He received a master's degree in law from Peking University, and after graduation, he could have become a first-class lawyer, but he chose to sell rice noodles "without doing his job".
Dong Mingzhu scolded him for wasting the country's educational resources, saying that top students at Peking University should not sell rice noodles, and some people ridiculed his store for not opening for a long time.
So did he make the right choice, and how is his store doing now?
The statements in this article are based on reliable sources of information and are detailed at the end of the article
On the stage of CCTV
In 2014, on the stage of CCTV's "Young China Talk", Zhang Tianyi, a master's degree from the Law Department of Peking University, said that he had created a brand called "Funiutang" just after graduation to sell Hunan Changde beef rice noodles.
However, for Zhang Tianyi's choice, many people said that he was wasting resources, obviously with such a high degree and the university he studied in was the most famous in the country, but after graduation, he went to sell rice noodles, which is obviously overkill and not a serious job.
At the scene, Dong Mingzhu even said directly to Zhang Tianyi, you are wasting the country's resources. Some people even said that he felt that Zhang Tianyi's rice noodle shop would definitely not be open for a long time.
But Zhang Tianyi doesn't think so, he thinks that young people should make bold choices, and education and knowledge should not become a constraint in life.
Although many of the guests present did not believe that Zhang Tianyi's rice noodle shop would become bigger and stronger, Zhang Tianyi did not say anything, but walked off the stage with a smile.
So why did Zhang Tianyi choose to sell rice noodles?
Start a business and sell rice noodles
Zhang Tianyi was born in Changde, Hunan Province, and he was admitted to the law school of Beijing University of Foreign Chinese after graduation, and after graduation, he decided to continue his studies, and with his efforts, he was admitted to Peking University, and continued to study Xi law.
In school, Zhang Tianyi's performance and grades are also very good, in addition to the daily Xi, he also often participates in various activities, he also represented Peking University to participate in the Beijing University Students Speech Competition, and won the championship.
Zhang Tianyi is also very fond of literature and writing, and when he has free time, he will write some articles, and his articles have been published in some large magazines and newspapers.
Although he has a wide range of interests and hobbies, Zhang Tianyi, like many people, feels a little confused about the future.
Like his classmates, he has submitted a lot of resumes and received invitations from some companies, but Zhang Tianyi doesn't want to live the kind of life where he can see the end at a glance, he wants to do something he likes.
At this time, he thought of the rice noodles in his hometown, and there didn't seem to be a delicious rice noodle shop in Beijing, so could he open a rice noodle shop?
After thinking about it, Zhang Tianyi decided to give it a try, he found two friends, and told his friends his ideas, and the friends also felt that they could try it after listening to it, so they scraped together some money.
After graduating, Zhang Tianyi took 100,000 yuan and opened a small rice noodle shop in Beijing, named Funiutang, specializing in beef rice noodles in Changde, Hunan.
Zhang Tianyi got up at four or five o'clock every day, and then went to the store to work, several people were tired and didn't want to talk every day, but they didn't give up, but they were more determined to continue to work.
After that, their small shop business was also good, and several of the people who started the business were college students and master's students, so they also entered the training camp of Peking University for entrepreneurship, and then they went to participate in various activities and brought some investment to the small shop.
And not long after, they also got the attention of the media, many media interviewed Zhang Tianyi and others, and people were also very interested in their entrepreneurial stories.
Not long after, People's Daily and other media also reported on Zhang Tianyi's entrepreneurial story, but many people said they couldn't understand the choice of Zhang Tianyi and others.
Isn't it a waste of resources for them to give up these to sell rice noodles when they have a great future and the best education?
Get noticed
Some people said that Zhang Tianyi and others' choice is also a change in the employment outlook of college students, giving up the traditional thinking of finding a job, but choosing a way that suits them and starting their own business.
However, Zhang Tianyi and others did not care about so many opinions, but continued to insist on their choice, and then Zhang Tianyi also participated in programs such as "Everyday Upward", and received more and more attention.
With more and more attention, the business of Funiutang is getting better and better, and several of them are busy every day. After that, the business of several people also became bigger and bigger, and in a few years, dozens of chain stores were opened one after another.
