A rural Chinese man stuck to court cleaning for over a decade, persisted through hardship, and finally gained recognition and career success by excelling at small trivial matters.
The CBA whistle had barely blown when a figure shot out and dropped to one knee. In six seconds, he wiped half the court, turned, and retreated. The entire crowd stared at that dazzlingly bright section of the floor, forgetting even to blink. Can you believe it
? This floor-wiper, the focus of everyone’s attention, was once just an ordinary young man from a rural village in Shaanxi. No one could have imagined he’d make it this far.
He used to be in the military. The first time he saw an athlete slip and fall so hard it left him dazed, he didn’t say a word to anyone—he just crouched down at the sidelines and started mopping the floor on his own. Back then, it took three hours to make a round trip to the stadium. The club only gave him a 100-yuan allowance, so he had to cover 80,000 yuan in travel expenses out of his own pocket every year. His family scolded him daily for not having a proper job. Passersby gossiped behind his back, saying he was just trying to grab attention and show off. Not a single colleague was willing to even speak to him. Those days were more bitter than chewing yellow gentian.
But he was adamant about one thing: mopping the floor wasn’t just a token gesture—it was a vital task that protected athletes from injury. He focused single-mindedly on this one thing for over a
decade, kneeling on one knee on the hard floor every day until his knees were covered in thick, calloused skin. He trained his mopping rhythm to be even faster than the referee’s whistle…precise than a referee’s whistle. He’s worked his way through more than 200 professional games—without anyone to assist him or lend a hand—relying solely on his own grit to power through.
After
persevering for a while, his big break finally came
. He started out as a temporary helper for a local team and worked his way up to becoming a designated venue support staff member for the national team. Later, even the NBA organizers reached out to him to discuss a partnership. Just as the entire internet was wondering how much he might earn in a year, he had already secured a stable job offer from an internet company with an annual salary of 200,000—and he still spends his weekends at the arena doing specializedHe started his own court maintenance company, and the Chinese Basketball Association even publicly commended him. Many fans specifically buy front-row tickets just to watch his lightning-fast, blur-inducing floor-wiping moves.
You ask what kind of luck this is. There’s no such thing as an overnight success—it’s just a trivial matter that others look down on. He’s held onto it and worked at it for over a decade, never letting up even a bit on what he was
determined to do. There were many times when he wasn’t understood, and many times when people made snide remarks. But he gritted his teeth and persevered—and the path ahead grew wider
.Can taking an unremarkable little thing to the extreme really change your fate? The answer has always been right in front of us. If we take the unremarkable little things we’re holding onto right now, do them thoroughly, and stick with them for the long haul, life will never let you down.
