Going Against the Trend of Corruption

(Minghui.org) In November 2014, a practitioner couple told me that they planned to move, and asked if I wanted to take over their small store. They said the store belonged to a factory, which was relocating the following year, so the store would have to be relocated. I thought I should help since we are all Dafa practitioners. Perhaps this was Master’s arrangement.

I borrowed some money from another practitioner, and was able to buy the store in mid-November. I paid the other practitioner back.

When I was paying the rent, the landlord said the store would have to move in July 2015, so I had to look for a new property while still operating the store. After looking for a long time, I was not able to find another location. I felt the difficulty was an opportunity to look within for my attachments.

One day, I thought, “Since I haven’t been able to find another store I should stop searching. I will just move when the time comes. Besides, there is nothing that cannot be resolved, as we have Master. I will just leave it to Master.”

When it was close to the moving out date, the construction was about to begin and the store’s water and power were turned off. When this happened, I completely let go of my attachment. When I got home, I sat on the sofa and took out the things in my bag. Then a small piece of paper fell onto the floor. I picked it up and saw that it was some leasing information. It turned out that it was just what I needed, and it was right across the street from my store. I found a new location and the business could continue. Everything was arranged by Master.

Buying the store originally cost 45,000 yuan, and getting the new location cost another 19,000 yuan. I also had to renovate it so my funds shrank. I thought about the business before going to bed. That night, when I was half asleep, I saw Master’s Fa body coming to my store. Master asked me how the business was, and I replied that it was not very good. But I thought that Master had so much to do, so I said, “Master, it’s fine. There is nothing to worry about.” Master smiled. He then picked up the money container in the store, squeezed it with his fingers, and put it back down.

From that day on, the business in my small store increased. I followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This meant that I had to run my business honestly, and not sell any fake products. I hung a small pendant that read, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” under the lamp in the store. I also printed truth clarification messages on all the paper cash I received. My son found a stable job, and I applied for retirement in 2018.

I Refuse to Bribe the Staff

My store’s business license, health permit, and my health certificate were all expiring in mid-March 2020. A staff person from the local Industrial and Commercial Management Office checked the documents and told me that the store needed to be closed until I got the new documents. So I closed the store and submitted the applications. Two weeks later, I received the business license and my health certificate. The store’s health permit’s status said it was done processing and awaiting verification. I asked a staff member how it would be verified. He said, “You need to clean up the store, and make sure there are no products that have passed their expiration dates.”

One afternoon in late March, I went to the store and began cleaning it. A staff member from the Industrial and Commercial Management Office came. I asked, “Are you from the Industrial and Commercial Management Office? Are you here to handle the health permit verification?” He didn’t say anything. After a little while, he asked, “Who allowed you to open the store?” I showed him my documents, including the business license, my health certificate, and the health permit’s status online that says awaiting verification. After seeing them, he told me to go to the office with my ID the following morning. I asked him if it was to get the health certification. He didn’t say anything else and left.

The next morning, I went to the Industrial and Commercial Management Office. That staff member told the director, “He opened the business yesterday without a health certificate. He needs to be fined 50,000 yuan.” I was shocked. I put all the documents on the desk and said to the director, “How could you fine me?” The staff said, “Because of all these small stores like yours, our director’s year-end bonus of 50,000 yuan was no longer available.” I asked the director if it was true, and he nodded. I said, “That is not my fault, how could you fine me 50,000 yuan?”

I thought I am a cultivator and should not fight with ordinary people. So I said to the director, “I can’t pay 50,000 yuan. I’ll just sell the store.” The staff member immediately said, “No. If you move the store, I will fine your landlord.” I said, “The landlord will not give you 50,000 yuan.” He said, “We will get the court involved, and the landlord must pay it. He will then definitely ask you for the money.”

The staff member then left the director’s office. I told the director, “My health permit is awaiting verification, and he won’t give it to me if I don’t pay 50,000 yuan. I just paid half a year’s rent for the store, and the supplies came in before the Chinese New Year. The delivery was delayed due to the pandemic. They are all close to being expired.”

I also found an official notice on my phone about supporting the opening of small businesses and small stores issued by our Municipal Industrial, Commercial and Taxation Bureau, which said that during the pandemic the health permit verification can be delayed for two months, and the Industrial and Commercial Management Office staff can verbally tell the store owners to open the business. This notice showed that even if I open the business, it is still legal. The director said, “You can secretly give him something, and it will be over.” I asked if he meant money. He said, “Your store is in his section. So he’s in charge of it. Even what I say doesn’t matter.”

