Chapter 50: The Manga Artist's Letter (Seeking Bookmarks and Monthly Votes)

Caffè Tazza d'Oro.

This is a coffee shop near the Pantheon, which serves croissants for breakfast.

Because the Pantheon is where the princess and the reporter first meet in Roman Holiday, these small shops all benefit from the association.

The food is decent, but certainly not as miraculous as tourists claim.

No matter how much they hype it up, it is still just a croissant.

Lu Deyang tossed the travel guide aside and muttered, "You can tell right away it was written by a female author. She equates food with romance from start to finish."

"At least this is the capital."

Mancini took a sip of his coffee and said.

Vialli held a newspaper and said, "Maradona and some others are commenting on you. Maradona says you are good, but that he is better."

"That is so Maradona."

Lu Deyang said indifferently.

Even if his idol Pelé were ranked ahead of him, he would still be unhappy.

King Lu did not have that kind of status yet.

"That Juventus player from last time also commented on you. He meant to say that losing the match wasn't Juventus's fault, but rather that you are simply too good at playing football," Vialli continued.

Lu Deyang took the newspaper, looked it over carefully, and finally remembered this Nicola Napoli.

During his playing days, there probably wasn't much to say; if he were truly a great player, he wouldn't lack fame, but his managerial career is practically a legend.

He served as the head coach of the Romanian club Universitatea Craiova nine times. By his seventh stint, the fans were already blocking him at the airport, telling him to get lost immediately and not to loaf around the club, yet somehow he still managed to coach them nine times.

Juventus truly lives up to its reputation as a giant club.

Even a random backup piece is extraordinary.

King Lu felt a slight sense of approval.

This guy was practically the god of corporate freeloading, able to return even after being fired so many times.

When he first heard this story, Lu Deyang was utterly dumbfounded.

The next time they played Juventus, he simply had to chat with him more.

He needed to learn some advanced corporate survival tactics; even though he hadn't retired yet, the man probably had quite a few insights regarding work.

"It also says here that Marion Ravenwood was spotted watching a match in Rome yesterday. She must be here on vacation; maybe she'll like me," said Mancini, who was also holding a newspaper.

He had always been fond of treasure hunting, espionage, and detective films.

"Then good luck to you,"

Lu Deyang said.

Truth be told, even back when he was young, Lu Deyang hadn't thought Karen Allen was particularly attractive, and by now her prime was probably long gone.

"Stars always pop up in Rome and Milan, but you see fewer of them in Genoa,"

Vialli said with a hint of regret. "I wonder when I'll ever get to meet Sylvester Stallone."

Stallone was extremely popular right now, as the craze for Rocky and First Blood had not yet faded.

"That guy doesn't look like an Italian at all. He's been completely assimilated by the Americans," Mancini complained.

"His mother is a French astrologer of Jewish descent," Lu Deyang said.

He had once read about it on an online forum.

"Ha!" Mancini said, holding his cup. "See? I told you that guy was no good—French, Jewish, divination... he probably even has Gypsy blood. I can't begin to imagine how terrible a person that makes him."

Vialli did not object.

Italians did not like the French, and they liked Jews and Gypsies even less.

The three of them sat there leisurely drinking coffee, mainly because the team bus wasn't scheduled to depart until past ten in the morning.

"Seriously, were you being serious when you invited that kid to play for Sampdoria?" Mancini asked.

"He is very talented,"

Lu Deyang said.

"I've never met a young punk who was so punchable," Mancini muttered.

"You really ought to look in the mirror more often,"

Vialli said with a smile.

Mancini realized what he meant, and the two of them started scuffling and joking around again.

Lu Deyang got up to pay the bill, and as he walked outside, he heard a roaring sound.

"Airplanes! There are actually two of them!!!" Vialli shouted excitedly. The three of them stood in their tracks, watching the planes leave trails in the sky.

Once the planes were out of sight, Mancini remarked, "Such a fuss over nothing. What's so rare about two airplanes?"

Hmph.

