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winning fight

■feng zhuoyi and ruan gaoshan

[character profile] kang wenbo, a sergeant in a unit of the beijing garrison, was awarded the third-class merit once and was named an excellent soldier with "four qualities" three times. photographed by ruan gaoshan

it was almost noon, the sun was shining brightly, and a slightly warm breeze gently stirred the air, sweeping away the slight chill left over from the early morning.

i was sitting under the shade of a tree outside a training ground of a certain unit of the beijing garrison, listening to sergeant kang wenbo describing the scene of his last fighting competition: "we were so close... i could see my own shadow in his pupils. his eyes looked like he wanted to 'eat' me!"

this match was the most difficult one kang wenbo had fought in recent years. his opponent was chen peng, whom he had defeated by a narrow margin three years ago. at the beginning of the match, the two sides were evenly matched. at 1 minute and 26 seconds, kang wenbo attacked his opponent with his right fist, but it was blocked. because he used too much force, he felt a sharp pain in his right arm.

kang wenbo swung his fist vigorously, and the pain spread from his forearm. he was shocked, could he be injured? in the last competition, a player had a nosebleed and was stopped on the spot and judged to lose. kang wenbo didn't want to lose the game like this.

taking advantage of kang wenbo's distraction, chen peng hit him hard. "bang!" even with protective gear on, one could hear the solid sound. a white light flashed before kang wenbo's eyes, and for a moment, the face of the old squad leader yu chao flashed in his mind...

kang wenbo entered a martial arts school when he was young and had solid basic skills, but because of his introverted personality and few words, he was not very noticeable in the company. his squad leader, yu chao, was a professional backbone of combat courses and a pioneer in the 400-meter obstacle competition. in kang wenbo's eyes, the squad leader seemed to be surrounded by a dazzling halo.

when the department organized a fighting competition training team, yu chao first thought of recommending kang wenbo, who had a solid foundation in martial arts, to participate. after learning that most of his competitors had experience in sanda competitions, kang wenbo felt unprecedented pressure. he found the squad leader and said, "i'm afraid that if i lose the game, you will be disappointed in me..."

"do you want to win so much?" yu chao asked him with a smile.

"of course i want to win!"

"why?"

"i long to be seen and noticed, just like you!" kang wenbo said bluntly.

in the end, it was yu chao who helped him solve his problem. "in one word, it's 'practice'! put all your attention on training, and make yourself exhausted, so that you don't have the energy to think about anything else." this is yu chao's experience in winning several championships. he knows kang wenbo, a soldier who usually doesn't say a word, but is actually sensitive. therefore, in the competition, the first person kang wenbo needs to defeat is actually himself.

in order to make his body more flexible, kang wenbo gritted his teeth and insisted on exercising, and in just over a month, he lost 16 kilograms. in order to improve his punching speed and accuracy, he practiced punching tens of thousands of times every day, and even punched and kicked in his dreams. this year, kang wenbo successfully won the division's 60kg fighting competition championship and passed the military physical fitness "special level three" assessment.

"attack! attack!" the comrades in the audience shouted excitedly at the top of their lungs.

"calm down! kang wenbo, wake up! what are you doing?" kang wenbo came back to his senses after hearing his comrade's voice. while resisting chen peng's fierce attack, he seized the fleeting opportunity and suddenly got close to him and threw chen peng to the ground.

the referee blew the whistle and the first round ended.

taking the opportunity to catch his breath, kang wenbo kept telling himself: "calm down! calm down!" in the next two rounds, kang wenbo mainly used the methods of front kick and entanglement to face chen peng's attack, or kept a distance, or delayed time to prevent the opponent from continuing to attack. in order to prevent the opponent from noticing the abnormality, kang wenbo's right hand shook a few times from time to time, pretending to attack. at the same time, in order to avoid getting injured again, he used his left fist instead of his right fist. the sudden change caught chen peng, who had been studying his boxing routines for a long time, off guard.

all the way to the decisive moment of the last round, chen peng used all his strength to launch a fierce attack. kang wenbo dodged cleverly, found the right time to counterattack, and tried his best to lock his opponent with one arm. "why is it not over yet? how long will it take?" kang wenbo, who hugged chen peng tightly, couldn't help but look up at the wall clock.

this was the longest match he had ever experienced. kang wenbo felt as if time had stopped. the pain in his body and the stalemate with his opponent... these few tens of seconds were extremely tormenting for him. just when he was about to give up, the whistle blew.

kang wenbo, feeling relieved, waited nervously for the referee to announce the score. when he heard the referee announce the victory of the blue team, he jumped up excitedly. but when the referee turned around and raised his right hand to signal to the audience, kang wenbo hurriedly whispered: "this hand is injured, so i can only raise it gently."

after stepping down from the ring, his comrades who surrounded him found that kang wenbo's right arm was red and swollen, and they immediately called a medical worker for emergency treatment.

on his way to the hospital, kang wenbo, who won the game, proudly reported the good news to yu chao, who had already retired: "captain, i won the championship again today. however, i was also gloriously 'injured'."

yu chao on the other end of the phone asked with concern: "does it hurt?" kang wenbo grinned and said: "i was so happy that i forgot the pain!"

i looked at his right arm carefully and asked, "is the injury healed?"

kang wenbo did not answer me. instead, he raised his head and continued to say proudly: "in this competition, i was both a team member and a coach. not only did i win the championship in the 60kg fighting competition, but two of my comrades also won championships in different kilogram classes, and one of them won runner-up." after saying that, he smiled and his eyes narrowed into slits again.

(this article was published in the "long march supplement" of the "liberation army daily" on august 27, 2024, with some deletions)

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editor: wang fengxiang