chinese team a valuable championship trophy.
As the Olympic qualifying tournament approached, the opposition camp was clearly aware of the huge threat posed to them by Mu Tiezhu. As a result, the South Korean team began to frantically recruit high-paid foreign aid, trying to suppress the Chinese team with crowd tactics.
What's even more shameful is that they have installed a large number of Korean referees in the referee team, openly stretching the referee black whistle to the Chinese team.
In this way, in a crucial game, Mu Tiezhu was expelled from the court because of the referee's unfair decision, accumulating 4 fouls in just 10 minutes. Seeing his teammates fighting on the court, Mu Tiezhu was extremely angry in his heart, but he was helpless.
In the end, with only a glimmer of vitality, the Chinese team won with difficulty and qualified for the top competition. Among them, of course, it also embodies Mu Tiezhu's love and unremitting efforts for basketball.
That year, the National Sports Commission realized the living conditions of Mu Tiezhu, a bachelor, and decided to find a good partner for him, so that the star's future life would be more homely.
So under the recommendation of her teammates, a girl named Wang Zhuanhong soon entered Mu Tiezhu's field of vision.
The encounter between Wang Zhuanhong and Mu Tiezhu was purely accidental, but it was like an unfinished marriage. At that time, she was still an ordinary factory worker, and her biggest fun on weekdays was to play basketball on the factory team.
Because he was born in the countryside, Wang Zhuanhong has a match and is only 172 cm tall, but he is full of yearning for the unattainable basketball circle.
Whenever the news of Mu Tiezhu's competition came, Wang Zhuanhong would look for an opportunity to watch it with great interest. She was deeply impressed by the heroism of the giant of the stadium and secretly developed a sincere love for him.
Finally one day, she mustered up the courage to write a sincere letter to Mu Tiezhu and poured out her heart.
This affectionate letter soon reached Mu Tiezhu's hands and became a wonderful force in his life. Seeing this, the leaders around them also began to match the two of them, and finally enabled the pair of destined people to say goodbye and enter the ideal palace of love.
In this way, Mu Tiezhu and Wang Zhuanhong fell in love with each other and grew old together. Their relationship has been strengthened by many trials, and although their married life is uneventful, it is also warm.
As a virtuous helper, Wang Zhuanhong silently took on the burden of the family and fully supported her husband's career in her own way.
Mu Tiezhu, a professional athlete, has to conduct closed training and field competitions for a long time, and has no time to take care of his family. Wang Zhuanhong took on the overall burden of housework without complaint, and she devoted all her energy to raising children and taking care of the family.
In this way, with Wang Zhuanhong's hard work, the family was happy, and Mu Tiezhu was able to devote himself to the sports career.