My girlfriend is Saiki Kusunoki

This is a prestigious list from Japan, and almost every work on it is a household name.

Only by making it onto this list can "Bloodline" truly be accepted by the public.

Although judging from its current popularity, it should be no problem for it to make it to the top, Naoto still couldn't help but start to be curious.

How far can my work ultimately go?

"Really? ONE-sensei's work was a great success? Yes, I already know."

At this moment, in Eiji Niizuma's studio, Eiji Niizuma already knew that the vampire clan's sales had exceeded 100,000 in a single day.

If an ordinary person knew that their rival had achieved such great success, they would probably feel jealous, angry, annoyed, or even want to kill that person.

But Eiji Niizuma is different. As a eccentric and genius manga artist, Eiji Niizuma naturally wouldn't have those kinds of feelings for Naoto.

On the contrary, he felt a strong sense of pride at that moment.

"As expected of ONE-sensei, he unleashed such a powerful move right from the start. This makes me so excited!"

For Eiji Niizuma, the vampires' great success was just the first move Naoto threw at him.

If I can't even withstand this move, then I don't deserve to be called a Naoto's opponent.

The mere sales figure of 100,000 copies in a single day was not enough to instill fear in Eiji Niizuma. On the contrary, this pressure made him feel valued.

"100,000 copies in a single day? Alright then, since ONE-sensei thinks so highly of me, I'll give it my all, no, I'll give it my all!"

With that, Eiji Niizuma tore all the drawings he had just finished into pieces.

In his view, any comic that can't beat Naoto is just a pile of waste paper.

"ONE-sensei, just you wait, I'll definitely catch up, and then I'll show you what I'm capable of!"

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Dismal Popularity of Zhuyue Tower

"Merry! Give me some Mapo Tofu, the super spicy kind!"

One weekend, Naoto took Nanko out to eat again.

The place for dinner was still the same Zhuyuelou restaurant that Zhiren could never forget.

At this moment, only Naoto and Nanko were customers in the shop, making it seem rather deserted.

Compared to the restaurants outside that are always packed, Zhuyuelou seems a bit out of place.

After Naoto and Nanko ordered, Mei quickly came over with a super spicy Mapo Tofu.

This classic Sichuan dish, Mapo Tofu, is served with the hottest ghost peppers, as described by Chef Liu here. Just looking at it makes your scalp tingle. To be honest, even straight people wouldn't dare to eat Mapo Tofu this spicy before.

The white steam rising from the dish was so enticing that just smelling it made you want to sneeze.

"Um, Nanzi, are you sure you want to eat this kind of thing?"

"Well, this will do."

This is a food that even straight people are afraid of, but Nanko has no fear at all. On the contrary, Nanko is very interested in this extremely stimulating food.

Ever since Naoto brought Nanko to this restaurant for a meal, Nanko seems to have developed a liking for the more stimulating foods here.

Perhaps this is the difference between superpowered individuals and ordinary people. Well, at least he's not as obsessively infatuated with fish roe as some superpowered daughter.

At this moment, Nanzi used a spoon to scoop up a large piece of bright red, broken tofu, and then, to Naoto's horrified gaze, put it into her mouth.

Just when Naoto thought Nanko would feel ruthless and offered her a glass of milk, Nanko showed a happy smile.

Clearly, this Mapo Tofu suits Nanzi's taste perfectly.

"Ah, that's wonderful."

Just then, Meili sat down on a chair to the side, looking at Nanzi with a happy smile, but instead began to sigh.

"Merry, what happened? I feel like neither of you two have been in a good mood lately."

Seeing that Mei looked worried, Naoto kindly asked about the two of them.

Recently, Zhi Ren, a regular customer, has naturally become familiar with Mei Li and Boss Liu.

We now have some idea why the two of them came to the Neon Kai Restaurant.

It is said that Mei Li and Boss Liu were childhood sweethearts. Boss Liu's father and mother were both head chefs of famous restaurants in the Sichuan and Chongqing area. At a young age, he became one of the top chefs of his generation.

However, due to his youthful ambition, Mr. Liu was no longer satisfied with being proficient only in Sichuan cuisine, and subsequently began to learn other dishes.

Having heard that foreigners were not very familiar with Chinese cuisine, and with the idea of ​​spreading food culture, he brought Meili to Japan, intending to start a new chapter here.

When Naoto heard their story, he thought it was the plot of some urban fantasy novel.

A genius chef, accompanied by his childhood sweetheart, travels the world, intending to spread the story of Chinese cuisine.

Unfortunately, the two encountered a setback as soon as they arrived.

The current state of this restaurant is enough to tell you the truth.

In fact, from a straight person's perspective, the biggest problem with Zhuyuelou is its layout and popularity.

