Chapter 378: Always Listen to Advice!

Chapter 378: You Should Always Take Advice to Heart!

"Is that so? I remember you’ve graduated now and are preparing for your internship, right?" Su He asked again.

"Yes, that’s right. I came here today to say goodbye to you, Sister Su," Xia Miao suddenly said, her tone tinged with reluctance.

"Goodbye? Are you going somewhere else for your internship?" Su He asked, puzzled.

Xia Miao smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling as she replied, "Well, actually, the Xia family used their connections to get me an internship at Wen University.

But I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I feel like I can’t rely on the Xia family for everything.

Besides, there must be so many children like me in our country—those who’ve lost both parents.

You know, the government has started promoting nine-year compulsory education, but implementing it nationwide is incredibly difficult.

Cities like Wencheng naturally don’t have to worry.

But in remote areas, achieving full implementation is as difficult as scaling the heavens.

Many parents are still very old-fashioned and unwilling to send their children, especially girls, to school.

They’d rather have them help with farm work to lighten the family’s workload.

So, I’ve already applied to teach in rural areas. I want to help children who’ve suffered like me.

I want them all to learn to read and write, become decent people, and serve their country and society."

Her words touched Su He deeply.

However, Su He wasn’t as optimistic about this as Xia Miao.

After all, teaching in rural areas was far from easy.

Regardless of the current era, even by the 21st century, many female teachers who went to rural areas never made it out of those isolated mountains.

Though Xia Miao had lived with her uncle for a while, it was only a brief period.

She had grown up in the Xia family, pampered and sheltered—practically raised with a silver spoon.

She was still too naive and innocent, blind to the deceit and harsh realities in society.

Typically, the areas in need of volunteer teachers were extremely poor, backward, and deeply set in their ways.

The villagers were close-knit, holding stubbornly to their narrow views, happy to stay in the mountains their whole lives, unwilling to see the world beyond.

In such underdeveloped regions, because of the harsh conditions, few were willing to marry their daughters there.

So, local men either paid for brides or turned to illegal means—like trafficking.

Especially in this era, with laws still lacking and enforcement weak, criminals found it easy to violate human rights and dignity.

Most crucially, if you were unlucky enough to get trapped by the villagers, even if rescuers came, there was no guarantee of success.

Many of those mountain villagers had fled there during wartime.

Hearing Xia Miao speak with such hopeful enthusiasm, Su He couldn’t help but frown deeply, her thoughts swirling with worry.

"What’s the matter, Sis Su? Was what I said wrong?" Seeing Su He remain silent, Xia Miao grew uneasy.

These days, Xia Miao really looked up to Su He and hoped her meaningful endeavor would earn Su He's approval.

She thought Su He would praise her after hearing her impassioned speech, but instead, Su He fell into silence.

Su He was weighing her words, trying to figure out how to dissuade Xia Miao from rural teaching.

But then she thought—not every rural area was that backward. Plenty of volunteer teachers had done great work.

Besides, if everyone was selfish and refused to contribute to the nation's education, how could the country progress?

So she finally asked, "Where exactly did you apply to teach?"

Xia Miao answered without hesitation, "The southern region. A lot of those places are still underdeveloped, and some places were only recently liberated. They need people now more than ever."

What she left unsaid was that she wanted to go far from Xia Chengan, to slowly forget him.

When she returned someday, she hoped she could truly see him as just a brother, and they could have a proper sibling relationship.

The southern region? At this answer, Su He’s heart dropped.

That place is seriously backward, with strong religious influences. What’s a girl like Xia Miao doing going there?

"No way, you can’t go!" Su He said bluntly.

Xia Miao gaped at her.

"Why?"

Su He looked at her sternly and said, "Do you even know what that place is like? Do you know how backward and conservative the people there are? A girl like you—you could end up forced to marry some villager!"

Xia Miao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"No way... that can’t be real! Sister Su, are you joking?"

Su He stared at her gravely. "Does it look like I’m joking?"

Just then, a customer came to pay. Su He told Xia Miao, "Hold on," and went to handle the transaction.

After finishing with the customers, Su He called Xia Miao back and urged her, "Listen—don’t go, no matter what!

Just stay here in Wencheng. Even if you must leave, apply to teach in the nearby towns instead.

You know Wencheng’s been really cracking down on crime lately. They’re not messing around.

So now, everyone here behaves properly, and public safety is excellent!

Especially for educated people like you, answering the nation’s call to contribute—the local government treats you like treasures! They’ll bend over backward to help you.

But if you go south? It’s a different story.

The local government there might be struggling to manage itself—how could they protect you properly?

I’m not joking. Every word I’ve said is sincere, with no exaggeration.

So no matter what, don’t go south. Got it?"