Is it okay to design a small apartment with no direct lighting in the kitchen?

Yes, but with a window.

Easy to breathe, because the kitchen has gas or something, safe to use, must have a window design.

Code for Residential Buildings (GB 50368-2005) 7 2 2 Bedrooms, living rooms (halls), and kitchens should be provided with external windows, and the window-to-floor area ratio should not be less than 1 7.

Residential Design Code (GB50096-1999 2003 Edition) The kitchen should have direct lighting, natural ventilation, and should be arranged near the entrance of the suite.

Description: The kitchen should have direct external lighting vents to ensure basic operational needs and natural lighting, ventilation. According to the analysis of the results of the residential survey, more than 90% of the households only start the range hood when stir-frying, and other operations such as cooking rice and boiling water basically rely on natural ventilation, so the kitchen should have doors or windows that can be opened to the outside to ensure natural ventilation. The kitchen is arranged near the entrance of the suite, which is conducive to the layout of pipelines and the removal and transportation of kitchen garbage, and is an important guarantee for the cleaning and pollution partition when the set is designed.

It's not a strong rule, but try to follow it.