(Minghui.org) A temporary job placement turned out to be a great cultivation opportunity. I maintained my xinxing during the three weeks of employment and told my employer all about Dafa. Here is my story.
My Employer Could Tell That I Was a Dafa Practitioner
Through a temp agency, I found a part-time job cooking and cleaning for the owner of a construction company. He is from a southern province and was in Qiqihar because of a construction project.
It was right before the Chinese New Year and all his employees had left for the holidays. He stayed behind to take care of some business and needed someone to help clean his place and cook two meals a day.
I asked him what the requirements were during our interview.
He said, “The most important thing is to wash the tea set thoroughly everyday. Everything else is up to you. I'll give you money for the groceries but don't ask me what to make or what I want to eat. I don't care. You're welcome to eat here as well.”
I took the offer and started working. While cleaning one day, we chatted for a little bit. He asked me what my husband did for a living, and I told him that I was divorced. He was curious and asked a few more questions.
I answered his questions, and then politely reminded him that my personal affairs had nothing to do with my job. He stopped and didn't say any more.
While I was wiping the table the next morning, he caught me off guard and asked me if I knew who Master was.
“How did he know that I'm a practitioner?” I thought.
I told him I did and asked why he wanted to know.
He said, “You told me yesterday that you have your own faith. From my observations, you're not like people of any other religion. I could tell that you're a very wise person. I have met many people from all walks of life, including Falun Dafa practitioners. So I concluded that you're one of them.”
I asked him if he has relatives who were practitioners, but he said he knew some practitioners from when he was imprisoned.
I was surprised, “Why were you in prison? What were you convicted of?”
He didn't say anything. Our conversation ended in silence.
Doing Solid Work While Keeping My Distance
My employer always asked me to join him for meals after I prepared the food. I could tell that he liked me. I kept the requirements of the Fa in mind and turned him down every time. As a single man and a single woman, we needed to keep our distance. He was my employer and I did not wish to eat with him.
Usually I finished cleaning and making lunch in about two hours; then, I went home to get my own lunch before going back in the afternoon. If I didn't have time to go home, I skipped lunch. I ate in his kitchen maybe once or twice.
My employer is very smart and business-minded. He was not very picky about the food or how clean the place was. Usually he just sat on the couch and stared at his computer or cellphone, but sometimes he watched me work from where he sat. I wiped the entire place down once every day, even though I knew he didn't care about it.
A Test For Me
I lost the key to his place one day and told him as soon as I realized it. I offered to changed the lock, but he said it was not necessary. I asked a few places and got a quote of 150 yuan to change the lock. It was no small amount to me but I knew that was the right thing to do, so I had his lock changed. But I didn't take a key.
When I went back the second day, I knocked. He opened the door with only his underwear on and started talking to me.
I didn't look at him and said, “Please get dressed first.”
The same thing happened again the next day. So I asked for a key.
I was sentenced to six years in prison and endured brutal torture and all kinds of mistreatment. I told myself that I would not leave any loophole in my cultivation or let any attachment get me back in prison again. I saw right through the evil's plan to use this attractive, successful man to bring me down.
I told myself on the way to work in the following days that I needed to get rid of all these bad thoughts, while maintaining a friendly yet righteous demeanor. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate lust and other interference. Gradually, my thoughts became more and more righteous, and my field more and more clear. I turned him down when he asked me to go shopping with him.
Gaining My Employer's Trust and Clarifying the Truth
He soon opened up to me. He told me the story of how he got started in the construction business and about the many obstacles he had overcome. He said he used to run a business with his brother, but they lost everything and went bankrupt. He served the prison term for his brother, and that was where he met Falun Dafa practitioners.
He commented, “The practitioners are good people, but when you take something to the extreme it's no longer good. You need to be smart in order to protect yourselves.”
He tried to teach me ways to protect myself.
I told him what Dafa really is and told him that a person needs to “repay the favor of a drop of water with a stream”—I have benefited so much from the practice that it's my responsibility to uphold it. The practitioners' persistence is our way of protecting our conscience, our faith, and the truth.
I told him about the big impact Shen Yun has made in the world, and helped him quit the Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. I gave him DVDs of Shen Yun and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
My Work Was Done
He originally told me that he would need my help for one or two months, but he was done with whatever he stayed behind to take care of in three weeks. Since he got done early, he was leaving for his hometown so that he could be with his family for Chinese New Year.
He told me, “I used to get rid of anybody who dared to get in my way. With money, you can take care of a lot of things, so I can tell a lot about a person just by his or her look. You're one of the most genuine people I've ever met. You're peaceful and intelligent.”
He also said, “You clean really well and your cooking is delicious. I completely trust you to do whatever you want at my place.”
I told him, “It's not easy working for you. I try to cook a variety of things and I didn't take a cent of the grocery money you gave me. If I let something go bad without using it, I replaced it with my own money. I do this because I practice Falun Dafa. My only wish is that you will remember 'Falun Dafa is good.' I hope to see you in heaven one day.”
He looked down and I saw him wiping the corner of his eye.
He said, “When I come back after the holidays, why don't you join my company?” He asked me if I had any skills, such as accounting.
I said, “I don't. But we'll see what happens.”
The last day I worked for him, he told me to take the fruit in the fridge. I didn't.
He asked for my number and said that he'll hire me again after returning from the holidays. I knew he must have really trusted me to want to hire me again. People always feel safe and secure around Dafa practitioners.
I gave him a temporary number from a phone card, but later changed my number. I think it was predestined that I worked for him, but my work there was done and I didn't need to go back.
Thanks to Master for painstakingly saving me. Thank you fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything that's inappropriate.
