Kang Wei quickly understood what had happened.

The school where Yuan Yujun was teaching was a primary school. Since this Huaqing University volunteer teacher arrived, the number of students in this rural primary school has increased significantly.

Teacher Yuan was incredibly capable, able to teach from first grade to fifth grade, handling both Chinese and Mathematics proficiently.

She not only won the students’ affection but also earned the parents’ trust. Despite the rugged nature of the Northwest’s local customs, everyone showed exceptional respect for ‘Teacher Yuan.’ They were grateful that a young female university student would come to the Northwest to brave the winds and sand.

Yuan Yujun’s students came from various villages. In the village where Kang Wei was currently staying, there were over ten students, including two brothers with the surname Gao. The older brother was 14 years old, the younger 10, and they lived with their grandmother after losing both parents.

Water was scarce in the Northwest; some areas could grow crops while others could only raise livestock.

It was uncommon elsewhere but quite normal in remote rural areas to see 14-year-olds still in primary school. Poor conditions meant late starts in education, with intermittent attendance… The Gao brothers were resilient; with their elderly and ill grandmother, they made a living by herding sheep. The brothers took turns attending school, one handling the morning shift of herding, the other the afternoon!

This winter in the Northwest was particularly harsh. Wolves from the neighboring hills, lacking food, began targeting livestock. After several of the Gao brothers’ sheep were taken, the elder Gao brother, enraged, grabbed a hunting rifle intending to hunt the wolves.

When students informed Yuan Yujun about this, how could she let her 14-year-old student go wolf hunting? It wasn’t hunting wolves; it was practically offering oneself as prey.

Wolves weren’t easy to hunt. Unless you eliminated the entire pack, they would seek revenge if any pack members were killed or injured!

“That’s not right though, Yuan isn’t that reckless. Even if the Gao brothers were being thoughtless about hunting wolves, she wouldn’t have pursued them alone!”

Yuan Yujun was methodical and wouldn’t act so rashly.

Xia Xiaolan sighed, “Senior Yuan had planned to address this issue. She had spoken with the principal and was preparing to discuss with the village about possibly coordinating with the county militia to increase patrols, or even organize a thorough sweep of the nearby wolf packs. There had been multiple incidents of wolves attacking livestock this winter, threatening not just animals but also students traveling alone… Senior Yuan disappeared while escorting the Gao brothers back to their village!”

With a teacher present, the Gao brothers wouldn’t act impulsively.

The plan was to escort the Gao brothers back to their village, discuss the wolf situation with the villagers, and if it was too late to return to school, stay in the village. The locals deeply respected Yuan Yujun, and she would receive warm hospitality in any village she visited.

The only issue was the vast, sparsely populated nature of the Northwest, where people traditionally lived scattered near water sources. The distance between villages varied greatly.

The primary school where Yuan Yujun taught was dozens of li away from this village, requiring crossing a stretch of desert. Yuan Yujun and the Gao brothers had disappeared in that desert.

Neither Kang Wei nor Shao Guangrong had experienced walking dozens of li to attend school.

But their lack of experience couldn’t deny such situations existed.

They couldn’t deny it even if they wanted to – they were staying in this very village right now!

Kang Wei’s questions were all answered.

“We found a blood-stained hat in the desert. After examination, it was confirmed to be Teacher Yuan’s.”

Hearing this, Xia Xiaolan looked worriedly at Kang Wei, who indeed seemed unsteady. Shao Guangrong supported him, saying, “The hat doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad. Don’t think the worst – it could be a marker Yuan deliberately left behind. Yuan’s quite clever, isn’t she?”

Everyone agreed with Shao Guangrong about Yuan Yujun’s intelligence.

The villagers’ representative practically regarded Yuan Yujun as omniscient. The school’s enrollment had increased after she became a volunteer teacher because her knowledge over these two years had earned the villagers’ reverence.

Were all university students as capable as Teacher Yuan?

They couldn’t be sure.

But without education, generations would remain ignorant.

“Teacher Yuan is truly amazing. She knows how to build houses efficiently, using less stone.”

“Teacher Yuan even knows where to dig wells, and she’s helped us dig many good water wells!”

That’s why when Yuan Yujun went missing, everyone voluntarily joined the search. The village representative’s tears fell steadily – no one wanted anything to happen to Teacher Yuan.

Gu Zhengqing added:

“This Yuan is truly remarkable. Her knowledge of building houses and digging wells barely relates to her professional expertise – that’s nothing special. These villagers aren’t mentioning the key point. The Northwest isn’t suitable for grain farming. Yuan Yujun spent a year investigating and visiting various places, then wrote to the county and city governments about developing medicinal herb cultivation. Though the desert is barren, it produces excellent quality herbs, mostly wild-grown with little cultivation. It wasn’t systematic before, but under Yuan Yujun’s leadership, they’ve established pilot bases for medicinal herb cultivation…”

Gu Zhengqing didn’t care whose ex-girlfriend Yuan Yujun was.

He cared about Yuan Yujun as a person.

The ‘Young Eagle Taking Flight’ program would only be meaningful with more volunteer university students like Yuan Yujun.

Yuan Yujun hadn’t yet submitted her end-of-service report, but the county had already sent reports to the program’s management team. They needed talent like her, not just for teaching primary school students, but hoping she would take a position in the county or even city government!

Shao Guangrong was stunned.

Kang’s ex-girlfriend was truly impressive!

Though just a volunteer teacher, she had accomplished more than those officials who came to the grassroots for career advancement.

How could the local government bear to let such talent go?

Would Kang also come to the Northwest to brave the wind and sand?

Shao Guangrong asked himself if he would be willing to give up Beijing’s comfort and ease to eat sand in the Northwest for Little You… he thought he would, but Little You never gave him the chance.

Xia Xiaolan also found Yuan Yujun impressive.

Huaqing’s Civil Engineering and Architecture departments had constantly merged and split. Yuan Yujun studied Civil Engineering, so building houses wasn’t surprising, but finding wells was remarkable. How did Yuan Yujun determine where to find groundwater?

Xia Xiaolan certainly couldn’t do it.

Her professional knowledge only covered handling foundations for different geological conditions!

Kang Wei’s feelings were even more complex.

Was this the life Yuan Yujun pursued?

She hadn’t wasted any time, working steadily to realize her dreams – Kang Wei felt both worried and proud. This was the woman he had loved and still couldn’t forget. She might not have loved him enough, but she had a great love for humanity!

She was so special, so excellent, so worthy of his pride.

Kang Wei spoke hoarsely:

“It’s fine if they want her to stay in the Northwest, but first we need to find her safely. What’s the current plan?”

Kang Wei had calmed down, and Xia Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief.

“Captain Xing is in charge of the search here. I’ll let him explain to you!”