Beggar accidentally found his family thanks to knowing English

According toSCMP, 51-year-old Chen Fei has been a vagrant in the industrial city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province for more than two decades. About 30 years ago, Chen Fei graduated from Central China Normal University, Hubei Province.

Chen Fei was one of the first people from his village, a remote village in Huangmei County, Hubei, to attend college. After graduating, he worked in the library of a university in Hubei.

In 1996, Chen Fei quit his job as a librarian and moved to Fujian Province, where he lost contact with his family. It was not until six years later, when he moved to Dongguan, that Chen Fei contacted a cousin to let him know that he was still alive.SCMPdid not elaborate on why Chen Fei had cut off contact with his family for so many years. Meanwhile, Chen's family thought he was dead when they had not heard from him for a long time. "For about six years (2002-2008), Chen Fei did not contact us and we all thought he had an accident and died," said Chen Ming, Chen Fei's younger brother.

In 2008, Chen Ming tried to call Chen Fei and was surprised to hear his brother's voice. However, instead of being eager to see each other again like his brother, Chen Fei hung up after just a few words of greeting. The communication between Chen Fei and his family was interrupted for the second time.

Their reunion would not have happened if it weren't for Zhang Zhiwei, a volunteer for a charity that helps homeless people. Last May, Zhang came across Chen Fei, who was living under a bridge and writing beautiful calligraphy.

"I saw him writing with chopsticks on a scrap of paper," Zhang recalled. "His handwriting was neat and beautiful. He could even write in English."

In the end, Zhang, with the help of the police, helped Chen Fei find his way back to his family.In their old age, the Chen brothers reunited and both felt nothing could be happier. Chen Ming said of his brother's return: "I saw my brother was very happy when we returned home together. He even hummed a happy tune this morning."