I thought about it. I am a Dafa disciple, and a Dafa disciple cultivates Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, so I cannot bribe anyone. I left the office, and I thought that no matter what, I cannot implicate the landlord.

I went to a branch of the Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bureau and asked the people in the Petition Office about it. The people in charge laughed, “You have a tiny store of 36 square meters and they tried to fine you 50,000 yuan?” That afternoon, I went to the Industrial and Commercial Management Office again. The director said, “If you close or sell the store, you will not be fined. But if you open the business, you will be fined several thousand yuan.” Because I went to the Petition Office, the staff member was angry and said, “I will make it so difficult that you will not be able to sell your store.” I just smiled. I said to the director, “Let me think about it. Thank you.” I went back, printed out the For Sale information and hung it on the door.

When I got home, I told my family, “I retired two years ago and our son’s work is very stable. We can just sell the store and we will take whatever we can sell it for. If it can’t be sold, we will just move things out when the rent is due.”

Two weeks later, I went to the Industrial and Commercial Management Office to cancel the business license. While taking it out of my bag, I joked with the director, “Can I still open the store without paying a fine?” Before the director could speak, the staff member came over to me and shouted hysterically, “Do you believe that I can make it impossible for you to sell your store? I can seal your store’s door right now!”

I thought, “I came to cancel my business license, and he is threatening to seal my store. I’m a practitioner. This is the a test for me. What should I do?”

The director looked scared. He stood up and walked to the other side of the room. I put the license back into my bag, put the bag on my back, and stared at the staff person. Many people were watching, I knew it was a test for me. I left.

A friend of mine at the Industrial and Commercial Management Office who knew the director called me and said that I just needed to give about 1,000 yuan to the head of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau branch, and then I could open the store.

I thought, “Master will determine the outcome.” A few days later, he called again and told me that there was no need to pay, and I can just open the store. I thanked him.

During this period, someone asked me to report it to the Municipal Bureau of Appeals, but I did not do it. Someone also asked me to post it on the Internet, and I also did not do that. As a Dafa disciple, I must follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I have to think about others in everything. I thought, “It’s okay if I suffer some losses. But I don’t want anyone to lose their jobs and lose their status as civil servants because of my small store. I don’t know who was involved in closing my store, but anyone who makes it impossible for me to sell it may later regret what they did. However, I don’t regret not reporting them to the Municipal Bureau of Appeals or putting this on the Internet.”

My store was never sold, and the goods all expired. I suffered serious losses as a result. But I still didn’t regret it. The next day, that friend called again and said that I should open the store, and he even promised that no one would come to trouble me. Later, he called a few more times and asked me to open the store. But, I didn’t do it. When the rent was due, my family and I moved things out and returned the property to the landlord. The landlord didn’t lose any money and rented out the property that same day.

I spent more time sending forth righteous thoughts. I knew that, as I am a Dafa disciple, I must have an attachment related to this matter. I thought I would just follow Master’s arrangements and do whatever Master arranged. During this incident, I maintained my xinxing, and I didn’t try to use relationships among ordinary people for my benefit.

I just believed in Master and Dafa. After I moved things out of the store, I had a dream. In the dream, I saw that others were going down the stairs, but I was going up. I also saw that a newly built asphalt road went through the location of my store, and what was left was a pile of coal in the middle of the newly built road.

My son found out about this incident and said to me, “Mother, if we reported the Industrial and Commercial Management Office to the Municipal Bureau of Appeals, all those civil servants involved will be implicated. These civil servants also have families, parents, and children. If they lose their jobs, how will they support their families? We were already thinking about selling the store anyway, so they simply made the decision for us. What we lost is some money, and money can always be earned back.” All the documents, such as the business license for the store, were in my son’s name, and my son and I went to the Industrial and Commercial Management Office to cancel them. This incident was resolved smoothly.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Day 2021. Around 8 a.m., my son was still sleeping when his phone rang. He answered the phone, and it was the chairman of his company. The chairman said, “You have done a great job, and I am rewarding you with a new car. I have already looked at it for you. For the limited edition, there is only one of each color in your city.” My son said it was his responsibility to do the work well, and he wanted to refuse it. But the chairman insisted and told him to go pick it up.

Three days later, he his new blue car home. I experienced the Fa principle that Master taught us,

“If something is yours, you will not lose it. If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)