Chapter 73: Each Field Is a World Apart

At this point, Old Guo looked at his disciples and spoke solemnly, “If life always goes smoothly, it’s not necessarily a good thing. You know the saying: ‘A setback brings wisdom.’ That’s why it’s best to learn your lessons early.”

Everyone fell silent. Zhuang Chen felt deeply moved—he knew all too well the hardships of life. Seeing the heavy atmosphere, he joked, “So the old saying is true: ‘Only those who endure the hardest hardships can rise above others,’ isn’t it?”

He suddenly remembered something and asked, “Now that the De Yun Society is expanding like a conglomerate, with all sorts of businesses under its wing, I heard there’s a clothing factory—and isn’t there also Guo Family Cuisine?”

“You really know how to bring up the sore spots!” Yu Qian laughed loudly from the side, his face full of jest. “There’s another saying that’s even better: ‘Every craft has its master; switching trades is like crossing a mountain!’”

Seeing Zhuang Chen confused, Guo Degang answered awkwardly, “Well, we did open a restaurant, but it closed down last year.”

Zhuang Chen nodded and didn’t press further. In recent years, celebrities everywhere have been venturing into the restaurant business, opening establishments big and small. Most of them eventually shut down—very few manage to make a fortune.

For ordinary people, the main concern is whether prices are reasonable, whether the flavors are authentic, and whether working folks can afford to eat there.

Looking at various industries, the restaurant business remains a common choice for celebrities investing in side ventures. According to industry insiders, the reasons are nothing more than controllable investment costs, quick returns, and high rates of return.

Compared to the stock market or real estate, the entry bar for restaurants is low. With the celebrity owner’s halo effect, a restaurant draws plenty of attention on opening day, and later publicity costs are greatly reduced.

Besides making money, some celebrities gain additional benefits from investing in restaurants. For example, Gao Yuanyuan once revealed her love of Guizhou cuisine—she and two high school friends opened Peach Restaurant.

Deng Jiajia from Sichuan is a heavy addict of spicy hot pot. Wanting to eat authentic hot pot in Beijing, she simply opened her own—and it became a gathering spot for the cast of “Apartment of Love.”

Xie Na and Little S are both dessert enthusiasts, so they teamed up across the sea to open Miss Sweet Sugar at World Trade Plaza. Some celebrities run restaurants for fun—like Jay Chou, who is never short on money. In 2006 he operated Mr. J Italian-French Kitchen in Taipei; the business was poor, and he admitted he’s been losing money ever since.

Of course, the most successful has been Ren Quan. In interviews, he said the key to running a restaurant is personal involvement: from controlling the budget, choosing the location, purchasing materials, supervising construction, to tasting the dishes, he handled everything himself.

But for most celebrities, few personally manage their restaurant’s operations. The majority invest as shareholders, lend their name as “boss,” but do not oversee daily management.

Zhuang Chen had actually studied various celebrity restaurants—hotpot shops, home-style eateries, dumpling houses, dessert stores, Japanese cuisine, all kinds, usually targeting the general public.

Ren Quan once said he wanted his restaurant to be affordable for the working class, and Hot Spicy Number One followed a budget-friendly path. Each dish ranged from about twenty to forty yuan, with average spending per person around one hundred twenty.

There were exceptions, though. Meng Guangmei’s Hide-and-Seek and Dai Jun’s Porta 20—the former offers Italian and French cuisine, with all ingredients imported: oysters, scallops, Australian veal shank as signature dishes, high average prices, minimum spending per person three to four hundred yuan.

Porta 20 serves Spanish fare, most ingredients imported from Spain. Each dish costs one hundred to three hundred yuan, and average spending is about three hundred fifty.

Many celebrities like to open shops in Shanghai—the magic city: Hu Ge’s Fount Japanese cuisine, Ren Quan’s Fragrant World Hotpot, Han Han’s Glad to Meet You, Jay Chou and his good friend Liu Genghong’s coffee shop, Xue Zhiqian’s Shangsang Qian...

“Speaking of celebrity restaurants, it’s really not as glamorous as it looks!” Guo Degang said helplessly. “I’m on good terms with Meng Fei; we even opened a noodle shop together. A few years ago, Zhao Zhongxiang’s Three Lives Noodle Shop, Jiang Wu’s Wu Noodles, Zhang Jiajia’s Passing Through Your World—they all opened one after another.”

“There was also Mei Ting’s Spanish Rice Restaurant, Kou Shixun’s Bigger Than the Pot—at one point, a whole bunch of celebrities crowded into Nanjing to open restaurants. Business was good at first, but…”

“Once the hype faded, things got quiet. Last year, both branches of Three Lives Noodle Shop closed, even Meng Fei’s Four Small Noodle shops shut down, and Han Han’s flagship store closed for good.”

“I talked to Meng Fei. Four years ago, when business was booming, the cheapest bowl of noodles in the whole shop cost twenty-eight yuan. By last year, at the flagship store on the seventh floor of Central Mall, the menu was uniformly discounted: noodles dropped from twenty-eight to sixteen yuan, pea-pork noodles from thirty to twenty-two.”

“There’s also the hotpot place he co-owns with Huang Lei, Huang Liang Yi Meng—a plate of beef tripe was one hundred ninety-eight, wagyu three hundred ninety-eight, a single pot base two hundred twenty-eight. Before, average spending per person was over three hundred; during the New Year, they even launched a ninety-nine yuan buffet…”

Guo Degang shook his head. “What can you do? No one’s foolish; making money is tough!”

“I discussed it with Meng Fei: since it’s hard to make it here, we’ll go abroad.” Guo Degang lowered his voice. “Now, Meng Fei Noodles has three shops in Australia, and stores in the US and UK are set to open this year. In Australia, we plan to open ten shops.”

“Over there, the noodles are very popular—the customers are all white, and converted to yuan, each bowl costs about sixty. Foreign money is easier to earn.”

Zhuang Chen smiled and summed it up: professionals should do professional work. The food business is all about diligence and flavor; fulfilling public demand is the way to go.

Celebrity restaurants may cause a sensation at first, but if the brand is to thrive, proper management and follow-up service are essential. Many celebrities clearly lack professional knowledge and stamina in running a restaurant.

The common traits: exquisite décor, higher prices than similar places. Yet if customers find the taste doesn’t match their expectations, disappointment is inevitable.

Compared to other shops, when the value for money isn’t high, consumers return to rational choices—that’s one reason celebrity restaurants struggle to keep repeat customers.

In the food business, customers value taste and value above all. If you lack both, who cares who the boss is?

After finishing their meal, everyone left to rest at the hotel—they had rehearsals and show appearances the next morning. Zhuang Chen returned home, reflecting that celebrities don’t have it easy: beneath the glamorous surface, there’s no shortage of troubles.