‘Brother Sharp’ Reunited With Family & More Photoshops

Ten days ago, we reported about a beggar that netizens have begun calling “Brother Sharp” (or “Sharp Brother”) for his “sharp/penetrating” eyes and fashionable appearance. He became the hottest news on the Chinese internet. A few days ago, Brother Sharp was reunited with his family. Here is the update:

From Xinmin:

“Brother Sharp’s” real name Cheng Guorong, has two children, wife deceased

Yesterday (March 5) morning, this reporter received news that the relatives of the Ningbo street beggar “Brother Sharp”, that netizens have been following, have been found, and have already arrived in Ningbo while “Brother Sharp” has since already entered the Ningbo City mental hospital.

As it is understood, “Brother Sharp’s” real name is called Cheng Guorong, born 1976, and is from Poyang county of Jiangxi province. Yesterday rushing to reunite is his mother and younger brother. According to “Brother Sharp’s” younger brother Cheng Guosheng, “Brother Sharp” has two children attending school in his hometown, that his wife and father suffered a car accident last year and both have passed away.

After shaving his beard and changing out of his homeless clothes, “Brother Sharp” became a completely different person from the one netizens previously were familiar with. Cheng Guosheng said his older brother came to Ningbo in 2000 with others from his hometown to find work, had still been in contact with his family the past few years, but beginning in 2003, information from him had stopped. Family members have previously came to Ningbo to find him multiple times, with the most recent time being the year before last. That time, it was his uncle who came to Ningbo to find his nephew, but eventually found no information. Cheng Guosheng thinks his elder brother maybe did not earn much money and thus did not have the face to return home, but as to why he became homeless on the streets, he too is perplexed.

With regards to “Brother Sharp’s” psychiatric symptoms, doctors say there needs to be further medical observation. After “Brother Sharp”, there have again been people who have discovered “Brother Sprite” etc., while some netizens have called for not using beggars as entertainment.

In the video below, the media believes they have found Brother Sharp’s family. Brother Sharp’s possible mother and younger brother arrive in Ningbo after riding a bus for many hours. In Ningbo, they review some video of Brother Sharp to determine if they are sure it is her son and his older brother. The mother cries, wondering how her son had become this way. The younger brother says he is over 90% sure Brother Sharp is his elder brother, although after so many years, there is of course some change.

The man wearing the hat in much of the video with Brother Sharp is “Lao Can Mao”, the netizen who met Brother Sharp in 2008 and shared how Brother Sharp lives on the internet (see our previous post).

In the next video, the mother and brother go to meet Brother Sharp. A representative says that Brother Sharp’s condition was okay when the hospital admitted him, that they cleaned him up, changed his clothes, and that he was able to write his own name as well as his father’s name. When interviewed by reporters, his younger brother says that he had originally come to Ningbo with people from his hometown, later returned, but then came to Ningbo alone again. A doctor tells the media that Brother Sharp still has some mental problems. Brother Sharp’s younger brother answers more questions from the media, such as whether or not Brother Sharp recognized them, and also some stupid questions like whether his hair was cut and what he looks like now.

The last person in the video being interviewed is “Lao Can Mao” again who says he did not meet Brother Sharp yet, that he only saw him from a distance, that Brother Sharp did not see him, and that he just wanted to see the mother and younger brother. He jokes that Brother Sharp is now much cleaner and trusts that he should now be more handsome than before although he probably is no longer “Brother Sharp” because he no longer has the “sharp/penetrating” eyes or look. Finally, he says that the expenses will probably be paid by a relevant government department.

In this last video, we can see Brother Sharp himself, shaved and cleaned up. The host first shares that most netizens believe Brother Sharp should remain in the hospital for further observation but that the younger brother has told them that they feel staying would not be good for Brother Sharp and have already checked him out of the hospital. Brother Sharp is wearing the Puma hat.

There have been many Photoshops of Brother Sharp during this time. Here is a collection: