Hearing that Sister Li Qin (pseudonym) had a granddaughter born, I brought my colleague Xiao Wang with me to visit Li Qin's family in Zhaoqing on a bright spring weekend. A middle-aged woman in a purple dress greeted us with a smiling face. It was Li Qin, whom we hadn’t seen for years and whose face was fresh and rosy. Her husband and son also greeted us with smiles.

Looking at this happy family, Xiao Wang threw me a confused look, as if to ask, “Is this the family of a cult victim?” Watching Xiao Wang’s confused look, Li Qin had an understanding smile and began to tell her story…

Straying into an evil cult

I had a junior college education. Before 1994, I had been a teacher popular with my students, well recognized by my school leaders, teachers, and students’ parents. I had been rated as an "Advanced Teacher" for several consecutive years and promoted as the youngest female principal in our city. My husband, a postgraduate working in a state-owned enterprise, was kind and considerate, while my son, who just turned 4, was well-behaved and understanding. That made me the envy of my relatives, friends, and colleagues.”

“However, all that had changed because of Falun Gong. In June 1994, a former colleague of mine sent me a book titled China’s Falun Gong, which immediately attracted my interest. In December, Li Hongzhi came to teach the “Fa” in Guangzhou, so I seized the opportunity to listen to his teachings on the spot for eight days. From then on, I no longer did or care about my housework. Instead, I squeezed in time from my busy work schedule to study and practice Falun Gong. Frequently, I went out with my fellow practitioners to Huaiji, Sihui, Guangning, and other places to “teach gong” and “spread the Fa”. Because of my outstanding performance, I was soon appointed as the director of the Falun Gong assistance center in the west of Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. I felt so lucky and honored at that time.”

Encouraging family members to join Falun Gong

“Under my influence and encouragement, more of my family members began to practice Falun Gong. My elderly parents, my younger sister, who was still a student, and even my 4-year-old son often practiced gong at home or exchanged ideas with our fellow practitioners. When Falun Gong was banned by the State under the law in 1999,  I went out to clarify the ‘truth’ everywhere in disregard of my husband's opposition and unit leaders' repeated dissuasion. I went to Beijing twice to launch our petition efforts. Considering that I often left school without any reason and didn't fulfill my normal teaching duties, my unit leaders transferred me to a new job. However, I refused to work on the grounds of persecution, staying home to read and study the ‘Fa’ every day.”

Preventing her son from dating girlfriend

Li Qin's eyes were moist with tears when she talked about her son Yang Yang.

“In July 2010, Yang Yang, who studied at a technical college in Tianhe, Guangzhou, brought home his girlfriend whom he had been dating for more than two years. One of my fellow practitioners said she found in another dimension that my son's girlfriend was a ‘fox spirit’ or a dissolute woman in her previous life. I believed it without a shadow of doubt after hearing what she had said. So I insisted my son break up with his girlfriend. Otherwise, I would cut off my relationship with him. Under my threat, Yang Yang split up with his girlfriend in great pain.”

 “Yang Yang was so emotionally frustrated that he began to practice meditation day and night. After just three months, he began to have hallucinations: he ‘saw’ the so-called scenes outside the ‘Three Realms’ described in that book, and he even ‘found’ himself sitting next to Li Hongzhi's ‘Lotus Throne’ many times; besides, he thought he was Master's son in the Heavenly World, often claiming to be the son of Li Hongzhi. We all thought he had had his ‘heavenly eyes’ opened, which made us overjoyed.”

“In July 2011, Yang Yang, who was in his second year of college, became even crazier. He decided to drop out of school by lying to the school that he was going home to help take care of his father’s business. I strongly supported my son's decision to stop schooling, because I firmly believed that everything will be there as long as he studied the ‘Fa’ well. My husband trembled with anger when he saw that my son had quit school and stayed at home studying and practicing the ‘Fa’ with us every day. He patiently advised my son to return to school as soon as possible. Instead of following my husband’s advice, Yang Yang picked up a knife and pointed it at my husband, mouthing the words, ‘Kill, kill, kill ...’"

