The Story About Tian’s Family and Me

(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for more than 20 years and have benefited a lot from the practice. Master said:

“With any social status, you can still be a good person.” (Lecture Four,Zhuan Falun)

I would like to share my experience of working for Tian’s family.

In 2016, with an introduction from her auntie (a fellow practitioner), I went to work at Tian’s house, making lunch and cleaning the kitchen. Tian had a five-month-old child. I just made lunch for Tian and myself.

Tian is a simple and straightforward woman. She is about the same age as my daughter, so I treat her as my child. She likes to be clean, eats finely, and is very meticulous. She is not the same type of person as me. For example, when making dumplings or buns, she manually chopped again the purchased ground meat. When cooking, the range fan has to be turned on, and the bathroom door and kitchen window need to be closed. I didn’t mind the trouble, and did everything as she asked.

I arranged what we ate every day. The food I usually cook at home is simple and I am not actually good at cooking. However, I had to do it well for this job. Therefore, I made every meal according to her taste, and every day’s meal was different. After a while, Tian said, “Auntie, the food you make is like my mom’s.”

Tian’s mother’s hand was once injured and she was not able to cook. Tian also had a sister who was attending high school. So I cooked extra food for two more people every day, and her mother came to pick up the food. Sometimes when her mother didn’t go back home for lunch, she would ask me to deliver food directly to Tian’s sister at the school. Regardless of whether it was raining or snowing, I would deliver as usual. There was also a period of time when Tian’s mother was attending class in the morning to learn to cut hair. I still cooked for her. I put stir-fried dishes, cold dishes, and rice in different containers for her mother to pick up.

A few months later, Tian’s daughter turned eight months old and it was time to eat complementary food. I bought whatever she needed for the baby. The child had a strong character and did not allow others to feed her, and she would eat by herself. She was still little and would spread food everywhere when she was eating. I didn’t mind and cleaned it as needed.

I bought the groceries and noted down the expenses daily. At the end of each month, Tian reimbursed me along with my salary. I did not waste any money when handling the purchases; I treated it just like spending my own money. In the first month, Tian calculated how much money I spent. Later, she stopped calculating and reimbursed me whatever I reported. I couldn’t bear to throw away the leftovers and would manage to eat them the next day.

I was walking upstairs with the groceries one morning, to Tian’s home, which was on the second floor. I looked up and saw the door open. I thought that Tian must have heard my footsteps and opened it. However, nobody was home! I was a little scared and called out to her. It turned out that Tian’s daughter was sick the previous night, and they went to Beijing overnight. As they left in a hurry, they forgot to lock the door. Tian asked, “Has my house been burgled?” I told her that everything looked fine. She said, “Auntie, please check whether my gold jewelry is still there?” She told me where the jewelry was located and I found them one by one. She asked me to take the jewelry to my house and give it back to her when she returned.

Gradually, we became like family. Tian would tell me if she had any worries, and I would also share my family stories with them.

Tian’s mother opened a barber shop. When I went to get a haircut, she didn’t want me to pay, and said, “You cook for us and deliver it to us. I won’t take your money.” But I insisted on paying as it was not easy for her to open a store by herself. I once went to get a haircut and a customer said that the nanny she hired was secretly taking their things. Tian’s mother told her, “If you hire again, you should hire someone who practices Falun Dafa. They won’t take anything even if you give it to them.”

The next year, my mother-in-law got sick and needed to live in my house, so I quit my job. When Tian’s husband paid me my final salary, he gave me some extra money which he sent to my husband’s mobile phone. I refunded him 100 yuan. When he asked why? I said, “I don’t want more money from you. It’s not easy for you to make money.” He sent an emoji of two hands pressed together to express his gratitude.

Master asks us to think of others and treat others kindly. We would rather suffer losses than let others suffer. I also think that we cannot take money too seriously. How can I ask for money if a friend needs me to cook a few meals?

His family later hired another nanny. During the Chinese New Year holiday, Tian’s husband sent me a big box of dried fruit in a gift box.