In Houguan County during the Jin Dynasty, there was an orphan named Xie Duan who was raised by a kind neighbor.
When Xie Duan grew up, he didn’t want to cause any more trouble for his neighbors, so he built his own hut and lived independently.
Because his family was poor, he was never able to get a wife.
One day, Xie Duan picked up a particularly large snail in the field and brought it home to keep in a tank.
A few days later, he came home every day to find a good meal in the house, like someone had done it for him.
Xie Duan was so surprised that he went to ask his neighbors, but they all said they didn’t do it.
Later, Xie Duan sneaked home to watch and found a beautiful girl coming out of the water tank and going under the stove to cook.
Xie Duan learned that the girl was a Water Vegetable Lady sent by the Heavenly Emperor to help him cook over a fire, and to try to make him rich and marry a good wife within ten years.
But now that Xie Duan knew about the heavenly opportunity, the Water Vegetable Lady could no longer stay.
When the Water Vegetable Lady was leaving, she gave Xie Duan a field snail shell, saying that she could store grain and that the rice would not be used up.
When she finished speaking, a heavy rain fell outside the house, and the Water Vegetable Lady drifted away in the rain.
Xie Duan was so grateful to the Water Vegetable Lady that he built a statue of her, and went to burn incense and pay tribute to her every year.
He also relied on his own hard work and the help of the goddess to get better and better, marrying a wife a few years later and becoming a magistrate.
In order to thank the Water Vegetable Lady, Xie Duan built a temple, which is the Shui-Su-Nü Shrine today.
This story tells us that hard work and kindness will be rewarded with good rewards and help from good people.