(Minghui.org)
One morning, with rain pouring down outside, an elderly lady hurried into the reception office of a construction company.
She was there because her house had flooded, with water pouring in from three underground locations. There was over a foot of water in her house and it was still rising. The construction company was doing work in front of her house and she thought there might be a connection.
She reported the flooding and left. The receptionist told the boss, who said he was going to go check on the lady's home right away.
But the receptionist stopped him and said, “Don't rush it. I know this lady. I was her neighbor 20 years ago and knew her very well. Her last name is Su. People called her Auntie Su, but her nickname was 'Red Hot Chili Pepper' because she was difficult to get along with. One time she had a fight with a co-worker and was not happy with the way her employer resolved the issue. So she took her two children, who were under the age of 5, to her boss's office and just left them. She then disappeared for two weeks.
“It's true that her house has flooded, but it's pouring out and not feasible to start doing any repair work right now. And it's also possible that the flooding was not caused by the work we're doing in front of her house. Let's send someone out to take a look and comfort this woman first. Once the rain stops, we can check it out and make a decision at that time.”
The boss thought what the receptionist said sounded reasonable and decided to do as she suggested.
The rain stopped the next day, so the boss and office staff went to Auntie Su's house. They then talked to her neighbors to find out what happened. There were over 30 apartments in the building. It seemed that everyone had a bad temper and didn't get along with each other. But when Auntie Su's name was mentioned, everyone said that she was a kind person and always did good things. Everyone could list a few of them.
For example, the lock on the door to the building was broken, and no one wanted to fix it. Auntie Su bought a new lock with her own money and gave a key to each apartment. Another time, the main water pipe broke. To repair it, a water pipe had to be installed under the building to connect to the main pipe. No one was willing to let the pipe run under their apartment, but Auntie Su didn't give it a second thought and let the workers install the water pipe under her apartment.
The boss was confused after he heard these stories. They made Auntie Su sound completely different from how the receptionist had described her. Three days later, he went to Auntie Su's with three laborers.
Auntie Su was 74 years old with black hair and smooth white skin. She was very engaging and seemed like she was only in her 50s. The boss was really surprised.
Before the boss could say anything, she showed him where the underground drainage ditch was and then said, “If the ditch is blocked by sediment due to poor maintenance, then that will be my responsibility to repair it, and I'll pay the three workers' salary—100 yuan per laborer. If the problem was caused by your company, you'll have to pay them.”
“That sounds reasonable. I agree,” the boss said even as he thought to himself that the receptionist shouldn't lie to him like she had. He thought that Auntie Su didn't seem like a bad person and that what the people in the building told him seemed consistent with what he saw. He wondered if there could be two Auntie Sus.
The boss arranged to have the repair work done and went to Auntie Su's, still doubtful. “You look great,” he said. “Were you always like this?”Auntie Su replied with a smile, “You must have heard something about me. No, I was not like this 20 years ago. Back then my nickname was 'Red Hot Chili Pepper.' I was fearless. No one could force me or persuade me to do what I didn't want to do. My parents had no control over me; my siblings couldn't influence me; and my employer couldn't manage me. The reality was that society didn't educate people well. No one cared about anybody else.”
The boss said, “I agree with you. But how did you become who you are now?” Auntie Su smiled and exclaimed, “I practice Falun Dafa.” She then described her process of transformation.
Auntie Su started to practice Falun Dafa in 1996, read the book Zhuan Falun, and understood that the practice teaches how to be a good person. As long as a person follows Dafa's principles and becomes a good person, he or she can rise above suffering. She no longer hit back when attacked or talked back when insulted. And she gave up all her bad habits. She always considered others first and treated them with benevolence, turning her into an unselfish, tolerant, and happy Dafa disciple.
“After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Dafa,” she went on, “the head of the residential committee arranged to have someone monitor me. His wife then fell and damaged her spine. The doctor told her it would take 100 days to recover.
“I went to visit her and saw that she was in bed and in a lot of pain. I explained the truth about Falun Dafa to her--so that she would know that the CCP propaganda was untrue--and gave her a Dafa amulet. I placed it around her neck and told her that if she sincerely recited, 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,' she would be able to walk again in seven days. On the seventh day, she was actually able to walk by herself.
“Her husband, who had been monitoring me, was astonished and said he couldn't afford to offend her anymore by continuing to watch me.
“I understood that this was an example Master's benevolence, arranging things so that her husband would know that Dafa is good and that Dafa saves people. From then on, they helped spread the truth about Falun Dafa wherever they went, telling others what they'd experienced.
“The elderly ladies who lived in the building also benefited from quietly reciting, 'Falun Dafa is good.' They always smiled when they saw me and understood what I was doing. They stopped watching me and started encouraging me to practice Falun Dafa well and even asked for Dafa books to read.”
The boss nodded, “So that's how you changed. I really admire your master!” Auntie Su said, “Please remember to say 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,' and you, too, will be blessed.”
The boss thanked her again and again.
The laborers who were digging the ditch discovered the source of the leak and called the boss to say, “The water is passing through the pipe now, and there is no further blockage.” They discovered that their construction work had actually blocked the underground drainage ditch.
Auntie Su smiled and said to the boss, “Let's not focus on whose fault it is. What is important is that it's fixed. I'll pay the 300 yuan.” The boss smiled, too, and said, “You really are a good person.”