But physical suffering was only a part of the ordeal. For financial reasons, Zhao's parents had to return home to Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, for work, while Zhao stayed at the hospital in Beijing, which meant he had no one to talk to and had to deal with all the pressure and his emotions alone, as he underwent his arduous treatment.

"It seemed I was the only one suffering, overwhelmed by the pain of the world," he said. "I felt I had nothing and it seemed so unfair."

After two years, Zhao was finally able to return to school. He could walk normally again and even got to host another ceremony at his new high school. For a time, it almost looked as if everything would be fine.

Walking down the stairs one day, however, Zhao fell over. It turned out that the situation had deteriorated and the doctor offered him two options: one of them was out of the question because it was not only risky, but very expensive, and the other one was to amputate his left leg.

The second option seemed to be the obvious and more sensible choice at the time. And to his own surprise, Zhao made his decision very calmly. "I knew things could not be worse," he said. "I was determined that this was just one more battle I would win."

Just like that, Zhao felt that he had hit rock bottom and there was only one way he could go, and that was upward.

The future that he thought had been "wiped out" appeared in front of him again. He worked hard in the last year of high school to prepare for the college entrance examination and was enrolled in Northwest Normal University in 2020, majoring in the art of broadcasting and hosting, something he had always loved.

"I am back to those days when, again, I have dreams to fulfill," Zhao said.

He participates in various activities, with the most recent ones being the China Mobile Cup English Star Contest in March for the now-postponed 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, as well as the 9th Future Golden Microphone Host Contest in August. In both competitions, Zhao made it to the final round and was named one of the top 10 national winners. And in the "21st Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition this month, his story inspired millions.

Zhao said that he took part in these activities in a bid to chase his dream of being a broadcasting host.

A lot of the time, he says, he can't help but think about what his life would have been like if he hadn't got this terrible disease and whether he would have already achieved a lot more than he currently has. But he doesn't dwell on such hypothetical scenarios.