(Minghui.org) I met Zhenzhen 16 years ago when I started working at a factory. I was the team leader and I was responsible for introducing new luxury brand products. Our team handled everything from design to final product quality. The department manager placed great importance on this team, and the number of people under my supervision kept growing.
This new job was a career change for me, so I frequently visited various production lines to learn about the manufacturing process. I interacted with nearly all the managers and employees in this large department. As a Dafa practitioner, I put the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance into practice in my work; I was humble, kind to others, and considerate of their needs, which was why production-line employees were very eager to join my team.
Zhenzhen was young, attractive, and somewhat distinctive—she left an impression on me. A few days later, she was assigned to my team. Two of my other subordinates said, “Boss, she’s quite well-known in this factory.” They shared many stories about her past, and it was clear they held very little respect for her and considered her a laughingstock.
However, as I worked with Zhenzhen, I gradually discovered her many strengths: she possessed excellent communication skills, approached tasks with diligence and efficiency, and was eager to learn, never hesitated to ask questions when she didn’t understand something. Leveraging these qualities, I assigned her tasks that played to her strengths and frequently offered encouragement and recognition; as a result, her performance improved steadily.
One day, Zhenzhen’s husband, who also worked at the factory, came to tell me that his wife was ill and needed to take two days off. Not long after, he returned to say she was still unwell and required a few more days off. When she came back to work, I had a long talk with her. She revealed that both absences were due to conflicts with her husband, which had made it impossible for her to come to work.
It seemed that everyone in our department loved talking about her. One evening, while a few of us from the team were working late, two coworkers came rushing over as if they had made a major discovery; they vividly started recounting how they had just seen Zhenzhen chatting with a non-Chinese colleague at the factory.
I interrupted them and calmly said I wasn’t interested in other people’s private lives. We were a team and should cherish the bond we shared—like a big family—by helping and supporting one another; even if Zhenzhen had shortcomings, we shouldn’t gossip about her behind her back. I added jokingly, “Our team isn’t a tabloid, and I’m not the head of the paparazzi.” After that, they stopped badmouthing anyone in front of me.
Some managers scold their employees, speak ill of others behind their backs, and form cliques. As a practitioner, I focus solely on doing what I’m supposed to do; I don’t deceive others or slack off. I care for and respect all the employees under my supervision.
Zhenzhen gradually sensed my kindness and friendliness, and came to trust and respect me deeply. I often shared stories from Minghui Radio with my team, explaining the principles of being a good person—that’s it’s especially important for women to have self-respect and self-love, and be gentle and kind rather than flirtatious—they listened eagerly.
I took the opportunity to tell Zhenzhen how wonderful Falun Dafa is, how I began practicing, the changes I experienced after taking up the practice, the truth behind the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Dafa practitioners, and the contrasting situation outside China where Dafa has spread widely and can be practiced openly.
I also explained that Dafa’s Master teaches us to look inward when we have problems. When conflicts arise and we examine ourselves for own shortcomings, the conflicts cease to exist. The conflict between her and her husband likely stemmed from issues on both sides—as the old saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” I said she should first consider where she fell short and where she could improve, and start by working on herself. She agreed wholeheartedly.
Later, she told me that back in 1999, just before the CCP launched its crackdown on Falun Dafa, people did the exercises at the gate of her vocational school. She even joined in the mornings before the practice was banned, but she knew very little about Dafa.
I shared Dafa’s teaching with her: that women should be gentle and kind. She gladly accepted the Dafa books I lent her and also withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I told her firmly that the life path of someone who has distanced themself from the Party changes, because one receives divine protection and salvation.
I later resigned for personal reasons. Afterward, Zhenzhen told me that her husband had a gambling problem and owed a large amount of money. He later had a car accident and died.
Zhenzhen invited me to dinner. I learned that soon after I left, she applied for a position as secretary to a non-Chinese manager at the same factory. From her demeanor and the way she spoke, I could tell she had become wiser and much more composed.
She told me her boss invited her to dinner, but afterward he asked her to be his mistress. She refused.
She said, “I immediately thought of what you told me—that a woman must have self-respect. I didn’t consider the consequences. I just made a clear decision. Then guess what happened the next day? My boss said, ‘I’m sorry about yesterday! You are a Chinese woman who commands my respect.’” She was excited and became a little teary-eyed.
I told her, “You should thank Dafa’s Master! It is Dafa that teaches us how to be good.”
A few years later, Zhenzhen told me she had been dismissed due to other people’s jealousy. Along with her severance pay, the HR department helped her secure a new job. Aware that she lacked advanced academic credentials, she was determined to better herself and independently mastered a wide range of skills. She has since risen to an upper-middle management position and earns a handsome salary. She treats her subordinates with great friendliness and patience, and told me, “I’m emulating the way you work as a manager.”
Even though she hasn’t begun to practice Falun Dafa, she told me, “I never part with the Dafa books and even take them with me when I’m on business trips.”
She said earnestly, “It took me more than a decade to transform my obsession with married men—my craving for their maturity and stability, their money, and the feeling of being taken care of—into a genuine, upright affection for someone. I’ve finally managed to stop cheating, let go of vanity, stop comparing myself with others, and truly be myself, instead of always expecting others to treat me well.
“I’ve finally succeeded. I’m so grateful to have met you at the lowest point in my life. I didn’t really understand the principles you talked about back then. I simply trusted you and now I get it. Looking back now, the truths in the book you recommended Zhuan Falun have all become clear. You know, you’re one of the people who changed my destiny. I’m especially grateful to have met you!”
I said, “I don’t have such immense power. I’m just a Falun Dafa practitioner. It is very rare for one person to change another. It was your true self who made the right choice—to forsake the evil CCP, choose kindness, and become a child of the divine. It was Dafa that transformed you. Instead of thanking me you should thank Dafa’s Master!”
