Universe Infinite Canteen.

Chapter 702 The most familiar stranger
"Oh, do you want to hear my inspiring story of how I became a professional cartoonist?"

"Well, kind of, but it would be more accurate to say how you went from being a taxi driver to a cartoonist."

“Well, I drove a taxi for a while, but not for long, and then I started serializing One Piece.

"Is it on Shonen Jump?"

"Yes."

"In 96, Shonen Jump, you were serializing One Piece in Japanese?"

"Well, the magazine saw my potential and assigned me a Japanese translator." It seemed that this was not the first time Qi Yu answered this question.

"Or you plagiarized the popular manga that was supposed to be published by Eiichiro Oda in 97 a year in advance." Ma Youyou said.

Qi Yu was shocked when he heard this, "How did you know?"

He didn't even try to cover it up, which surprised Malu and Ma Youyou.

Malu said, "So One Piece really wasn't drawn by you. Are you a time traveler?"

"What is a time traveler?" The confusion on Qi Yu's face did not seem to be fake.

"This is what we should ask you, how did you get to 96 and rewrite history?"

"I didn't go to 96, nor did I rewrite history. Wait, do you think I can travel back in time?"

"Isn't it?"

"Of course not. How could someone go back in time? Isn't that a plot from novels and movies?"

"So how did you become a cartoonist?"

"I don't know either. About five days ago, I just finished a long-distance trip and sent a passenger to Langfang, then brought him back. After that, I found a place and took a nap for a while.

“When I opened my eyes again, on TV, Baidu, Tik Tok and other platforms, everyone started calling me a cartoonist.

"He also said that I drew One Piece, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, Under One Person, and Back Street Girls, especially the latter one, which I haven't even seen."

"Have you seen the previous one?"

"Of course," Qi Yu nodded, "Why, a taxi driver in his forties can't read comics?"

"That's not the case."

“Don’t look at me like this. I actually loved comics when I was a kid, and I always dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. But later my parents found out and took away all my comic books. But even so, I would save money from my food money to go to the bookstore to rent comic books.

"Oh, by the way, I also came up with the pen name Qi Yu at that time. I also copied from comic books and practiced my painting skills."

"Then why did you go to drive a taxi?"

“Hey, it’s because my parents think that drawing comics is not a serious job. In addition, when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, I confidently submitted my works to several magazines, but none of them responded. I was even rejected for the class newspaper.

"That incident was a huge blow to me, and I never painted again after that."

“Well, your competitiveness is indeed a bit…” “No, you can’t blame me for the blackboard newspaper issue. The girl competing with me is the vice-principal’s niece, and the teacher asked her to draw it.

“But I only found out about it later when I attended a class reunion. Everyone said I was the better painter, but by then I had already graduated from technical school.

"I went to work in a canning factory, but it closed down not long after. Later, my father used his connections to get me a job as a taxi driver in a taxi company.

"Then I met my wife, bought a house, got married, and two years later, my daughter was born. I had a mortgage and had to earn money for baby formula, so it was impossible for me to draw comics."

"You're married, but didn't you tell me before that you didn't have a wife?"

"Ah, how can I explain it to you? I really don't have a wife now." Qi Yu also looked distressed, "I don't know why I became single after becoming a cartoonist, anyway, that's what it says on Baidu Encyclopedia.

"I later returned to the house where I lived before and saw my wife and children there, but they acted as if they didn't know me at all, as if I was a stranger.

“I noticed our previous wedding photo on the living room wall. My wife was still my wife in the photo, but in my place was a man I didn’t recognize at all.

"I asked my wife what was going on, and she insisted that the man was her husband."

"I was stunned at the time because it was clearly my house. I used my hard-earned money to pay the down payment and then had been paying off the loan, but suddenly it had nothing to do with me anymore."

"Afterwards, my daughter and wife were very frightened and told me that the man was coming back and asked me to leave quickly."

"I thought they were being bullied by that guy, so I wanted to stand up for them, but I found out that the person they were afraid of was actually me. They accused me of trespassing and said they would call the police to arrest me."

"After that, they really called 110. I had no choice but to leave."

"Before leaving, I managed to get the man's name and his workplace. I went there at night to pick up a few passengers from his company and learned that the man was on a business trip somewhere else. This was a blessing in disguise.

"But he will come back sooner or later. I just can't understand why my wife and daughter have no impression of me at all."

Ma Youyou suddenly said, "I can probably guess some reasons.

"I also looked at your Baidu Encyclopedia, and from 96 to now, in the 28 years, you have created a total of 7 works.

“It may not seem like a lot in terms of quantity, but considering that there are long series like One Piece and Naruto, which are serialized at the same time, even for comic book authors whose labor intensity is comparable to that of black slaves, this workload is completely excessive.

"In this case, the author probably has no time for a romantic relationship, let alone starting a family."

"But the problem is that I haven't drawn comics. I've been driving a taxi all these years. Ah, it's not that I haven't drawn at all. I just drew 17 pages. It was mainly because I was moved by what Editor Qiu said."

"She said that comics are now facing a huge impact from short videos, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for comic authors to survive. I thought of the taxi industry, which was also beaten back by online ride-hailing services after Didi came out. I immediately understood their difficulties."

Qi Yu said, "Then I drew that fan fiction on impulse, but to be honest, I don't have any confidence. I haven't drawn comics for more than 30 years. My drawing skills are not as good as when I was in elementary school. Is it really okay to publish something like that?"

"I think it's pretty good, although the painting skills are a bit lacking." Ma Lu said, "But it's quite interesting, but the perspective is very middle-aged."

"So uncle, why did you suddenly become a cartoonist and turn other authors' comics into your own?" Ma Youyou asked again.

“I told you I don’t know anything about this.” Qi Yu said in distress, “It’s like this when I open my eyes. I say I’m not, but everyone says I am.

"Except for you, everyone insisted that I drew those comics. No matter how I explained, it was useless. In the end, I had no choice but to admit it."

(End of this chapter)