After retiring, Zhao Lina's life was filled to the fullest, doing public welfare, participating in "Sister Lang 4", recording podcasts, and shooting short videos...... This kind of unhesitating attempt is very similar to that moment more than 20 years ago - she has never even touched a football, standing in front of the coach and saying the words "I want to play".
"There are some things you have to do, and only when you do them can you see hope." From saving to transforming, she has always carried the inertia of a goalkeeper - boldly open her arms to meet all the unknown.
Around the same time, Wanida was also preparing her own album. She traveled to South Africa to discuss the boundaries of the fusion of Afrobeats and Chinese music with local musicians, an experience that was both an exploration of Wanida's inner world and an adventure to expand her musical style.
The rapper, who created "Domination on the Field", added elements of African music and Qiang music to his latest album. Some people say she "straddles too far," but Wanida says, "I want to satisfy myself first and express myself in the way I like." ”
The silhouettes of the two time and space overlap, illuminating the multi-faceted lives of contemporary women. In the face of all kinds of uncertainties in the outside world, "seeking stability" has become the long-cherished wish of some people. What is the significance of "breaking the circle" that constantly expands the boundaries of life? Can it be a good medicine for inner stability?
We talked to Zhao Lina and Wanida respectively, and maybe we can find the answer to "breaking the circle" from their stories.
Finding a new "goal"
Zhao Lina always remembers the friendly match in 2015 when she was the main goalkeeper against the United States.
Walking into New Orleans Stadium, the deafening shouts and cheers in the stadium hit like a raging tide. Standing in front of the goal, Zhao Lina felt unprecedented pressure, and she had only one thought in her heart, "Don't broadcast the game, I don't want to lose badly and be seen." ”
As a result, the Chinese women's football team performed surprisingly well in that game, defeating the opponent 1-0, ending the Chinese team's 22-game winless record against the United States.
After the game, head coach Bruno Biny took all the players to the pitch after the end of the pitch and said, "Girls, you have to remember today, because today is definitely not the first time in your life that you have won against a better opponent than you, and it will definitely not be the last." ”
This sentence has always been deeply imprinted in Zhao Lina's heart. In the later games, when the Chinese women's football team defeated Japan, the Netherlands, Italy and other strong teams again and again, Zhao Lina was also more sure that it was the right choice for her to embark on the road of football.
In 2022, the Chinese women's football team lifted the Asian Cup championship trophy after a stoppage time stunner. The good news of the victory swiped the screen on the Internet, and Zhao Lina felt for a moment that the women's football team seemed to have broken through the obscure transparent "glass cover" and became eye-catching. And she also carried this championship glory to the end of her 24-year football career.
On April 14, 2023, Zhao Lina officially announced her retirement, and on the same day, she announced the launch of the "Planet Project" public welfare project, planning to enter 100 primary schools in remote areas to promote the popularization of youth football.
In April 2023, Lina Zhao announced the launch of the "Planet Project" public welfare project
After really embarking on the "Planet Project", Zhao Lina found that everything was not simple. In order to make the project more noticed and raise more funds, she began to try live broadcasts, shoot short videos, and also give offline speeches. In order to make the stadium really operational, she went to Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and other places to teach children and train coaches.
On this public welfare road, Zhao Lina has always been under pressure. On the one hand, there was a shortage of funds and manpower, and on the other hand, there were doubts on the Internet, which once made her break down and cry.
"The first step is always the most difficult to do, if you always stay in the stage of doubt and hesitation, then there will never be a future for this matter, what I have to do is to take a brave step." Zhao Lina said.
With the steady progress of the "Planet Project", it has visited 45 schools in remote areas in 9 districts across the country in two years, and donated and completed the construction of 9 football fields. The voices that once questioned themselves are also self-defeating.
Zhao Lina led the children to feel the charm of football on the green field
Zhao Lina has a very clear understanding of doing public welfare, and she knows that the "Planet Project" cannot change the life of children, nor can it change the fate of Chinese football. But football can enrich children's lives and shape their personalities.
"Trying without hesitation and not being afraid of failure is what competitive sports have taught me. Through football, children can know the meaning of winning by letting them lose earlier. ”
In the interval between running around various schools, Zhao Lina completed another "circle breaking" in her life - participating in "Sister Lang 4".
"Being on "Sister Lang 4" is a breakthrough from 0 to 1, in fact, in this process, what you have to overcome is only yourself." Zhao Lina enjoyed her first drum performance on stage, and the most memorable scene was when she watched her sisters dance in the lounge, and she got goosebumps all over her body.
These fresh collisions made Zhao Lina gradually realize that there are actually more unspoken possibilities hidden under the green field. This girl, who once thought that life was only about goals and saves, is now reflected in the prism of public welfare, variety shows, and podcasts.
"I can't be defined by one thing or one identity, which is what drives me to try more different things in the future." Some time ago, Zhao Lina went to watch the Chinese Volleyball Super League, and sitting in the audience, she ignited the idea of returning to the court to play.
Perhaps, the real circle breaker never goes down, but is constantly looking for a new "goal".
Qingyang's circle-breaking companion Zhao Lina
Breakthrough requires a little "recklessness"
For Vanida, her "breaking the circle" is more like a miracle.
In 2016, at the age of 22, she participated in the competition of "China's New Singing", wearing a brown tight top and jeans, singing her own adaptation of "Cowboy is Busy", and successfully joined the Naying team. This is the first time Wanida's name has been remembered by the public, and her Weibo followers have risen from a few thousand to 300,000.
"Fate is like this, if you are willing to believe in and love something, God will reward you."
