(Clearwisdom.net) Editor's note: This is a translation of a speech made at an experience sharing conference at the Liaohe No. 1 Oil-drilling Company stadium in Panjin City on January 31, 1999. More than four thousand people attended the conference.
My granddaughter, Shanshan, was born on July 28, 1995. She has been bathed in the Falun Buddha Fa since she was only six months old. At about one o'clock on the afternoon of August 16, 1998, three-year old Shanshan fell into an uncovered pit on the southern side of the Shengxing Hotel while on her way to my home with her mother. Upon hearing Shanshan scream, her mother turned around but could see no trace of her child. Instantly she called for help and begged people to save her daughter.
The mother's cry for help attracted three to four hundred pedestrians along the main road. However, no one dared to jump into the pit since the water inside was over two meters (six feet) deep after three heavy rainfalls during the preceding few days. In addition, the water was very dirty. A person who knew the situation said, "There is a valve at the bottom of the pit. The valve is about 50 centimeter (about 1.5 feet) in size. Furthermore, there are two big cement pipes connected to the pit with rapidly flowing water ..." Time ticked away but no one came forward to save the child. It was a very critical moment.
Suddenly a laborer named Xu (surname), who was about 50 years old, came by on his way to work on a tricycle. On seeing the crowd he asked what had happened. When he learned that a child had fallen into the pit nearly three minutes ago, yet no one dared to enter the water to save her, he pushed his way through the crowd to reach the pit. He asked the people around to hold onto one of his arms while he slowly entered the water with his other hand holding the opening of the pit. His left foot happened to step on the valve. At that time the water was already at his shoulder. The laborer used his right leg to probe the water for the child, but he couldn't locate her. The onlookers all sighed, "There is no hope for this child. Even if she's found she will be dead!" Apparently Mr. Xu was very anxious. He cried out, "Why can't I find the child? Where is the child?"
Just at the moment a miracle happened. Little Shanshan suddenly raised her right arm from the depths of the water. Mr. Xu felt her arm and grabbed it in amazement, pulling her out of the water. Even more surprising was that Shanshan opened her eyes as soon as she stood up. She only spit out half a mouthful of water. When she saw her mother she ran into her arms.
These unexpected events amazed the onlookers and made quite a stir. Someone said, "This child's ancestors must have accumulated a lot of de (virtue)! Hurry up! Help the child to expel the water she swallowed. However, Shanshan said, "The water is very dirty so I did not drink it. I closed my eyes and mouth."
The result was just as Shanshan had said. The person who tried to help her clear out the water found that there was no water in her nose, ears, or mouth. It was clear that no water had entered. After all these surprises, good-hearted people still insisted, "You'd better take her to a hospital for a check-up, just to make sure no water entered her windpipe. However, when my daughter looked at Shanshan she looked perfectly normal and talked well. Because it was a cloudy day and Shanshan was in a wet and dirty dress, she looked a bit cold. Therefore, my daughter decided to bring Shanshan to my home to give her a hot bath and change her clothes. She was still sobbing when she arrived at my home, which is only about 200 meters (218 yards) from the pit, with Shanshan in her arms.
Ten Falun Gong practitioners were studying the Fa at my home. My daughter was choked-up and sobbing, and was unable to talk, but managed to say, "Shanshan fell into the water." My husband said, "It's alright!" Then he asked, "Did she swallow any water?"
Shanshan rushed to answer, "The water was dirty so I did not swallow any, and I closed my eyes and mouth." My husband turned on the hot water heater in preparation for her bath. I asked her to rinse her mouth and saw that the water she spit out was clean. By then, my husband had the hot water ready. When he found my daughter was still sobbing he said, "Don't cry any more! Your child is perfectly well. Go and give her a bath." After my daughter went to bathe her child we continued our group Fa study. After the bath I looked to see Shanshan twice and found her lying on the bed and chatting with her mother. She looked fine except that her complexion was not as rosy as usual.
By approximately 4 o'clock, the practitioners who had been studying the Fa had all left. Shanshan jumped off the bed as if nothing had happened to her. Only then did her mother tell us that Shanshan fell into a pit of two-meter deep water. A passing worker, Mr. Xu, rescued her after she had been under the water for nearly three minutes. My husband said, "Shanshan, you are very smart, how come you fell into the pit?" She pointed at the ceiling with her fingers and said, "I was looking at the sky. That was why I fell into the pit." Then we asked her what happened after she fell into the water.
She got down on her hands and knees and then shook her head and said, "I stayed in the water in this position (in an empty space next to the valve). I was swimming around. I could hear the sound of water bubbling." We asked her if she heard her mother crying. She said, "I did not."
We said, "While Mr. Xu was trying to rescue you he said he could not find you. How did you know to raise your arm at that moment?" She turned around and pointed at the Teacher's photo on the wall and said, "Teacher Li Hongzhi told me to raise my arm. Teacher said, 'Little Shanshan, Little Shanshan, someone is coming to rescue you. Hurry up and raise your arm. Hurry up! Hurry up!'"
We were both very surprised and overjoyed, but we asked in a very serious voice, "Are you making this up? You are a practitioner, so you cannot talk nonsense!" She hurriedly said, "I didn't make it up! What I said is true. Teacher called me several times and his voice was very loud." We asked, "Did you see Teacher?" She said, "No, I did not see him, but I could hear his voice." She spoke while demonstrating, "I raised my arm like this. (She was on her knees, supported by her left hand on the floor. She tilted her body and raised her right hand high.)" Mr. Xu told her mother that Shanshan had raised her right arm.
Only after we heard the explanation from my daughter, did we know how serious the situation had been. The reason Shanshan came back safe and sound was because of Teacher's protection. Otherwise she would have died. We looked at Teacher's photo and could not express with words our gratitude toward Dafa and Teacher.
On the following afternoon, when the practitioners from our Fa study group asked her, she told the story again, and demonstrated her arm lifting gesture as well. Everyone laughed.
The next morning we invited Mr. Xu and his wife to our home for lunch and handed him 1,000 yuan and a wool blanket. Mr. Xu, however, refused to accept the gifts. Mr. Xu said, "There are two reasons that I cannot accept your money. First, I have had my current job for more than two years, and because of it, I always get up after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There is nothing for me to do if I go to work early. However, yesterday, my wife was playing poker with several friends. Suddenly she rushed into the house and woke me up. She told me it was 2 o'clock, so I got up and went to the bathroom. After I came back I sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette. When I took out my pocket watch I saw that it was only 1 o'clock. It was too early for me to get up. My wife said she woke me up by mistake. I thought that since I was up anyway I may as well leave for work. Quite unexpectedly, I was just in time to rescue the child. Secondly, everyone said the child was in the dirty, two-meter-deep water for 3 minutes, and when I could not find her, why did she raise her arm? Why was there no water in her eyes, ears, nose or mouth, and how could she call for her mother as soon as she was lifted out of the pit? Therefore she is not an ordinary child. Obviously, I have a predestined relationship with this child. I want to adopt her as a granddaughter. That's why I won't accept your money."
(To be continued)