(Minghui.org) I’m a 64-year-old female practitioner who started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. I was taken to a detention center in March 2024, the day before the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “Two Sessions” (the National People’s Congress, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference).

During my illegal detention, my family deposited a few thousand yuan for me, so that I could buy toilet paper and shampoo. There was some money left over after I bought the necessities.

A few days after my release, I went to the detention center to collect the remaining balance on my account, which was not given to me when I was released. The clerk handed me the money and, since it wasn’t a large sum, I didn’t bother to count it. I assumed there was no mistake, so I took the money and left.

When I counted the money after I got home, I found an extra 50 yuan. I counted it a few more times and thought I should return the money. When I told my family, they said there was no need to return the overpayment, since it wasn’t my fault and I had suffered a lot from being detained. But as a Dafa practitioner, I should hold myself to the standards of a cultivator and act according to the principles of the Fa. I decided to return the money, against my family’s advice.

The detention center was in the suburbs, and it took more than two hours round-trip by bus. The clerk was astonished when I returned the money to her. She had a hard time believing it and said, “I’ve never encountered anything like this in all my years working here!”

I said to her, “I practice Falun Dafa. Our Master teaches us to put others first in everything we do. I’ve done work handling money before, and I had to cover any shortages, if even a penny was missing. If I didn’t return this, you may have to pay it out of your pocket. If I kept the money, you would suffer losses. I can’t do that to you.”

The clerk responded, “I had to cover several shortages before. I once saw video footage of someone who was overpaid 100 yuan, but he refused to admit it. You are voluntarily returning the money, and I’ve never seen that before! Thank you so much!”

I told her I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t practice Falun Dafa. She was grateful.

It really wasn’t about the amount of money. Some people are solely motivated by self-interest and would do anything to make a profit. Almost everyone at the detention center was arrested because they were engaged in some kind of financial fraud. My good deed probably changed the clerk’s view of Dafa practitioners.