A Test of Someone Taking Advantage of Me

(Minghui.org) Last year, I had my apartment remodeled. After thinking twice about it, we decided to hire Mr. Li to lay the floor tiles for us. He specialized in remodeling and lived in our community. I went to Mr. Li’s home to finalize the total cost. He insisted that I select large-size tiles, saying it was fashionable and only two to three thousand yuan extra. To avoid offending him, we agreed to go with the large-size tiles.

When Mr. Li came to lay the tiles, he had a difficult time cutting them straight and complained that they were no good and too hard to cut. When I saw how he cut them, I advised him to try an extra cut from the back. He did as I suggested, and the cuts were straight. However, when I was not around, he went back to cutting them the other way, wasting tiles and leaving bigger gaps between titles.

For the balcony, wall tiles were needed, which were more expensive. So I asked him to put up small-size tiles. However, he insisted on using large-size ones. When I stopped him from using the big ones, he pulled my son over, showed him the wall behind the washing machine, and said, “How good do they look?!” My son was not happy, but agreed for fear of offending Mr. Li. As a result, Li did as he wanted.

Unexpectedly, when the project was completed, the final cost was so high, I almost cried. My son couldn’t stand it anymore. He researched the price of each item on the list on his mobile phone and saw that every one Li had suggested was the most expensive, totally the opposite of what Li had said. Li commented, “We are from the same community, how could I overcharge you?”

Not only that, Mr. Li didn’t give us a discount on tiling the balcony. It is a local rule that the cost to do the balcony is discounted due to its shape. I thought: “Where can we get any justice on this project? No wonder he advised me to use large-size tiles. It’s easy money for him!”

No wonder my husband said, “When you speak to him, he can tell that you are naive, so why not take advantage of you?!” Li was said to be kind and honest and that he did a good job. So why did he treat me like this?

That night I had a dream, where I was sitting in a house near the road and saw a little dark, thin, dirty little boy. I felt sorry for him and went out to give him some food. When I came back to the house, he was rolling around on my clean bed, playing. I got angry and shouted hysterically, “Get down! Go away! Get out of here!” Then I woke up. To me, that little boy was Mr. Li in a past life, and we had been enemies. I hurt him in a previous life, and he hated me. Thus, I owed him a karmic debt. We had this karmic relationship.

Although I knew the Fa principles, I was still a little upset. I thought the job he did was too unprofessional and not worth as much as he was charging. I tried to give him one thousand yuan less, but he disagreed. My son had given him 10,000 yuan to start and told him that the rest would be paid after the job was finished.

One day, I ran into Li’s wife on the bus and asked where he was. She said a large stone had landed on her husband’s foot, he was in the hospital on an IV, and he hadn’t been able to work for three weeks. When I got home, I told my son about it and said, “Give him the rest of the money right now. Look how pitiful he is. He was not able to keep the extra money earned from us, but instead brought trouble to himself. Although we spent a few thousand yuan more, what we lose is karma!” My son agreed and was no longer angry.

I finally moved beyond this test. In this tribulation, I got rid of the upset, resentment, regret, and self-interest, and could face the situation calmly. I know it was compassionate Master who brought me to another level in my cultivation.

Thank you, Master, for your compassion and hard work! I will walk firmly on my future path, save more people, and return home with Master!

This is just my understanding at my current level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.