(Minghui.org) Jiang Wei is the head chef of a well-known Chinese restaurant in Houston, Texas. “I have worked here for 24 years. My team includes four chefs and two assistants,” she said.
Chinese restaurants are well known for hard work in the kitchen and it is very rare to find a female head chef. So, what is so special about Wei?
A High Caliber
Because of being so busy, many employees only focus on their own things and put basic kitchen maintenance on the back burner. When this happens, Wei will always take care of it in her spare time, so that the restaurant will operate smoothly.
To keep a good chef, Chinese restaurant owners often offer special wines as an incentive. But considering herself a Falun Dafa practitioner, Wei does not drink and always refuses such offers. Some people did not understand her, thinking she had lost lots of opportunities that could benefit her.
The restaurant owner, on the other hand, does not think this way. He treats Wei well and said she is the one of the best chefs he had ever met.
Resolving Conflicts
Wei gets along well with her team members and said, “Falun Dafa teaches me the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I often remind myself of this and many conflicts thus are easily resolved.”
One day, an assistant cooked some dishes and customers complained about them. Wei explained to the assistant the right way of cooking, but he did not listen. Later her boss heard about this and told Wei she could fire the assistant if needed. The assistant overheard this, and was very upset and angry.
Wei told the restaurant owner the next day that she would not fire the assistant. She then asked the assistant to talk in private. To her surprise, the assistant apologized to her saying he should not have done that. From then on, he worked hard and got along well with Wei. He also wanted to learn the Falun Dafa exercises.
Once a customer was unhappy with a dish cooked by a chef who had been working at that restaurant for three years. The restaurant owner asked Wei for help, so she cooked a dish and the customer was very satisfied. When Wei received her wage, however, she found it was $500 less than usual—it turned out the restaurant owner had mixed up her wage with that of the other chef. Wei did not say anything and just let it go.
After witnessing Wei's peaceful mind and tolerance of others, the restaurant owner was impressed and had a positive attitude towards Falun Dafa.
An Accident
Wei once went to help her friend, owner of another Chinese restaurant in 2002. When she carried a heated sweet and sour sauce, however, she fell down and the hot sauce poured on her face. Seeing the injury, one person in the restaurant said Wei's face could be disfigured. She suggested Wei should sue the owner and ask for hundreds of thousands of dollars as compensation. Wei said she would not do this since it would drive the owner out of business.
She stayed at home and did the Falun Dafa exercises as usual. After one week, her injury had healed.
Happy Life
Jiang Wei, a head chef in Houston, said Falun Dafa gives her happiness and energy.
Like other Chinese immigrants, Wei works hard and her professional skills are very high. But the difference is that she does not have stress, and enjoys her life every day. “The credit goes to Falun Dafa,” she explained.
Wei used to suffer from numerous illnesses including rhinitis, stomach problems, and Ménière Syndrome. “When I came to the U.S. in 1993, most of my luggage was medicine,” she recalled, “To me, I could survive by skipping meals, but not medicine.”
The situation worsened after she began to work in the restaurant kitchen. She said, “Because of spices, oil, and smoke, my nose already gave me problems. Sometimes I was even wondering if I could cut it off.” The irregular dining time also worsened her stomach problems. To relieve the pain, very often she had to lean with her stomach against large food packages. As soon as she felt better, she would go back to work.
“It was a big change after I visited my parents in China in 1996,” Wei said with a smile, “Both of them and my elder brother practiced Falun Dafa at that time. They lived on the seventh floor, and I was amazed that my parents, who had been ill and weak, now could walk up and down the stairs many times with no difficulty at all. The family relationship also improved greatly.”
Wei learned the exercises and began to read Falun Dafa books. She continued after she returned to the U.S. “Very often after coming home from the restaurant, it was close to midnight or even later, but with Falun Dafa, I always have lots of energy every day.”
“Falun Dafa gives me a new life—a much better one. That's for sure,” she added.
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Category: Improving Oneself