Before that, she was just a girl who didn't have any musical foundation, but preferred to make music. In the school dormitory, she listened to all kinds of HipHop music repeatedly, downloaded all the free accompaniments on the Internet, and wrote the lyrics by herself.
At first, playing rap was lonely. Wanida mentioned to the people around her that she was playing rap, and the response she got was always "what is rap", and her parents also hoped that she could find a stable job with "five insurances and one housing fund".
"The more people say not to do something, the more I will do it." This kind of rebellion was Wanida's initial fuel, and she still maintains this momentum in her tenth year of rapping.
When the rap circle is full of the saying that "girls are not as serious about rapping as boys", Wanida's lyrics turned into a sharp blade.
"Can go up, never go down" In the early days, she used such cool words to express her contempt for difficulties and doubts. In recent years, Wanida has begun a new exploration. Pop, Electronics, Funk, R&B...... Experimenting with different musical styles, she wanted to see where her boundaries were.
At the 2022 "Peak Showdown", Wanida blew up with a song "MoJiaDai". This is a song she wrote in her hometown dialect, a very life-like Fuzhou dialogue, about the father's advice to his daughter before she left home. Incorporating Fuzhou dialect rap into Afrobeats is a "mixed-race" experiment that has never been seen in the Chinese rap circle.
Wanida poses for a photo with fans at the Changsha leg of the 2023 "TOGETHER" tour
And in her latest album, Seed No. 7, this cross-border exploration goes even further: lyrics inspired by nature, infused with imposing arrangements, and even Qiang chanting and folk music. For Wanida, creation itself should not be confined to a certain style of music, even if ethnicity and rap are two "circles", she wants to bravely step out.
She said that she was a "stubborn" person on the road to music. "Sometimes you just have to go to that strong, you always have to go enough when you encounter a hurdle, and how do you know the result if you don't have enough."
In recent years, whether it is a variety show or a social platform, Wanida has not only presented a rapper side. She is the honest "little crying bag" on "Sister Lang 5", and she is also the one who shares the "Nida Kitchen" food with everyone on Douyin.
In June 2023, Wanida participated in the music festival and sang and danced in the rain
Once, Wanida felt that the career of a female star was very short, "When I was 27 years old, I felt that it was going to be over." But when she really came to the age of 30 and went to "Sister Lang 5", she found that women of different ages were still trying all kinds of interesting things.
"Age is never a shackle, and being brave is really important."
Wanida clearly remembers the day she recorded the theme song "Colorless Flower" of "Sister Lang 5". She stood on the far left side of the queue and looked to the right.
"I see what I can be at every age, and every look I look like is brave, beautiful, talented, and inspiring. Don't be afraid of time, we still have a lot to do. ”
Qingyang broke the circle of fellow traveler Wanida
The answer is never in place
When she was 7 years old, Zhao Lina listened to "Sonorous Rose" and stepped into the football world with the dream of "wanting to be a hero". Countless broken knees and scabs in the cinder field, and water jets smashed into the water above the head from the bathhouse hose, casting indestructible willpower on the field. Now that she has taken off her jersey, she reconstructs the beat of life with the rhythm of the drum kit and relays new hope on the court of the country school.
At the age of 13, Wanida heard HipHop music for the first time from her cousin's computer, and the gears of fate began to turn. Writing a childish rhyme on the free accompaniment tape, Livehouse's brain was blank like a TV snowflake when it first appeared, and finally it was tempered into a sharp edge on the stage. Now, she shuttles between fusion music with ease, crazy and cool on stage, funny and cute off stage.
The story of two girls starts from different starting points, but they end up on the same road to "breaking the circle". On the eve of International Women's Day, Qingyang focused his lens on women who bravely pursued their dreams, and launched a "Circle Breaking Challenge" story collection on social platforms.
From their stories, the "breaking the circle" we see is not a deviation from the past, nor is it luck that goes all the way. On the contrary, it can compose a song that is mixed with hardships and struggles, but is still determined to move forward.
During the story collection, Wanida covered "Sister, You Go Forward Boldly", "No matter what age and style of girl, you can try to do what you like, don't let the voice of doubt and ignorance stop you from moving forward." ”
In fact, Qingyang itself is also carrying out a 50-year journey of "breaking the circle". Qingyang was born in France in 1975 and broke the industry convention with revolutionary anti-dandruff technology; In 2007, Qingyang entered the Chinese market and saw that there are different washing and care needs of different gender groups, and launched the first "male and female customized" shampoo; In 2020, it launched the high-end women's "muscle activity series", stepping into the high-end cleaning and care market for the first time; In 2023, the technology will be leaped with the third-generation hydrocondensation and debris formula. The brand has proved with half a century of actions that breaking the circle is not an accidental event, but a continuous evolution engraved into the brand's genes.
In the perception of Chinese consumers, Qingyang always appears as a men's toiletry brand. However, as a shampoo and hair care brand that advocates customized care for men and women, Qingyang always has customized shampoo and care products for women in its product product matrix. In recent years, the brand has also been paying attention to the diverse needs of women on the material and spiritual levels.
Qingyang's brand proposition is "impeccable, fearless to break the circle"
In Qingyang's view, "breaking the circle" is not only an individual's self-transcendence, but also an evolution of social concepts. A new generation of women is no longer defined by a single label and is reconstructing social cognition with multiple identities.
Society is a superimposed collection of circles. Life is also a process of constantly breaking the circle. Qingyang hopes that this Women's Day event will inspire more women to boldly break the circle, jump out of the box, and pursue new dreams.
There is no hurdle that cannot be overcome, only the courage that has not been tried. After all, there is no circle that women dare not break into.
Author: Crispy Noodle Editor: Wang Xiaoyi
Duty Editor: Gifts