Zhai teaches her student, Wang Qianqian.(Photo/cyol.com)

Many people choose to go to big cities to further their careers, but Zhai Gaihua has held on to her position as a teacher of a primary school in a remote village for thirty-two years.

At the age of 20, Zhai became a teacher at the Huangtupo Primary School after graduating from Xinzhou Normal College in 1984. At that time, she taught five courses to 28 children from three grades.

Zhai left Huangtupo Primary School in 1994 and started her life as a teacher in Koujiacun Village in Xinzhou, in northwest China's Shanxi province. She had more spare time after her children went to work, but there are fewer and fewer students in her school. For the time being, she has only one student, named Wang Qianqian—a 7-year-old girl.

Qianqian's parents have been living apart from their daughter since she was 3 months old. They have been earning money in cities for seven years now, Zhai said. Qianqian was sent to the primary school where Zhai works at the age of 5, as her grandparents did not have the energy to take care of her.

Zhai came to Qianqian's grandfather and proposed that Qianqian be left to her care during weekdays, and join them during the weekends.

Qianqian is just one of the students that Zhai has taken in over the years. Jin Jianjun said that left-behind children and children from divorced families can become kind-hearted children with excellent academic performance as long as they are taught by Zhai. Jin is Zhai's direct supervisor.

The villagers know that the teacher treats their children well and invites her to come to their houses and have meals from time to time.