Cutting her wrist with a sharp tool

“One night in April 2012, I kept asking myself: Dafa has been spread for 20 years, and I have been practicing cultivation in strict accordance with Master's requirements every step of the way, but why can't I achieve consummation? What went wrong? I remembered that my former fellow practitioners once said that I was afraid of death. Did the human attachments of mine hinder the progress of Dafa? Then, I decided to let go of my attachment to life itself and ‘rectify the Fa with my life’, in the hope that I would be able to achieve consummation as soon as possible. So, I picked up a sharp tool and cut my left wrist hard, saying ‘Falun Dafa is good’ silently in my heart all the time. However, I didn’t see "Master" or his “Law Body” coming to my rescue even at dawn the next morning. Instead, it was the community workers who sent me to the hospital for rescue in time.”

 “After coming to the hospital and hearing about my accident, Yang Yang, in order to protect the portrait of Li Hongzhi from being seized, even attempted to jump off the building with the portrait in hand. Thanks to the community staff workers who had stopped him in time, a tragedy was avoided. My husband resolutely filed for divorce after losing hope with me.”

“It was only at this time that I began to reflect on myself. The scene of me practicing Falun Gong over the years flashed in my mind like a movie. I not only blamed myself for what I had done, but I was also left with a lingering fear,” said Li Qin, who was full of remorse.”

Working hard to repay society and regaining happy life

"Let bygones be bygones. It's more important to get on with your life in the future."  These words from Xiao Wang, one of Li Qin’s colleagues, brought her back to reality from her painful memories.

"18 years..." She wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, "During the 18 years I was involved with Falun Gong, I almost had my family destroyed. Thank you all for waking me up to reality in time. Also, with the help of the government and through my personal experience, I warned my parents, sister, son, and former fellow practitioners to retract from the wrong path."

"I would like to thank the leaders of our local Anti-Evil-Cult Office and the Education Bureau. Although it has been eight years since I left my job for no reason, they didn’t give up on me but tried to help me return to my teaching position. They trusted me and let me resume my job as a teacher. Now I want to repay the country and society wholeheartedly by training our school children to be useful citizens of our country. I’ll help the school children just as you once helped me selflessly."

Speaking of his mother, Yang Yang said, "The job as a teacher is very demanding nowadays. In addition to constantly updating their knowledge, teachers have to give lectures using multimedia devices. Computer skills are a requirement for teachers like my mother. It is not easy my mom to operate a computer and master the various computer skills quickly. In recent years, my mom has been working hard as a class teacher. She works late into the night almost every day. Apart from teaching, preparing lessons, and correcting students’ homework, she often visits students and talks with them at their homes. Those students who used to be naughty and mischievous have changed for the better. The class my mother is in charge of ranks first in the whole grade in terms of the total score.”

Li Qin continued: "Our family is very grateful to the leaders of the government departments. As Yang Yang had been out of school for two years, his status as a student was removed by the school. However, to let him finish school and have a better future, they went to his school and the Office of Higher Education many times, communicating and coordinating with relevant persons in charge to help Yang Yang restore his status as a student. Deeply moved by their efforts, Yang Yang cherished the opportunity to go back to school. After returning to school, he dared not slack off in his studies in order to catch up with other students as soon as possible. Through his hard work, he finally finished his studies. Without the care of the Party organization, Yang Yang wouldn’t have become what he is today!"

"I hadn't expected that I would be able to continue my studies. Thank you to all the people who saved and helped us! ”Yang Yang said with emotion in his voice.

"After graduation from college, Yang Yang worked in Guangzhou. Later, he not only married his former girlfriend but also..." said Li Qin.

“Wow ...” the sound of a baby crying came out of the room. Hearing his baby crying, Yang Yang went into the room and picked up his baby. His mother, Li Qin, started to be busy again with joy in her heart. Then, we set off on our return journey with the same joy in our hearts.