The following day, Shouhu laid down his pen and his reading glasses and picked up a hoe and went to the Songshan Mountain to start working on the land.
He began his work at the back of Mount Qingtong and worked like a man possessed..
One day, he felt very hungry, thirsty and tired. Nearby, he saw a plant growing with great profusion in the grass. The plant had heart-shaped leaves and green white fl owers. Using his hoe, he dug at the plant’s root, fi nding a small tuber. He picked it up, washed away the dirt, and peeled off the brown skin. The inside was light red brown with a cloud-shaped grain. He took a bite, and it tasted sweet but the end was quite bitter. He ate it all and immediately felt very sated and comfortable.
From that time on, whenever he felt hungry or thirsty, he would dig out some of these tubers and eat them. After a long time, he could feel himself becoming stouter and stronger. He ate the tubers raw or sometimes cooked them in a pot. He spent over 100 days in the mountains.
In autumn when he had harvested his crop Shouhu went down the mountain with his harvest.
When he arrived home, his mother almost didn’t recognize him. He had become stout and looked much younger and there wasn’t a wrinkle on his face. Even more strangely, his white hair had turned black again.
He Shouhu looked into the mirror and found that he looked once again like a young man with a most dignifi ed appearance.
His relatives and friends who visited them saw the new He Shouhu and thought that he must have got the help from the gods. They said to him, “Shouhu, you have been a great scholar. You should not give up. If you go to the capital to participate in the examinations, you could be the country’s Number One Scholar (a title conferred on the one who came fi rst in the highest imperial examinations).”
Shouhu readily accepted their advice and once more he returned with a new enthusiasm to his studies. In early spring of the following year, he went to the capital and took part in the final imperial examinations at the Taihe Hall. Amazingly, he won the Tanhua (the third highest score in the imperial examinations).
At that time the magistrate who had rejected him as his son-in-law the year before had been promoted to the position of Yushi (a high rank). Seeing the Number Three Scholar with his delicate features and black hair, he thought what an impressive handsome man he was. Looking at him carefully, he saw the resemblance to He Shouhu who he had driven out of his house the year before. He questioned him closely. He Shouhu had no hard feelings about what had happened before. He told the magistrate of his adventures as a farmer on the mountain and of how he had discovered this most nutritious of tubers. At the banquet, the guests all applauded He Shouhu for his fortitude and ingenuity.
From then on, all youngsters who found themselves going prematurely grey would go to the Songshan Mountain, to dig up this wonderful tuber and eat it.
This medicinal plant originally had no name. It was discovered by He Shouhu, and thus was named “He Shouhu.” Later, He Shouhu was appointed by the court to be official specialized in providing with suggestions. Thus his name could no longer be used and so the magically medicinal plant was renamed “He Shouwu.”
