In the second year of Lu (607 BC), he hunted in shouyangshan (now southeast of Yongji County) and lived in Jinsang. He saw a man hungry and went to ask about his illness. The man said, "I haven't eaten for three days." Zi Xuan gave him food to eat, but he kept half of it. Zi Xuan asked him why, and he said, "I have been away from home for three years, and I don't know if my mother is still alive." It's close to home now, please let me give her the food I left. Zi Xuan told him to finish his meal and prepared a basket of rice and meat for him.

Later, Mo Ling became a warrior of Duke Ling of Jin. Once, Gong Ling tried to kill Zi Xuan, and Mo Ling turned against Jin Linggong's people in the battle, so that Zi Xuan could escape. Zi Xuan asked him why he did this, and he replied, "I am a hungry man of mulberry trees." When Zi Xuan asked his name and home again, he left without saying goodbye.

This kind-hearted story later became an allusion. Du Fu quoted it in his poem "Twenty-two Rhymes for Wei Zuocheng": I often plan to report a meal and resign my minister.