Chapter 2 1. Childhood in Shanghang
"Now, the world champion Lin Dan has succeeded in smashing the ball again!" The 5-year-old me imitated the tone of teacher Song Shixiong's explanation, dancing on the sofa, jumping and jumping.What is broadcasting on TV is the Women's Volleyball World Cup.
One day, my first coach, Chen Weihua, came to visit my home. As soon as he entered the door, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.This became the scene that adults remember most about my childhood, and it has been talked about by them for many years.
We who were born in the 1980s are the generation that grew up with the "women's volleyball spirit". "World Championship" is the greatest achievement in the world for a 5-year-old boy.When I was only as tall as a badminton racket, I had a deep-rooted dream - to become a world champion.
After I really became a world champion, many people knew that I was from Fujian, or that I was from the Bayi team, but the specifics were not very clear.Actually, I was born in Shanghang County, Longyan, Fujian, a very small county.
Later, when I grew up, I knew that Shanghang was an old revolutionary base area, and many generals came out of it.Chairman Mao's poem "The red flag jumped over the Tingjiang River, went straight down to Longyan and Shanghang", was written about my hometown.
Speaking of it, Gutian, Shanghang, Fujian is a famous old red revolution area, and when my dad named me, it also had local characteristics, which has a lot to do with this "red".After much deliberation, what should I name it?Finally, I thought of the word "Dan".People of my father's generation admire Liu Zhidan and other old revolutionaries, and especially like Zhao Dan and other older generation film actors. The single name is easy to remember and easy to write, and it can be used by both men and women.Moreover, the parents felt that there was a "Dan" in the name, and that the seedlings would be "red" in the future, and they would definitely be promising.
It is also because this name can be used by both men and women, adults call it "Dandan, Dandan", and my mother also likes girls, so when I was young, I was dressed up like a little girl.Now looking at the photos of myself when I was a child, my hair is very long, my eyes are big, and my clothes are sweaters and trousers knitted by my mother. I really look like a girl.
Here's another interesting thing. When it was held in Wuhan in 2012, there was a small game of interactive quiz with fans.The organizer and my mother wanted to come to me for 100 days and put the photos on the big screen to let the fans guess who it was.Option A is Bao Chunlai, and option B is Lin Dan. Some people really guess that it is Bao Chunlai.No wonder, who knew that the well-dressed child would grow up to be like this.
When I was young, I didn’t have the concept of my hometown in my mind, and I couldn’t feel the beauty of the mountains and rivers there. It wasn’t until I had fewer opportunities to get close in the future that I realized I missed it so much.The happiest part of my childhood was being able to play around with my friends every day.This is the deepest memory I can recall now, and it is also the most free and romantic time so far.
At that time, my mother worked as a salesperson in a pharmaceutical company in Shanghang County, and there was a large drying field for drying Chinese medicinal materials next to the pharmacy where she worked.It is only a few hundred meters away from the elementary school I went to, and I spent most of my childhood there, and that is the hometown that most often appears in my dreams now.
When I was just born, my dad was still working as a truck driver, and later he drove a passenger car. He had to go long distances and had to leave the house at four or five in the morning.My mother works three shifts in the pharmaceutical company, which is very hard. She usually catches up on taking a nap at noon.But I am so naughty, how can I stay?Often when my mother fell asleep, I would sneak out.Later, even the uncles and aunts in the pharmacy helped to "stand guard". When they saw me poking my head out from behind the door of the duty room, they all said, "Lin Dan, why did you run out again? Is your mother asleep?"
After I went to primary school, I basically ran out to play after eating at noon. I never stayed at home to take a nap, and I didn't develop this habit.It's the same on weekends, after class on Saturday, everyone doesn't go home, they all play outside, so naturally I'm indispensable.
