(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa before the onset of the persecution. At that time, I worked in a school, where I managed the money in our department. One day, the head of the department and I went shopping. He liked an expensive shirt, which was equivalent to my salary for a month. He wanted to use money from the school fund to buy two shirts, one for each of us. I told him that I didn’t want it. He knew that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner, so he didn’t force me to get it.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Dafa, I refused to give up practicing it, despite the pressure. The school principal talked to me every day to try to persuade me to quit. I told him that I should be free to have my own faith and refused to stop practicing Falun Dafa. He got furious, removed me from my regular job, and ordered me to clean the garbage behind the fence in front of the buildings.
I did, without complaint or resentment. In one corner, I found a small bag buried in the dirt. I picked it up and found one-yuan coins inside. I gave it to the principal. He was surprised and said, “I don't want them. You can have them as a reward for your labor.” I said, “They are not mine, so I cannot take them.” When he still refused to take the money, I gave it to the head of the workers' union. He exclaimed, “You are such a nice person!”
I was put in a forced labor camp in 2002, because I refused to give up practicing Falun Dafa. After two years in the labor camp, I returned to work at the school. The supervisor transferred me from the logistics section to be a janitor.
At first, I felt rather frustrated, because I used to work with administrators and now I had to clean. Besides, I'd gotten divorced and was separated from my family due to the persecution. I started to read the Fa teachings more diligently and realized that I had the attachment to fame. I had to change my outlook and improve myself based on the Fa. I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t care so much about my losses in this world. How fortunate I am to have obtained Dafa. It doesn’t matter what job I do. The most important thing is that I should do everything as a Dafa practitioner.”
There were smudges and gum and spit in the school hallways, and the bathrooms were dirty, too. So I bought rags and steel wool and took them to the school. I scrubbed the floor with the steel wool, then wiped it with rags and cleaned the corners thoroughly. The principal praised me and expressed his appreciation for my work at a school conference.
I had to retake the exam to qualify for my teaching certificate, because I had been in the labor camp for two years. Before the exam, I had to fill in the form and get approval from the municipal education department.
One column on the form asked about criminal history and my school had filled in: “Two years in a labor camp.” I didn't think I should acknowledge this form of persecution, so I took the form to the director, who told me that the head of the workers' union had told him to fill it in with that information.
Then I went to the head of the workers' union and told her that putting me in the labor camp was illegal. The school principal overheard what I was talking about and invited me into his office. I said, “You know me and how I do my work. Do you think I would ever commit a crime?” The principal replied, “You wouldn't.” I said, “The Constitution says that people have freedom of belief. Based on current law, it is not a crime even if I were sent to a labor camp for two years.”
The next day, I found the specific legal provisions and took them to the principal. He asked me to complete another form.
When I was held in the labor camp, the school implemented the “last is eliminated” system, which meant that the employee who got the lowest score at the end of the year was ranked last and got only 75% of his or her salary. The next year the person only got 50% of his or her salary. If this went on for three years in a row, the person would be unemployed. Because I was out of work for two years when I was in the labor camp, I was ranked last and only got 50% of my salary. I struggled financially because I raised my child by myself. I realized that this was financial persecution by the CCP. I should not accept it passively. I had to get back the salary I'd earned.
I asked the principal several times for the salary I deserved. I told him, “I was imprisoned because I practiced my faith, tried to be a good person, and followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When I was in the labor camp, the guards stripped off my clothes in the cold of winter, made me sit on a tiger bench, opened the windows, and let the snow blow in. They poured ice water over me and I froze. This is not just about me, it is also about the persecution of universal values by Jiang Zemin’s rogue regime and the CCP. It is a violation of human rights and contempt for the law. I hope that you will uphold justice and treat me fairly.”
The principal told me that he would talk about it with the other administrators. It was said that all the administrators at the meeting agreed that I treated people with respect and worked diligently and that my salary should not be docked. In fact, my full salary was restored.
After that, I went to the principal to ask for what had been deducted over the past several years. The persecution was illegal, I argued, and my salary should not have been reduced. The principal did not agree.
I went to him several times and continued to tell him the truth. At first, he criticized me and then he advised me. Eventually, he talked less and less. Once when I went to see him, he was busy, so I said, “I'll leave because I can see you are very busy.” He said, “The school's concerns are important, but your back salary is also important.”
Finally, before he left for a new position, he reissued me what had been deducted from my salary. I am very pleased that he positioned himself correctly.
I was illegally detained by the police for 15 days, because I participated in suing Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime. The school administrator came to talk to me after I returned to the school. By this time, the administration had all been replaced by new people. The CCP secretary said, “You have to promise that you will not do anything like this again. The district education department knows about it. Nobody in this school will get a bonus at the end of the year if you are punished.”
“Jiang Zemin insisted on persecuting Falun Dafa,” I said, “and cruelly persecuted practitioners. He committed a terrible crime. I filed a criminal complaint for the sake of those who are being persecuted and for justice for mankind. Falun Dafa is good, and practicing Falun Dafa does not violate any law.”
He was stunned but somewhat accepted what I told him. Just then, the vice principal came over and said to me, “Don't lose your immediate interests and cherish everything you have.” He kept talking and didn’t give me a chance to say anything.
I was not moved or touched by what he was saying and did not follow his thinking. At the same time, I sent forth righteous thoughts denying the evil trying to use them to commit crimes against a Falun Dafa practitioner. Then they both left for a meeting.
In the evening, the principal was still there, so I chatted with him. He said, “I talked with the district director about your criminal complaint against Jiang. I tried to protect you, so it's over.”
I am very grateful to benevolent Master, who has protected me and arranged everything for me. I am also grateful to fellow practitioners who have cooperated in so many ways to inform people of the facts, to clear the evil factors involved in the persecution, and made it possible for the new administrators to understand the truth and position themselves well before I returned to work.