The next day at school, Xiaobao suddenly remembered what her father had told her the previous night. If she didn't study hard, she might starve to death in the future. She trotted over to her teacher and asked with a mix of confusion and apprehension, "Teacher, is studying really important?"
The teacher answered with a smile, "Of course. Studying is a very important thing. There are many things we can only learn about by reading."
Xiaobao furrowed her little brow. "Could you starve to death if you don't study?"
Mentioning something as serious as death to a child required a delicate approach, so the teacher changed her tack. "Sort of. If you don't study hard, you'll find it difficult to get a good job later on. For an adult, that means losing out on a lot of important opportunities, like better career prospects, earning more money, and so on. Of course, studying isn't just about that. It's also about enriching yourself. You can learn so much from books."