But such a happy life did not last for a few years, so my dad was transferred to the Bureau of Veteran Cadres and joined the agency.There is a lunch break at noon in the agency, and the task of watching me sleep was transferred to my dad.I still sneaked out while he was asleep, and I was able to succeed at first, but later he also gained experience and would pretend to be asleep.As soon as I tiptoed to the door, a voice sounded behind me: "Lin Dan, come back!" For this, I was beaten a lot.When I was young, my dad knew how to fight, and he was the main force in the family, so he must be ruthless.
Thinking about it now, there was no big deal at that time, and I had to be so "adventurous". In the small county town in the 1980s, there were very limited things to play, nothing more than friends running around and chasing each other.What our group of children play the most is "peek-a-boo". It seems that we can always find unexpected places to hide. We are quite "adventurous" about the world, so we always play and play again and again, and we don't feel bored at all.
When he sneaked out alone, the place he went to most was the drying yard of the pharmacy.All kinds of Chinese medicinal materials gave off a pleasant smell under the sun at noon, and I ran around in the middle like a horoscope, often mixing up all kinds of medicinal materials.The adults didn't beat me when they found out, so they complained to my mother. Naturally, I was scolded.The worst time, I wet a large piece of dried herbs, and my mother finally gave me a "fat beating".
After growing up, these "bad records" when I was young are often used by my parents.The old drying yard has long been demolished, and now it has become a fitness square for the elderly to do Tai Chi morning exercises in their spare time.
However, naughty is naughty, and when it comes to "doing business", I am not sloppy at all.My dad later said there was a reason why I was forced to take a nap.When I first learned badminton, I had to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning, and I had to do morning exercises at dawn. I ran three laps along the county town of Shanghang; I also don't understand why I have so much energy.At that time, I had to wake up at 5 in the morning in the winter, and the winter in Shanghang was very cold, so I asked my mother to wake me up 10 minutes in advance, and I would kick my legs under the quilt to warm up, so that I would not feel so so cold.
When I first learned badminton at the Shanghang Sports School, the pressure on the ligament was the hardest and most frightening part of the training.And I love to cry.At that time, the ligaments had not been stretched and the legs could not be pressed down. The coach asked us to spread our legs and keep our upper body straight. He put his hands on my shoulders and pressed down little by little. The pain often made me cry.But I just cried during the day, and I seem to forget the pain when I get home at night. I will let my mother continue to help me "start a small stove", so that I can easily pass the training the next day, and I will be proud of it for a long time.But once the game was lost, even if the opponent was a kid older than me, the coach didn't say anything, and I started to cry myself.My mother said that my unyielding character has been fully revealed since then.
Naughty is naughty, but the teachers in the school like me very much.I heard from my mother that when I was in kindergarten, once the seat was adjusted in the class, I had to sit in the middle, otherwise I would cry in front of the teacher.I don't know why, but I can only say that I have been very stubborn since I was a child, which also made the teachers very impressed with me.
Until now, my primary school class teacher, Lan Hong, still often tells my mother: "Few of the current students raise their hands to answer questions like Lin Dan did when he was a child. You can see that he didn't seem to be listening in class. But if you ask him anything, he can answer it.” In the eyes of the teachers, I was the kind of student who was “a big kid”.Although I am not as well-behaved as some students, I can sit still in class, but my learning ability is very strong, and I can do my homework quickly.So, I was assigned the position of a team leader.
I seem to be the kind of kid who is very observant.Although I often make my mother angry, I also know how to be courteous, such as asking "Mom, let me help you sweep the floor", "Mom, let me take out the trash for you".This trick seems to be quite effective, and my mother's original anger quickly dissipated.
This kind of "love and hate" character that adults also made me suffer later, but it has always been with me and affected my badminton career.
Sadly, the playful fun didn't last long.Since I entered the sports school, I have gradually lost contact with my childhood partners.Little did I know at the time that many years later, I too would be a soldier.Although he couldn't become a general with great military exploits like Liu Zhidan, he lived a different life of "fighting with iron horses".
Compared with those partners, the day when I left home came a little earlier.The experience of entering the sports school also made me understand what my "hometown" is earlier than my peers, and I have experienced the pain of homesickness earlier.
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