Back in 2003, Agshin Aliyev was an undergraduate student from Azerbaijan, studying at Shanghai University. At a campus book fair, he bought a copy of The Analects for just a few yuan.

"At the time, I could not understand the book at all, but I made a promise to myself: one day, I'll be able to understand it, and even translate it into Azerbaijani," Aliyev says in his speech.

Two decades later, he is actually given the task of translating The Analects into Azerbaijani, his translated version being included in Foreign Languages Press's Library of Chinese Classics series.

Now serving as the head of the department of Azerbaijani language at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Aliyev says his entire life has been shaped by the books he read, from the Azerbaijani folk stories he read as a child, to Chinese and English literature classics.

A particularly serendipitous encounter also began with a single book. During his master's studies, he came across a pedagogical book on teaching Chinese grammar to non-Chinese learners.

When he was about to embark on his PhD, he plucked up the courage and reached out to the writer, professor Qi Huyang, which led to Qi taking him on as a student.

He now has a collection of nearly 3,000 books, each one marked with the date and place of his purchase. To him, books are like milestones in his life, recording his growth at every stage.

"The most magical thing about reading is that it's an evolving process. Some books are like seeds. At first, you may only grasp the words on the surface, but as your life experience deepens, they take root and begin to grow within you," he says.