This is one of the finest stories that I have ever reached. As the story goes, ‘once upon a time in China, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in- law at all; she was angered by many of her habits. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress.
Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law’s bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who was herbs merchant. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Huang agreed to help her and gave her some herbs and said, “I’ve given you some rare herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. But, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you, as she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen." She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother- in-law.
With difficulty, she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. As six months passed by, the whole household changed dramatically. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset because her mother-in-law now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law’s attitude to her also had changed. She had begun to love Li-Li as own daughter. She even had begun telling her friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.
One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Dear uncle, please help me to keep off the poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her." Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her."
Huang medicine applies not only in mother-in-law disasters but also in all relationships that have cuts and bruises. The moral of the story is not just ‘others might change at will’ but that all hurts in relationships bleed only if there are poison hives within our own selves.
