After wandering in Brooklyn, New York for many years, Sun Dong (pseudonym), a Chinese doctor studying in the United States, was "seen" by all parties at the beginning of the 2024 New Year through several short videos.
In the aforementioned video, 54-year-old Sun Dong is wrapped in several layers of dusty thick clothes, and his face is red from the cold.
Screenshot of the video
He said that he studied Xi at Fudan University, and later studied in the United States for a master's degree and a doctorate in physics, and he was engaged in software development on Wall Street, had a marriage, and was already a U.S. citizen. In the video, he claims to be "confused by lonely fantasies" and has been wandering since 2007, buying breakfast in the morning and going to the park to rest, picking up clothes and quilts left by people around the neighborhood every week, and spending the night in the subway station when the weather is too cold.
Across the Pacific Ocean, Sun Shang from Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, "didn't dare to recognize the video circulating on the Internet, but later confirmed that it was him after seeing it clearly, and couldn't help but shed tears."
The last time Sun Shang saw his cousin Sun Dong was more than 30 years ago. That year, 19-year-old Sun Dong was about to be sent to study abroad in the United States, "Murakami gave candy to every family", and Sun Shang, who was 18 years old at the time, happened to learn tailoring skills in a textile factory, so he used fashionable "really good" fabrics to make a few sets of clothes for his cousin from the inside out.
In his impression, his cousin is introverted, very good at reading and playing chess, "the kind of person who likes to do research quietly".
Sun Shang told The Paper that in the first few years of his trip to the United States, Sun Dong also contacted his family, but the later contact was sparse, about 20 years ago, his father died, he did not return to China for funeral, and his mother is now sick in bed.
Sun Shang wanted to know what had happened after so many years for his cousin to wander on the streets.
Last summer, Zhu Feng, a Chinese in the United States, met Sun Dong for the first time on Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, "I didn't know that he was Chinese at the time, but I just said hello in simple English, left him some food and left." ”
On New Year's Day this year, Zhu Feng met Sun Dong again in the same place, greeted him in English, and then asked him where he was from, only to know that he was from China. Zhu Feng felt cordial and asked curiously, "Fellow, why are you wandering?" The two chatted, and Sun Dong talked about the above experience.
Screenshot of the video
Zhu Feng said that he wanted to help him, so he found his friend Wang Weizhao - Wang Weizhao became the first person to shoot and post the video, which then attracted huge attention.
On January 5, the liaison of the Fudan University American Alumni Association (New York) told The Paper that Sun Dong's identity had been verified and that he was indeed an alumnus of Fudan University.
On January 6, the WeChat official account of the "Fudan American Alumni Association" announced that Fudan alumni initiated the establishment of the Sun Alumni Help Group, and there are more than 200 people. The main person in charge of the city government of Alumnus Sun's hometown also contacted the volunteer group. At present, several Fudan alumni and fellow villagers in New York have visited Alumni Sun and asked him to move into a temporary residence.
On January 7, the Fudan American Alumni Association commissioned Wang Weizhao to release a self-described video of Sun Dong, "I have experienced some life changes over the years, which have put my life in a difficult situation, and I am very grateful to all the friends who care and help me, so that I can regain my strength and start my new life." In the camera, Sun Dong has been freshened up, changed into clean new clothes, and moved into a temporary resettlement site.
Wang Weizhao told The Paper that Sun Dong said his wish was to return to a normal life.
On January 8, Beijing time, the liaison of the Fudan University American Alumni Association (New York) told The Paper in an email that they are connecting alumni Sun with medical help and long-term residence, and the latest progress will be disclosed to the public.
[The following is the dialogue between The Paper and Wang Weizhao]
The Paper: How did you notice Sun Dong at that time?
Wang Weizhao: Zhu Feng knew that I was doing self-media, and that day he called me and said that there was a high-achieving student who graduated from Fudan University who was wandering near his stall, and he said it was quite pitiful, and asked me if it was possible to help him. Because I was also bankrupt in the education industry, I wasn't much sure how I could help him.
I also said that I have been tepid in self-media, so I can only try to shoot a video of him first. If this video can be popular, then we will start a live broadcast next, and if there is income, it may be able to help him solve the problem of food and clothing, which is our common idea at that time. But I didn't expect it to be so popular at all.
