Back at the condo, like usual I finished up my homework in a few minutes, then I walked over to the martial arts corner of the condo to train.
I rolled up my sleeves and then started smacking the wooden wing chun dummy with my bare hands and feet.
Auntie Yue watched me from the kitchen table, the evening newspaper in her hands. As she did, she said, "That doesn't hurt at all?"
"Hm?" I paused in the middle of doing a throat jab on the dummy and said, "No. I don't hit it that hard so it doesn't hurt."
"...Crazy brat." Auntie Yue shook her head. "Whatever. Just don't break any bones. I don't have health insurance for you, so it would be bad if we had to go to the hospital."
"Of course, Auntie. I'm not dumb." I went back to continuing to hone my body against the wooden dummy.
...I guess objectively it was pretty ridiculous.
To be honest, I should be thankful that Auntie Yue had a high tolerance for my shenanigans. That was probably because she didn't have a frame of reference for a normal kid, now that I think about it...
To her, I was probably just doing 'ridiculous kid stuff' and she chalked it up to being a kid.
Honestly, she was doing really good parenting by letting me do my own thing.
Another thing to regret not experiencing in my past life... but waste not, regret not.
I was here this time, and I appreciated her properly.
It was very much a mutually beneficial experience.
I gave Auntie Yue unconditional love and support, as well as company.
Auntie Yue took care of me, fed me, and treated me like her own kid basically.
Actually, knowing her, she was probably spinning the fact that she was raising a kid all by herself for her auditions too.
Which meant that the more impressive I was when I met the directors she was auditioning for, the better impression of her they would have.
Neat.
Gotta love residual impacts.
But anyway, status check.
Auntie Yue probably didn't notice. Or if she did, she chalked it up to a kid's natural growth. But my body was very much muscular now from months of persistent and steady training.
It wasn't like I miraculously jumped up in height. But I could probably pass for a trainee shaolin monk.
But the biggest growth I had wasn't in physique. Instead, it was in skill. Or, to be more exact, in my senses.
Proprioception was the sense of where my body was, the force it could generate, and basically my structure and balance at any moment.
I wasn't sure if it was because I was training while I was young, or because my memories of being a coordinated adult were helping, but I was ridiculously precise in my strikes.
Although I made sure to play around and hit randomly while Auntie Yue was watching, I had done some testing on my own in the early mornings and confirmed that I could hit within a one inch margin of error.
Basically, I could hit the same spot with a one-inch margin of error at maximum.
It didn't seem THAT impressive on paper. But again, kid. And also, that was with ANYTHING.
A punch, a kick, an elbow, a sword thrust, sword slash...
I didn't know if it was the buff of being in a rapid growth and adaptation phase of childhood, but I DID know that it was pretty ridiculous.
Of course, I didn't show it off.
Had to make sure that Auntie Yue didn't panic too much or think I was a freak of nature.
Not that she ever would.
But if I showed it off, it would probably come up in conversation at some point with my parents. And while my mom wouldn't care, my dad DEFINITELY would.
He was always the type to like showing off his kids.
Right now, he was probably just under the assumption that I was a normal first grader.
But I still remembered how he put me in the independent study for math after I showed how good I was at it during middle school.
Those three years of learning Algebra, Trigonometry, and Geometry were the worst years of learning ever...
But anyway.
Auntie Yue would block him from trying anything. And he definitely wouldn't for the time being.
But he might in the future.
Note to self: handle that somehow.
For now though, a problem for future me.
As I continued drilling against the wooden dummy, I let my thoughts mull over the rest of my life objectives.
Auntie Yue was definitely number one priority. Although I said I loved her mostly to reassure her and anchor her so she wouldn't go off the rails chasing her ambitions, I genuinely did care for her and love her.
She was, literally, the big sister I never had. And I wasn't going to let her get hurt at all while I could do something about it.
April though... she was definitely number two.
I didn't know her full story. All I knew about her was that we met in high school freshman year during band, I sat next to her every day for two years, and then I didn't realize she was faking her happiness and enduring harsh bullying until she disappeared a week before sophomore year was over.
Her death was announced the day after.
Mm... That probably played another major role in why I didn't remember much of my childhood.
Maybe I retconned everything due to guilt?
Either way, I was going to make sure that I got along with April and supported her properly as a friend.
Platonically, of course.
It wasn't like she was the April I knew. If anything, in my head, she felt more like April's younger sister that I was indebted to keeping safe.
I mean, although time had spun back, it didn't change the fact that the events I experienced had occurred, right? Even if they only existed in my memories, the fact that they DID exist in my memories meant they had happened.
That fact can never change.
So I wasn't trying to change it. I was just making sure history wasn't repeating itself.
Basically, I was writing a happier second draft of my biography. With cheats, of course.
Speaking of cheats.
I hummed and started mulling over something.
I had a lot of stories written down on my laptop and hidden as image files. Finalized drafts of isekai stories, VR, and other future trends.
And while a bit early... I could probably find a way to host a blog and get money, right? Serialized web novels weren't really a thing yet, but I could definitely finagle my way to it.
Google adsense was just starting up. And there weren't any identity checks yet.
...Hm.
...Sorry in advance, Auntie Yue. But I'm going to pull the classic 'steal your mom's credit card' and borrow a bit of money. I'll pay you back in the future.
Note to self: set up a writer's blog for that. LexOrLie. Lex or lie... a pun and a confession all in one.