Alex stuck out his tongue and then went back to eating.
Yue rolled her eyes and kept eating as well. As she did, she said, "It'll be Thanksgiving soon, right? Do you have break coming up?"
Alex nodded. "I do. It'll be Mommy and Daddy's anniversary and birthdays in soon too, right?"
Yue paused. "That's... true, huh?"
Today was November 1st. A Monday.
Mei and Wang had their anniversary on November 2nd, tomorrow. Then Wang's birthday was the 4th, and Mei's birthday was the 11th.
Alex nodded again and said, "I remember it." He finished his toast and said, "Knowing Daddy, he probably saved up his PTO to take Mommy out this entire month."
"Yeah." Yue frowned. "...That sounds like him."
Her brother-in-law was always the sort for grand gestures. It was how he swept her big sis off her feet, after all.
Yue paused and looked at Alex. "...It doesn't bother you that they're not taking you with them to celebrate?"
Yue knew that she was always annoyed by how her parents left her behind in the past to go on their private trips overseas.
But it looked like Alex didn't feel the same.
Alex blinked and tilted his head. "Why would it? They should celebrate as much as they can while they're young and have the energy for it, shouldn't they?"
Yue blinked too, caught off guard by Alex's words. "That's... true?" She pursed her lips, mulling over what he said.
It wasn't... wrong. Objectively, at least.
But considering it was coming from Alex...
"Besides." Alex suddenly spoke up, interrupting Yue's thoughts. "I want a baby sister. So it's better for them to spend time together."
Yue froze. She parsed what Alex said. Then she blinked and said, "...Say that again?"
Alex looked at Yue and said, "I want a baby sister. Well, I don't mind a baby brother, but a baby sister would be nice. I want to spoil her lots and lots. If Mommy and Daddy don't have alone time, I won't get one, right?"
"..." Yue pinched the bridge of her nose. "Little Fatty."
"Yes, Big Sis?"
Yue let out a long suffering sigh. "One of these days, you're going to give me a migraine. I just know it..."
"Don't worry, Big Sis." Alex let out a deceptively innocent smile and said, "I checked. You have plenty of Tylonel."
"You little...!" Yue reached over and pinched Alex's cheeks.
He laughed and squirmed.
Yue huffed and relented after a few seconds, letting him go after his cheeks turned a bright red from her pinching it. "You're lucky you're still cute, you brat."
Alex puffed up his chest and said, "I know! Miss Debby says that too! I get away with a lot at school because of it!"
"..." Yue let out a deep sigh and covered her face. "This is my fault. I'm a terrible influence."
Alex laughed. "Auntie's the bestest influence~" After that, he put his plate into the sink and said, "I'm getting ready for school, Auntie! I'll take a quick shower and brush my teeth!"
"Yeah, yeah." Yue got up. "I'll do the dishes then. Don't use up all the hot water or I'm waking you up with ice down your back."
Alex gave her a thumbs up before ducking into the bathroom.
Yue rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide the bright smile on her face. "Cheeky brat..." She walked over to the sink and started washing the dishes like she said. As she did, she couldn't help but think about her life and how different it was now.
She'd heard back from a few agents who had passed her audition tapes along. So far, it seemed to be going well. The audition for the pink ranger was pretty much in the bag. And the audition for Rush Hour 2 seemed to be secured too.
Not only that, but the stocks that she'd decided to invest after Alex randomly doodled on the business section of the newspaper were doing well.
She'd put $500 into that video game company... Nintendo or something, and they dropped a new fancy game for their consoles. Pokimons or something.
Either way, the stock price went through the roof. And while the other stocks weren't doing well, she had a feeling that they would.
Yue stared at the bathroom door and sighed. "...I must have saved a country in my last life to have a lucky charm like my cute nephew."
===
While I was taking a lukewarm shower, a habit I'd started up to think, I let out a sigh of relief. "Mission success."
Through careful maneuvering, taking full advantage of being a kid, and the context of being a neglected child, I'd thoroughly woven myself into Auntie Yue's life.
...I'd also subsequently woven myself OUT of my parents' lives... but that was probably for the better.
They'd be feeling guilty about it all their lives, probably. But I'll consider that a karmic debt for making ME feel guilty all my life for never meeting their expectations in my past life.
Anyway, Auntie Yue was in a good spot now. I had subtly nudged her towards roles that would suit her. Commercials, television shows, movies, and stuff like that.
But I'd ALSO done my research using a (very expensive apparently) laptop that Auntie Yue bought for me to play with. And I'd remembered that, while not big right now, KPop would be popping off in the next few years.
And my Auntie Yue was both a beautiful young woman, talented actor, and musically inclined... though she'd never admit it.
I'd heard her sing in the shower though, and she definitely had the voice for it.
Anyway, I was keeping tabs on that industry too. If Auntie could get in, that'd be great. If not... Well, she'd be a perfect agent for when I got in.
Yeah, I was thinking about being a KPop idol. No, it wasn't because I had a big regret about not trying to get into it when I had the looks and skills in the past life.
Don't judge.
What was I talking about?
Right.
Sorting out life events.
Auntie Yue was fine now. She definitely was not ever going to run into casting couches or take favors to rise to stardom that way. Not when I existed and basically served as the angel on her shoulder. And especially since she wasn't starved for money.
Speaking of money, I'd asked her about it once.
Apparently, Auntie Yue had over 50K in savings and even more split among various investments. All from her working part-time jobs while she was a teenager, and then for a year where she was apparently a super flirty and teasing bartender last year and made 30K in tips from rich businessmen coming in to have drinks at the place she worked.
Sasuga, Auntie Yue. The prototype e-girl.
...Though considering that Auntie Yue looked like a young child by Western standards...
The implications were concerning.
Very concerning.
But that aside.
It definitely explained how I was always able to have nice Christmas gifts growing up. And why Auntie Yue never had a man around.
She was the epitome of independent, competent, ambitious woman.
I mean, she was doing much better than my parents, who had a two-income household, so-
"Wait." I paused. "...Does Auntie even have any education?"