The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 7: Elementary Student's Martial Arts School

Although an explosion had just occurred yesterday, there were no significant disruptions in the daily routine due to this incident.

Rolling out of his small bed, Chen An rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked to the bathroom. He splashed a handful of water on his face to wake up a bit before beginning his personal hygiene routine. After finishing his wash, he headed straight to the kitchen. He took out enough rice for two people from the bag, washed it thoroughly, and began cooking rice porridge.

While the porridge was still cooking, he fetched a small stool and used it to raise his height to around 1.6 meters. He then took down a frying pan and two eggs from a high shelf, and skillfully poured peanut oil into the pan, heating it up.

With one hand, he swirled the pan, allowing the hot oil to coat the entire bottom. With the other hand, he cracked open the eggs and poured the mixture into the pan. As the hot oil met the egg mixture, it sizzled and crackled, releasing the enticing aroma of frying eggs. This scent led Chen Xuemei, rubbing her bleary eyes, to the kitchen.

The half-asleep woman looked at her son's skillful flip of the wrist, turning the perfectly formed fried eggs in mid-air. It was a technique even she, as a mother, couldn't manage.

"This is outrageous!"

Stamping her foot, Chen Xuemei scolded, glaring at her son, "It's barely 5 AM! You still have over two hours before school starts. Who gets up this early to work? Go back to bed and keep lying down until the sun shines on your behind! That's the rule!"

Chen An didn't even turn around, casually remarking, "I know plenty of kids who do this."

"Like who?"

"Like Cinderella. She's much more capable than me... um, speaking of which, how did she, a pampered princess, manage to take care of so many people's daily lives and meals all by herself? Mom, does that count as a bug in the Grimm brothers' writing?"

"Of course not."

Chen Xuemei held her stomach, her tone filled with resentment, "Snow White had an extremely wicked stepmother. Even though the Grimm brothers didn't write it explicitly, readers could easily tell that it was thanks to her 'mother's' twisted teachings. That's why Snow White didn't find any menial tasks strange."

"Uh..."

Chen An looked puzzled at his mother, who appeared deeply wounded by her own child's words. Then he tilted his head and asked, "Mom, how about I make some milk porridge to soothe your stomach? It helps with stomachaches."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Please."

After efficiently preparing breakfast, Chen An bid farewell to his mother, who was recovering at home.

There was still a considerable amount of time before school started. He hummed the tunes of the songs he remembered while jogging towards a nearby memorial hall, as he did every day, to engage in his basic exercises.

"Wooda, wooda, wooda!"

The system's embodiment as a little sprite snarked from the sidelines, "Do you have any idea how foolish your current actions are? It's like someone who's set to inherit the world's richest inheritance after turning thirty, yet they run around the streets scavenging for junk to make a few bucks."

After giving the little sprite a flick of his finger, Chen An began to accelerate, ignoring the comments.

The system was right. This slow increase in physical ability was hardly worth mentioning compared to the physique Long Aotian would acquire after turning thirty. However, it was like holding a lottery ticket that could only be cashed in twenty-three years from now. Any unexpected event along the way could turn his waiting into an empty joy.

And what he disliked the most was gambling with uncertainty like this!

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Chen An hesitated for a moment, then silently walked towards a corner of the memorial hall. He approached an elderly man who was practicing his punches.

This old man, who often came to the memorial hall to practice boxing early in the morning, had left a deep impression on Chen An. After all, next to him was the square dancing auntie, blasting music and dancing energetically. Yet, the old man's boxing routine remained undisturbed. Each strike and move seemed to generate a subtle whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

"Why aren't you running today, kid?"

Before Chen An, the onlooker, could say anything, the old man retracted his stance and looked thoughtfully at him, "It's been three whole years. Apart from a few days with bad weather, you've been coming here almost every day to run. This is the first time I've seen you stop."

"Hello, Grandpa Fang."

After greeting him, Chen An gazed at the old man with fervent eyes, "I have some questions about martial arts that I'd like to ask you."

"Ha... A young one who acts mature beyond his years."

The old man chuckled and shook his head, "In these three years, you've shown an interest in martial arts for the first time. Did you learn some boxing from me?"

As he spoke, Fang Yaoshi tried to hide the ardor in his eyes. He had taken a liking to this 'other people's child' in front of him. While his own grandson was begging for junk food, lazing around, and enjoying carefree times, this child had been diligently coming here for exercise every day.

It wasn't anything extraordinary; the child's activities were limited to running, jumping jacks, push-ups, and other simple exercises. Moreover, he only trained for a short time with each exercise. What made him truly remarkable was his 'persistence', and not just persistence, but three whole years of unwavering 'persistence'. This terrifying self-discipline, even in regular adults, was a rare sight.

With such potential, if he could be brought under the umbrella of his White Brow Martial Arts School, who knows what might happen in the future...

"That's not it."

Chen An shook his head, "I want to learn some martial arts that could be useful. Grandpa, your style of boxing doesn't seem suitable for me."

Fang Yaoshi had a bemused expression, "You, a kid, know about martial arts? Do you even know what style of boxing I practice?"

Chen An shook his head honestly, but then quickly nodded.

"I may not be very clear, but Grandpa Fang, I want to learn some martial arts that can be useful when elementary school students fight. Your standing striking techniques clearly wouldn't be very effective in that context. In the realm of elementary school students, it's as if everyone has reached a consensus to wrestle on the ground together. So... could I ask, where can I learn ground control techniques?"

Fang Yaoshi looked at the young student before him, who seemed quite serious, with a puzzled expression. He didn't quite understand what the child was talking about, but the logical manner in which he spoke indicated that he wasn't simply making things up. Could it be...

He was the one who didn't understand?