The food and other fare would be more than enough for a straight person, but for Mei Li and Boss Liu, the language barrier was a big problem.

For someone like Meili, who barely speaks Japanese, it takes her ages to understand what the other person wants to order. How can she expect regular customers to keep coming back?

And most importantly, Japan today is not like the era when Naoto (a Japanese writer and writer) was, when Chinese cuisine had become popular.

Traditional Chinese cuisine is not very popular in Japan these days.

"Sigh, I guess Ah Xing will go back when he understands the difficulties here. Honestly, I don't know what he's doing all day long."

Mei Li was full of complaints about Chef Liu, who was still researching Japanese cuisine in the kitchen.

They were doing just fine in China, so what's gotten into them that they decided to open a restaurant here?

"Naoto, is there any way to help them? Miss Meryl and the others seem to be very troubled."

At this moment, Nanko, noticing that Meili was looking dejected, quietly asked Naoto a question.

Although Nanzi usually seems unapproachable, he is actually incredibly kind-hearted.

He would kindly help not only close friends, but even strangers.

"Please help me with this..."

How exactly can the catering industry help? They can't help with advertising or anything like that.

Besides, even if Nanzi used superpowers, it's impossible for her to attract a large number of customers directly, right?

What is he supposed to do about this?

"Wait a minute, are we going to advertise?"

At that moment, Naoto suddenly thought of something, glanced at Meryl, then at the boss who was cooking, and a spark flashed in his mind.

"Naoto, what's wrong?"

Looking at Naoto's cat-like eyes, Nanzi suddenly had a strange feeling: what kind of crazy idea is this guy up to now?

"Come here, Mary! Come here for a second!"

"Naoto, is there anything I can help you with? Would you like to order anything else?"

After seeing Naoto call her, Nanko temporarily put aside her displeasure and began to get into work mode.

"Ahem, well, I have a free advertisement here, would you like to give it a try?"

"Free publicity?"

Mei Li was a little confused at this point. What exactly was this so-called free publicity?

Chef Liu, who had noticed their conversation, also cast a curious glance. What on earth was Naoto thinking?

"Oh, I forgot to mention, actually I'm a cartoonist, and I'm currently looking for inspiration. If you allow me, I could draw this shop into my comics. Although I can't guarantee that it will improve the business here, at least it would let people know that such a shop exists."

"A cartoonist? You..."

Upon hearing Naoto claim to be a manga artist, Merry couldn't help but look at him with suspicion, after all, Naoto looked far too young.

"Don't underestimate me. I'm currently the number one manga artist on JUMP's popularity chart. Tell me, do you want me or not!"

"If this were free, we would definitely take it. But let's make it clear first, we won't pay you afterwards."

"Of course, am I that kind of person? As long as it works, just treat me to a nice meal."

"Deal! Then I'll leave it to you, Naoto!"

After seeing the two reach an agreement, Chef Liu, who had been hiding in the back, couldn't help but show a puzzled expression. If he remembered correctly, wasn't he the owner of this restaurant?

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Beginning of Cooking Master Boy

After agreeing with Mei and the others, Naoto immediately took Nanako home.

After returning home, Naoto didn't care about anything else and immediately started drawing comics.

To promote Zhuyuelou, it's natural to draw a food comic. There are many well-known food comics in the world today.

The classic tale of the Medicine King and the enduringly popular Solitary Gourmet are both excellent sources of inspiration.

However, Naoto chose to give up on both of the above.

To be fair, it's not that these two are bad-looking, but rather that they don't suit the style of straight people.

To put it simply, Food Wars! is amazing, but its art style is just too lewd. You could say that most people who read the manga aren't really there for the food. This is completely contrary to Naoto's original intention in creating the manga.

The Solitary Gourmet is a great show, especially the TV series, which is incredibly popular on certain TV channels. Each episode has over 30 million views, and the uncle's signature emojis and memes have become viral across the internet. Almost everyone knows this show.

However, Naoto had read the original manga back then, and putting aside the fact that the feeling was completely different from the TV series, the sense of loneliness it conveyed was something Naoto couldn't understand. After all, he's not single anymore. Besides, Naoto was recommending Chinese food, so why draw a "Solitary Gourmet"?

Therefore, Naoto set his sights on another manga.

That is, the anime that was a childhood memory for those born in the 00s – Chinese RPG.

Its boundless imagination and creativity have remained undiminished over the years.

Almost every fan fiction about food struggles to overcome this hurdle.

Dishes like the "Five-in-One Mapo Tofu" and "Comet Fried Rice" have been played with for who knows how long but haven't gotten tired of them yet.

Drawing this comic would indeed be quite challenging.