(Minghui.org) I hit rock bottom in 1993. I got divorced that year and didn't have a job. I had no one but my five-year-old daughter.
I started practicing Falun Gong in 1998. I finally knew the meaning of life after I read all of the teachings of Falun Gong's founder, Master Li Hongzhi. I learned that the true reason that humans came to earth is to return to their true selves. I changed my perspective of life completely. I was brimming with joy.
Jiang Zemin, the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), ordered a ban of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The regime began persecuting practitioners and has been spreading hate propaganda against Falun Gong on its state-run media to justify the persecution.
One day the police tried arresting me while I was in a market. I escaped, but they went to my rental unit and wouldn't let my daughter leave. The two police officers, deceived by the propaganda, thought I neglected my own child.
One officer asked my daughter, "Does your mother look after you?" My daughter was offended and refuted this notion, "She is my mother. If she does not look after me, do you think she should look after you?" The other officer commented, "Little girl, you are bold!" My daughter said, "No one asked you to stay. If you insist on being here, this is what you get."
One day my daughter was passing by a bank when she saw a woman counting bills. She saw a 100-yuan bill at the woman's feet. She picked it up and gave it to the woman. My daughter and I had difficulty making ends meet at the time. We had to make every penny stretch. But we will never take any money that does not belong to us.
I had just returned from a trip to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong when the chairman of the neighborhood committee questioned me, "You are penniless. You don't have a stable job. You rent and you have to pay for your daughter's education. How did you get money to travel to Beijing?" I told him, "I am healthy because of Falun Gong. My Teacher has taught me to be a good person. Now that my Teacher suffers injustice, how can I sit here and do nothing to clear his name? I must go to Beijing, even if it means I have to live on the bare minimum."
Some people told me, "The CCP ordered you not to practice Falun Gong, then don't." Some said, "You are so stubborn. You should think about what's best for your child." They do not know that I am thinking what is best—not only for my child, but for everyone else.
I find Falun Gong practitioners to be the most fortunate people. My daughter always stays in the top three in her class because Falun Gong has bestowed wisdom upon her. I went to Beijing in December 1999 to exercise my constitutional right to appeal for Falun Gong, yet ended up being arrested and incarcerated in a local detention center in Beijing. The prison guards tried making me renounce Falun Gong. One said, "Students are preparing for end-of-term exams right now. Why are you not staying at home making sure your child studies well? Why did you come to Beijing instead? Your child will not get good scores because you were not home with her. She will abandon you." I told them, "You are wrong. My child has become all the more smarter since she started practicing Falun Gong. She will be the first in class. Your children might take after-school classes and hire private tutors; but your children still might not be able to compete with my daughter."
My daughter visited me in the detention center a few days later after she finished the end-of-term exam. She brought me a fresh change of clothes. She hid a birthday card in the clothes. She made the card herself. She drew a little girl with two hearts joining as one. She wrote with colorful crayons, "Mom, I wish you a happy birthday! May you remain diligent [in your cultivation] and reach Consummation! I am top of my class again."
I had been detained for over 10 days because I appealed for Falun Gong on my birthday. I showed the birthday card to prison guards with pride and joy. "Look! A birthday card proves that your perception of Falun Gong is completely wrong."
My daughter started junior high while I was incarcerated in a forced labor camp. She was the first in her grade at the end-of-term exam. The school dean mailed the school's letter of compliment to me at the forced labor camp.
Many people who fell prey to the CCP's hate propaganda believe that Falun Gong practitioners give up college education and give up daytime jobs. But my daughter has always been at the top of her class from elementary school all the way to college. She received three scholarships during her four years in college. She received scholarships of 500 yuan, 5000 yuan, and 8000 yuan, totaling 13,500 yuan. In her senior year, she received a national scholarship and was awarded an Excellent College Graduate at the Province Level. After she got her college degree, she found a good job on her own.
After I was released, I rented a store and started a small business at a wholesale market. I try to conduct myself according to Falun Gong's teachings and principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, in all that I do. In today's degenerate society in China, people tend to focus only on profit. Businesses rarely allow exchanges or returns. But I allow returns and exchanges because I want my customers to be happy. A young lady came back and made purchases again a few days ago. She said, "My mother told me to buy things from you because you are honest." I replied, "Your mother is right. We Falun Gong practitioners are good and trustworthy. It is the CCP that lies. That is why so many people have quit the CCP and/or its two affiliated student leagues for the sake of their own safety." My business is booming because of my honesty.
Only a sheet of canvas separates my store from the neighboring business. We can actually hear each other. One day I made an order over the phone and was ready to go the bank to wire my payment when my neighbor gave me his bank certificate and his money wire form. "Could you please send a wire payment for me as well? I will give you my password." I said, "Please don't. You should make your own bank withdrawal." He said, "I trust you because you practice Falun Gong. I would never tell anyone else my bank account password. We should help each other from now on. I will tend your store when you make wire payments. Hurry. Hurry." He gave me his account password and gave me a nudge out of the door. When fellow practitioners come see me, he often jokes, "I will watch out for the police for you. You just relax and talk."
The CCP has been spreading lies about Falun Gong to justify its persecution, but no one believes its lies now. All of my neighbors at the wholesale market know Falun Gong practitioners are innocent and good. A neighbor across from my store will pick up Falun Gong brochures on the ground when he sees any. Every time he enters my door, he will say, "Falun Gong is good."
Teacher has sacrificed so much in the past 10 years for the sake of saving sentient beings. Words cannot describe His grace and salvation. Nothing can never repay Teacher for what He has done for us. The only thing I can say is—Falun Gong is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!