Zhang Tianyi's company has grown from only a few people at the beginning to hundreds of people, and its market value has reached hundreds of millions of yuan.
In May 2015, Zhang Tianyi also talked with Premier Li Keqiang on Zhongguancun Chuangye Street in Beijing as a youth representative of the Peking University Entrepreneurship Camp.
The prime minister saw the word "Baman" printed on his clothes, and specially asked what these two words meant, Zhang Tianyi explained that "Baman" is the meaning of desperate San Lang in the Hunan dialect, so he used this word as the spirit of the entrepreneurial team.
At the same time, the prime minister also asked him about the content of entrepreneurship and encouraged Zhang Tianyi's Funiutang to do better and better.
Live streaming to sell goods
After that, Zhang Tianyi also tried to launch semi-finished rice noodles, and e-commerce became popular, so he also began to try to sell rice noodles on the e-commerce platform, but what he didn't expect was that the effect was really good.
However, in 2020, the epidemic suddenly broke out, and the business of the rice noodle shop became bad, and even more than 60 stores gradually closed down, and the store's income fell to the bottom in an instant, and the employees in the store had nothing to do, the income was not good, and the salary was about to be unable to open.
Zhang Tianyi quickly realized the seriousness of the matter, and he felt that he had to find another way to improve the current situation.
One day, as soon as Zhang Tianyi saw the anchor selling goods in the live broadcast, he instantly had an idea that he couldn't go to the store to eat, so could he also turn online sales into his main business?
So Zhang Tianyi decided to give it a try, and he divided the staff in the store into two groups, one group was responsible for supply, and the other group was responsible for live broadcasting, and after a few days of emergency training, they began to officially broadcast live.
In the course of a month, they conducted more than 1,000 live broadcasts, and when they finally counted it, they were surprised to find that the overall business had actually increased.
At the same time, Zhang Tianyi is also thinking that the chain catering industry may also undergo fundamental changes in the next few years, and it is no longer based on traditional stores, but combined with the times, at least with takeaway and e-commerce departments.
Although there are more and more online businesses, Zhang Tianyi has not given up continuing to open stores, and then Zhang Tianyi has successively opened more than 100 stores across the country.
As for the selection of raw materials, Zhang Tianyi is also very cautious, he found several rural cooperatives in his hometown, and reached a cooperation with them, so that local farmers can carry out targeted rice planting, and then Zhang Tianyi is carrying out targeted purchases.
In this way, this has also driven the development of the industry, and it can be regarded as a boost to the revitalization of the microblog countryside.
After that, Zhang Tianyi and others also began to build a factory, and they spent two years learning Xi construction, and in 2021, their factory was completed.
Among them, they are all automatic production lines and fully data-based management systems, and they will be officially put into operation in May 2022, and they have also made a lot of innovations in the process of rice noodles, so that the rice noodles can taste better.
Zhang Tianyi also used his practical actions to slap those who were not optimistic about him in the face, so that those people could see that their choices were not wrong, and they did not waste resources.
When a reporter interviewed Zhang Tianyi, he asked him what he thought was a success.
Zhang Tianyi said that I think finding the right place for yourself is success, maybe some people want to go to a high position, and in a high position is success, but Zhang Tianyi said that he wants to find a suitable position for himself, only on behalf of himself.
In fact, Zhang Tianyi's experience has also given people a lot of thoughts: Is it normal for a graduate of a prestigious school to enter a company or enterprise to work in a step-by-step manner? Isn't it possible for a master's degree from Peking University to sell rice noodles?
In fact, Zhang Tianyi's actions also give the answer, the criteria for success are not the same, so finding a way that suits you and doing what you like is actually sometimes a kind of success.
Resources
People's Daily Online - Zhang Tianyi, a master of Peking University who sells rice noodles: The post-90s generation is not afraid of hardship and boredom
China Youth Network - How a bowl of rice noodles goes from the dining table to the live broadcast room and the field
CCTV - Peking University graduated from CBD to sell rice noodles, and the post-90s LL.M. walked out of a different employment path
Changde Daily - Changde guy Zhang Tianyi did a live broadcast of "Double 11" and sold 100,000 copies of Changde rice noodles