Learning to make the best of it

"Reading brings me more than good grades. It can also nurture critical thinking or give birth to a new way of solving problems," he says.

"It's a rewarding experience. For example, I've been motivated by the fate of Julien Sorel, the protagonist of the novel The Red and the Black by French writer Stendhal, and the protagonist Lucien Chardon in the novel Lost Illusions by French writer Honore de Balzac. Although they failed to achieve what they had set out to do, there is still a precious lesson we learn from their persistence."

This new habit of reading did not wane, even when the libraries and bookstores reopened in April. Delighted at being able to finally leave his home, Cao headed to a library where he borrowed several books.

Cao, who aspires to be a Chinese teacher after his studies, believes that his love for reading will be useful when he pursues a master's degree in modern and contemporary literature at Fudan in the next three years.

"I'll improve my professional skills to teach my students how to understand humanity, nature and the community, in the same way my Chinese teacher at school imparted knowledge beyond the textbooks," he says.

Liu Jiaxing, a final year undergraduate from the computer science school at Fudan, used his time away from campus to help the Shanghai government design a mask-distribution management system.