'Making profit is a side product'

Customers queue in front of the fourth N.F.T restaurant on its opening day, April 11, 2015, in downtown Beijing. [Photo/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"You can disagree with them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them. That's the philosophy of my life", said 25-year-old Zhang Tianyi, CEO of restaurant chain Fu Niu Tang (F.N.T), as the sound of a famous Apple advertisement video "Here's to the crazy ones" drew to a close on his phone.

As the Apple video advocates, Zhang is a young businessman who "thinks different".

Zhang, a post-90s postgraduate of Peking University, settled in a high-rise office building in Beijing's CBD by becoming a restaurant owner rather than a white-collar worker like most of his classmates.

He opened the first F.N.T restaurant specializing in rice noodles from his home province of Hunan in April last year, two months before graduation. Now, he has his fourth restaurant newly opened in the capital.

"Stepping into society from school means you are forced to be changed by a set of strong rules. I regard startups as a way against the rules. I hope I can innovate," he said, sitting in the corner of his small but well-organized restaurant.

With the Internet applied to the catering industry, he found an innovative way of developing business by drawing benefits from numerous and active online fans.

"My thinking is to build a platform to connect people," Zhang said with his upper body leaning forward and an intense look into your reporter's eyes.