(Minghui.org) I grew up in a poor family in rural China. I had many siblings and had to take care of them – as a result, I didn't get much schooling. It got worse after my mother died, and I felt that life was unfair. I was pessimistic and wanted to escape.
Escape would come for me in the form of an arranged marriage, which I had reluctantly consented to. Before I knew it, I was out of my family's house and into my husband's.
My husband was very aloof and didn't want to talk to me. I didn't know why. I assumed it was because I wasn't educated, and we really had very little in common.
He was an outstanding person in many respects, and many people looked up to him. But he always looked down on me and would laugh at me. I did not know what to do and hoped desperately that things would get better with time.
He went out almost every night and didn't come home until early morning. Nothing seemed to be able to change this. No matter how hard I fought with him, he remained the same. It was as if he didn't care for me at all.
Years later I would learn that he had a girlfriend from the same village as me, and they had been seeing each other for years before our marriage. They were very close since they children, but her family didn't approve of their relationship and married their daughter off to a man who lived far away. My husband was heartbroken and married me due to pressure from his family.
We have three kids – two older daughters and a youngest son. When my son was three years old, my husband's former girlfriend came back to our village to attend her father's funeral. Although both of them now had their own families, they still had feelings for each other. They started seeing each other again.
My husband's job was transporting coal from the mountain at night. It was very dangerous to drive on the rugged, snaking mountain roads at night. Almost every night, my husband would pick his girlfriend up and drive up the mountain with her.
At first I tried to suppress my grievances and jealousy and restrain my desire to fight with him. After all, the whole family depended on him to put food on the table. But my resentment grew and grew, and I couldn't take it anymore. I cried a lot, ran away, and even attempted suicide twice. Try as I might, my husband remained indifferent.
He continued to see his former girlfriend. In despair, I told my father-in-law about it. My father-in-law was kind and had a strong sense of right and wrong. He decided to sue his son for his infidelity.
Two months later, my husband's girlfriend was getting ready to return to her own home. I confronted her and said, “We're both women. Put yourself in my shoes. What would you do if something like this happened to you?”
She cried.
I continued, “You are not welcome in this family. Don't mess with my family again.”
After she went home, my husband still didn't cut his ties with her. She knitted sweaters and pants for him and mailed them to him. Every time he went on a long-distance delivery, I worried that they would meet up behind my back. I was so worried that I couldn't sleep at night.
Falun Gong Enters the Picture
In 1996, my husband started to practice Falun Gong. He brought home a copy of Zhuan Falun and said, “This book is different from any other book.”
My husband had never believed in anything before. But he was deeply impressed by Master's teachings. And, as he followed them, he changed. He got rid of his short temper, and his health improved. Seeing the miraculous changes in him, the whole family followed suit and became Falun Dafa practitioners.
I didn't know how to read. At first I listened to tapes of Master's lectures. Before long, Master opened my celestial eye, and I could see scenes in other dimensions: beautiful scenery and people in ancient dress. I could feel several Falun whirling around me to help purify my body. It was a pleasant feeling.
Even more amazingly, in less than a year, I was able to read Zhuan Falun. Before that, I would never have dreamed that I would be able to read one day. I became healthy and happy. My children are very healthy, too. I told myself I would continue to practice Dafa no matter what.
Whenever he could find time, my husband would study the Fa or do the exercises. He started doing more housework, didn't talk harshly to me or the kids anymore, and stopped coming home so late at night. The whole family lived in peace.
In the summer of the following year, my husband received a letter from his former girlfriend. It seemed that she wanted him to join her.
I told my husband, “I'm a Dafa practitioner now. I won't make the decision for you. It's up to you whether you leave or stay.”
My husband didn't leave. He knew that he should use Master's teachings to figure out the right thing to do. As practitioners, we should abide by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Through Fa study, he understood that his entangled relationship with his former girlfriend was a result of karmic retribution. By breaking things off with her, he was able to break free from the attachment of sentimentality.
Master helped to benevolently resolve the grudges between my husband and me. I was able to let go of my hatred and walk forthrightly on the path of cultivation. Without Master's guidance, our family would still be dysfunctional.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, my husband and I were sent to forced labor camps because we refused to give up our belief. Torture left my husband paralyzed. He passed away in 2005.
Over the years, I've been harassed, arrested, and robbed due to my belief, and my house has been searched many times. I hope everyone will learn the truth about Falun Gong and help stop the persecution.
