Chapter 702 The Most Familiar Stranger

"Oh, do you want to hear my inspirational story of becoming a professional cartoonist?"

"Well, kind of, but to be more precise, how did you go from being a taxi driver to a cartoonist?"

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

"In "Shonen Jump"?"

"Yes."

p", you serialized "One Piece" in Japanese?"

"Well, the magazine saw my potential and gave me a Japanese translator." Qi Yu seemed to be answering this question for the first time.

"Or you plagiarized a popular comic that was supposed to be published by Eiichiro Oda in 1997 a year in advance." Ma Youyou said.

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

He didn't even cover it up, which surprised Ma Lu and Ma Youyou.

Ma Lu said, "So "One Piece" was really not drawn by you, are you a time traveler?"

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

"This is what we should ask you. How did you go to 1996 and rewrite history?"

"I didn't go to 1996, nor did I rewrite history. Wait, do you think I can travel back to the past?"

"Really?"

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

"Then how did you become a cartoonist?"

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

"When I opened my eyes again, everyone on TV, Baidu, Douyin and other platforms started saying that I was a cartoonist.

"They 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 read the former ones?"

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

"That's not true."

"Don't look at me like this, I actually liked comics when I was a child, and I always dreamed of becoming a cartoonist, but later my parents found out and took away all the comic books, but even so, I would save money from my meal money to go to the bookstore to rent comic books.

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

"Then why did you drive a taxi?"

"Hey, it's because my parents think drawing comics is not a proper job, and when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, I confidently submitted several magazines, but none of them responded, and even I was not selected for the class blackboard newspaper.

"That incident was a big blow to me, and I never drew again."

"Well, your competitiveness is indeed a bit..."

"No, you can't blame me for the blackboard newspaper. The girl who competed with me was the niece of the vice-principal, so the teacher asked her to draw.

"But I only found out about it at a class reunion later. Everyone said that I drew better, but I had graduated from technical school at that time.

"I went to work in a canning factory, but it didn't take long for the canning factory to go bankrupt. Later, my father used his connections to let me work 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 milk powder, so it was even more impossible for me to draw comics. "

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

"Alas, 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 Baidu Encyclopedia says.

"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 wall of the living room. My wife was still my wife in the photo, but my position had become a man I didn't know 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 obviously my house. I paid the down payment with my hard-earned money, and then I had been paying off the loan, but suddenly it had nothing to do with me."

"After that, my daughter and wife were still very terrified, saying that the man was coming back and asked me to leave quickly."

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"I thought they were bullied by that guy, so I wanted to stand up for them, but it turned out that the person they were afraid of was actually me. They said I broke into a private house and said they would call the police to arrest me."

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

"Before leaving, I found out the man's name and his work unit. I went there at night to pick up a few passengers from their company. I 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 can't figure out why my wife and daughter have no impression of me at all."

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

“I also looked at your Baidu Encyclopedia. From 1996 to now, in the past 28 years, you have created a total of 7 works.

“It doesn’t seem to be much in terms of quantity, but considering that there are super long works such as "One Piece" and "Naruto", and they are serialized at the same time, even for comic 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 to fall in love, let alone start a family."

"But the problem is that I don't draw comics. I've been driving a taxi for these years. Ah, it's not that I haven't drawn at all. I just drew 17 pages, mainly because Editor Qiu's words touched me."

"She said that comics are now being impacted by short videos, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for comic authors to survive. I thought of the taxi industry. After Didi came out, it was also beaten back by online ride-hailing. I immediately realized their difficulties."

Qi Yu said, "Then I drew that fan fiction on a whim, but to be honest, I didn't have any confidence in my heart. I haven't drawn comics for more than 30 years. My current drawing skills are not as good as when I was in elementary school. Is it really okay to publish that kind of thing?"

"I think it's not bad, although the drawing skills are a bit worse." Ma Lu said, "But it's quite interesting, but the perspective is very middle-aged."

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

"I told you I didn't know anything about this." Qi Yu said in distress, "It was like this when I opened my eyes. I said I wasn't, but everyone said I was.

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