Against the backdrop of rural revitalization and China TVET system reforms, this qualitative case study explores how emotional intelligence (EI) shapes career readiness among three rural students from Longnan Vocational and Technical College during mandatory quasi-employment internships, with supplementary insights from one supervisor. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, student reflection notes, and institutional documents between November 2025 and January 2026, then analysed through thematic analysis. Findings show that while students possessed basic self-awareness and strong intrinsic motivation, they lacked effective self-regulation, empathy, and social skills, and faced prominent emotional challenges (interpersonal tension, task pressure-induced anxiety, and student-to-employee identity confusion). EI was found to influence career readiness through three core pathways: emotional regulation boosting workplace adaptability, empathy fostering teamwork, and self-motivation enhancing career self-efficacy. Overall, EI acts as a dynamic, context-dependent resource that enables rural TVET students to convert emotionally demanding internship experiences into career readiness outcomes, providing key implications for rural TVET curriculum design, internship supervision, and policy formulation.