On the second day of the first lunar month, 2010, I got a call from my cousin-in-law saying that my elder female cousin passed away suddenly in a waste brickkiln. When the grievous news came, tears trickled down my cheeks. My cousin is also my first teacher, it is under her careful cultivation that I can enter to a university, and don't have to be a peasant any more. But the hateful Falun Gong killed my cousin and she passed away at the beginning of New Year.
My name is Wu Shicheng, 32 years old, a villager from Fengzhuang Village, Caohuanglin Town, Xi County, Henan Province. Now I work in an administrative unit of the county. My cousin Li Shumei was born in May 1962, junior college degree, and worked as a teacher in Caohuanglin Central Primary School of Xi County, which is also my alma mater. The cousin was my class teacher and taught Chinese when I was in Grade 3. I spent my memorable childhood from Grade 3 to Grade 5 with my cousin. I was naughty and playful as a child, so I got a poor academic performance, I even didn't know all the Chinese Bopomofo alphabets when I was in Grade 3. My cousin helped me with my Bopomofo after school and gradually I could read new words in Bopomofo. She was strict in my study and corrected every composition for me. Under the meticulous care of my cousin, I made great progress, since then my grades were getting better and better and I was admitted to a university successfully. It is my cousin opened the door of knowledge for me and changed my life. I feel so grateful to my cousin.
Due to checking assignments in dark and humid office for a long time, my cousin suffered from rheumatism in the spring of 1996, which made her in great pain. And she didn't got better after seeking medical help in all directions. Then a retired colleague came to my cousin's house and said:"Rheumatism cannot be cured easily. The most effective method is to practice Falun Gong. Falun Gong can cure disease and improve health, once you practiced it, your family will also benefit from it. Now many people are practicing it." Seeing that my cousin was a little skeptical of this, her colleague took my cousin to the open space at the south end of a street. There were a group of people doing all sorts of movements with the music on the ground. The assistant greeted my cousin and introduced to her all the benefits of Falun Gong practice. He said: "Falun Gong can cure disease, improve health and is an effective cure-all. Falun Gong advocates Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, and teaches people to be good. It's a progressive religion." Other practitioners around also came and spoke glowingly of their own experiences. Under the conduct of the assistant and being confused by the fellow practitioners, my cousin bought a set of Zhuan Falun books, tapes as well as the portrait of Li Hongzhi without hesitation. The assistant seemed very generous at this moment; he said my cousin had high savvy and was a quick study, he would make a special offer, namely "buy one get one free." My cousin was moved and after receiving the books with her trembling hands, she said she would mobilize the family and the relatives to practice Falun Gong when going back home.
There is a close relationship between rheumatism and climate. When it is hot and muggy, the symptoms of the disease are obvious, and when it's fine and dry, the symptoms will lessen to some extent. As the weather got warmer, my cousin got relief from pain, which made her believe Falun Gong's powerful effectiveness more. My cousin believed that it was good news brought by Falun Gong, so she became more obsessed with "practicing and learning Fa", more respectful to Li Hongzhi. She practiced Falun Gong in face of Master's portrait every morning and evening and prostrated herself in worship. In pursuit of the so-called "Consummation", my cousin would go to the places where there were activities for promoting Fa collectively, no mater how far they were. She was in no mood for teaching and was indifferent to things at home. She had become quite a different person after practicing, which made all the people amazed. The school leaders talked to my cousin several times, hoping she could go back to normal life, but she was too stubborn to accept any advice. My cousin said it was the utmost respect to the Master and the greatest belief to Falun Gong if she stood firm and didn't give up when affected by external interference. Since persuasion did not work, the school leaders had no alternative but to go through the formalities of early retirement for my cousin.
Falun Gong was banned by the state in 1999, which made my cousin cannot figure out. Regardless of the family's persuasion, she went to Beijing many times for protecting Fa with her fellow practitioners led by the local assistant. In the meantime, my cousin-in-law, the son of cousin and I all persuaded my cousin to give up the practice, but she didn't take advice and scolded us. She couldn't forgive me especially. She said that she had helped me when I was young, but I didn't take part in Falun Gong following her lead and even advised her not to practice Falun Gong. She complained that I disregarded her belief and was ungrateful to kindness.
Because of sitting cross-legged for a long time, being paranoid and living without routines, my cousin's health condition got worse and worse. So we insisted to send her to hospital for physical examination. Besides the rheumatism, she also suffered from diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and cerebral circulation insufficiency etc. Later, she had to take insulin every week due to the exacerbation of the diabetes. During every compulsory injection, she would resist fiercely and abuse us. She said she had the "Fashen Protection" of the Master and needed no medicines and injections, if she practiced more seriously, she would get better.
Spring Festival was around the corner but my cousin was missing on the 28th day of the last lunar month, 2009. My cousin-in-law and all the family went out to look for her, and visited all her fellow practitioners, but in vain. We were as restless as ants on a hot pan and didn't know how to push through. On the second day of the first lunar month, 2010, a villager who knew my cousin went into a waste brickkiln for relieving himself. As soon as he went in, he let out a cry of scare and ran out. My cousin sat cross-legged and leaned against the wall, sleeping forever there. There was a note by her side, saying that "the family members always interfere with my practice, so I go to a place where they can't find for 'eliminating karma'. The 'Consummation' and 'higher level' I seek after will realize immediately. My Master, I live up to your teaching and I'm your most loyal believer."
My cousin was buried two days later. Standing at the grave and looking at the familiar fields and villages, I thought about my childhood and shed tears of sorrow.