Lu Deyang smiled and shook his head.

Why don't you go ask your American daddies whether two airplanes are terrifying or not?

Once on the bus, quite a few players were still excited.

The momentum of yesterday's victory had not worn off yet.

Chiesa pulled out a CD player and began discussing something with Lanna.

Sony Walkmans were immensely popular worldwide, and Japanese products were truly in their golden age.

"When you have time, our two families should go out for a picnic. Paolo is very eager to discuss some things with you," Vierchowod said, turning around.

"Let's wait until after a match someday,"

Lu Deyang said.

The eldest young master of the Tsarist House of Sand was actually quite interesting.

It was just that he would face quite a few blows in the future.

Hungary had already dismantled the border wire fences, and East Germans were now able to travel from Hungary to Austria.

The reunification of Germany was just around the corner.

Upon returning home, seeing the person squatting by his doorway, Lu Deyang was not surprised in the least.

"Kumagai, how about I hire you to be my home security guard from now on?"

Lu Deyang joked.

This guy ganked King Lu every single day; it was getting a bit ridiculous.

"Sensei, you really know how to joke. I just came by to see if there is anything I can help you with. Creators need to eat and drink too; I can brew tea for you,"

said Hidenori Kumagai.

He was already used to Lu Deyang's sarcasm.

Compared to other manga artists, Lu Deyang was actually quite easy to talk to.

Some people simply refused to be swayed by either soft or hard approaches.

"By the way, Sensei, I have another letter for you here from a fellow manga artist,"

Kumagai said, taking a letter out of his briefcase.

Seeing the name on it, Lu Deyang immediately turned serious. This man was truly a red-and-expert veteran.

Tetsujin 28-go was extremely famous, a renowned anti-war work.

He had even created a manga version of The Long March.

This man was deeply fond of Chinese history and had created many related manga works.

Mitsuteru Yokoyama wrote in brush calligraphy: "I heard recently about a children's work with advanced ideology, and upon checking, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lu-kun is Chinese. Please continue to guide children correctly with your outstanding works. I beg this of you."

"I have always admired Yokoyama-sensei. I heard he draws six hundred pages of manuscript every month and never misses a deadline," Kumagai murmured softly from the side.

Lu Deyang: ……

Who the hell are you taking a jab at?

Lu Deyang put down his teacup and stared at Kumagai.

He half-suspected that this brat had deliberately asked his colleagues in Japan to enlist Mitsuteru Yokoyama to write a letter specifically to motivate King Lu.

The Japanese loved doing these low-cost, high-virtue favors.

Was he bullying King Lu for having a good temper?

Once you meet Yoshihiro Togashi, you'll find out what a real deadline-misser looks like.

A few hours later, Kumagai looked over the manuscript and asked with some curiosity, "Sensei, is the ideological depth of your recent works becoming a bit... a bit too simplified?"

"You can't keep it that profound all the time. A little warmth is nice too,"

Lu Deyang said.

When the economy is good, you can certainly lecture them on values.

But now that Japan was beginning its downward slope, he had to use heartwarming stories to retain his readers.

"But readers had an extremely strong reaction to that issue where Ogawa reasons things out through sheer force!" Kumagai said.

"Female readers, right?"

Lu Deyang retorted.

Kumagai looked somewhat embarrassed.

Indeed, there was quite a bit of opposition, but his colleagues at the magazine all felt it was drawn very well.

"Pay no mind to them. They only make up a minority, yet they make the most noise. If you actually listen to them, you won't come to a good end."

"No, I mean having Ogawa teach us some ways to protect ourselves."

Kumagai spoke obscurely, but Lu Deyang understood.

Wasn't it just about how to counter them?

Even without experiencing it firsthand, he could imagine what the situation was like.

Lu Deyang curled his lip. This was like priests versus fairies—when they claimed Eve tempted Adam, you really had no way to refute it.

Yet that set of tactics was hard to apply in Japan; warnings about having children didn't work because those people only liked little boys.