The Paper: How long did it take for you to meet him after a friend mentioned him to you?
Wang Weizhao: On the afternoon of that day (January 1), a friend called me and said that the person had come over again and asked me to go. I'll just go straight to it. After I went, I had a brief communication with Dr. Sun, and I didn't know anything about him except that he graduated from Fudan University. Later, all his information was picked up on the Internet.
He still has a lot of "explosive points", such as a graduate of Fudan University, a doctor of physics, a Chinese in the United States, and a homeless man, and the image contrast is quite large. When I first met Dr. Sun, he looked quite normal and not aggressive. He usually wanders mainly on Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn, because it is a Chinese community. After a brief communication with him, I set up two scenes, one is our encounter outdoors, and the other is chatting in the restaurant.
The Paper: What did you think after meeting him?
Wang Weizhao: At that time, I thought about interviewing him first, regardless of whether I could help him later, I thought he was willing to cooperate, so I thought that at least I would help him solve the problem of eating first. For the first meal, I took him to a Chinese restaurant and ordered a box lunch with four dishes and one soup. The price of the lunch box was 8 yuan 5 (US dollars), but I gave 10 yuan that day, which was a little tip, because I was worried that the boss would not let us do the interview there, after all, we were homeless, and I was afraid of affecting the other guests to eat, but the boss not only let us do it, but also gave Dr. Sun a lot of cookies or something for free.
The Paper: How long did you talk to him that day, and how was he at that time?
Wang Weizhao: I talked to him for about two hours that day. In fact, when we chatted, I felt that he was not in a good mental state. Communicating with him face-to-face, I can still feel that he is different from normal people. My video was shot for about 40 minutes, and then edited into a video of less than 4 minutes, otherwise it would be too long for the audience to have the patience to watch.
In the full 40-minute video, he says the same thing no less than three or four times — when I tell him that you're going back to your normal work and life, he repeats, "I'll think about it when I take a little more break." "I wanted to ask him, you've been resting for sixteen years, how long are you going to rest?"
But he's still in good shape overall, and I believe what he says. Frankly, his eyes are pure. But he himself told me that he was hallucinating, so there was a chance that he would say something wrong. However, it turned out that he did not make up the content subjectively, and there may have been some times when he remembered it less accurately.
The Paper: Did you talk about why he became a wanderer?
Wang Weizhao: I talked to him about why he came to the point of wandering. He said that it was mainly because he had hallucinations and could not distinguish between reality and the imaginary world.
Later, netizens picked up some rumors about him, but I didn't confirm it with him, because I felt that he already had mental problems, and mentioning these things again would definitely be a stimulus for him. He said that the local church had provided him with help in the past, including providing him with accommodation and giving him two to three hundred yuan a month. He would also spend the night in an Internet café, perhaps for five dollars, and would sit or sleep on his stomach.
The Paper: What is your biggest feeling when chatting with him?
Wang Weizhao: What impressed me the most was his experience. When he took out his resume, he was top-notch in any country, but he became a homeless man who was worried about food and clothing. At that moment, I felt like the heavens were tricky.
The Paper: Did the video help him after it was released?
Wang Weizhao: On the second or third day after the video was released, people from the Fudan Alumni Association contacted me and wanted to help. I gave them all the information such as the location, and then they found Dr. Sun. Our intention was to try to improve him, but (for some reason) we didn't do it, but the Fudan Alumni Association did it well.
The video he took today (January 7) (cutting his hair and changing his clothes) was taken by the Fudan Alumni Association and sent to me for me to post. Now that they have solved Dr. Sun's temporary accommodation problem, the next step is to solve his long-term accommodation problem.
The Paper: Have you seen Sun Dong again in the past two days?
Wang Weizhao: No. I have not been involved in the takeover of the Fudan Alumni Association, but I am willing to follow up on this matter if it is convenient. I don't know if Dr. Sun wants to return to China, but he said that his greatest wish is to return to a normal life, to work hard and live a decent life.
(In order to protect privacy, Sun Dong and Sun Shang are pseudonyms in the article)