"Rajeev was supposed to be busy so he didn't come, let's not talk about him, your birthday is over and I'm sorry I didn't celebrate it this time when I was sick." Alice said.

"Sis, last time we said we would celebrate our birthdays together."

"Of course I remember, Michiko will come over later, I'll make a trip to town, get a birthday cake and we'll celebrate our birthdays today."

"Sis, you're still going out? aren't you afraid of running into Dorsom?"

"Not afraid, I'm prepared this time, if he dares to come, I'll kill him!" Alice said with a hateful voice.

Half a day later, Michiko came and was very happy to hear that the siblings were celebrating their birthdays and asked, "Do you have the same birthday?"

Ronnie picked her up and replied, "No, Sis’s birthday is May 18th and mine is June 16th, we said we'd spend it together last time.”

"I missed it last time when I was sick, so I'll make it up today, Michiko, you stay here with Ronnie, I'm going out for a bit," Alice said.

"Okay, I'll take care of him."

"Thank you Michiko for taking care of us for the last month or so."

Michiko laughed softly, "Why are you still so polite to me? Be careful when you go out and return quickly."

The two finished their conversation. Alice grabbed something from her backpack and left for town.

Michiko looked at Ronnie, who was nibbling on a burrito, and asked, "Ronnie, are you going to school?"

Ronnie asked with a confused look on his face, "School? Where am I going to school?"

"To the City-state, of course!"

"Don't I have to join the City-state to go to school?"

"City-states have preparatory classes in the free world as well, but they're only found near larger clusters of City-states," Michiko explained.

"City-state clusters? That's the first I've heard of it, and it's not even described in the book."

Michiko laughed, "What era of books have you been reading that you don't know about this?"

Ronnie rubbed his head, "Mom didn't buy me any books, they're expensive, and I've only read a few old books at Uncle Subaru's house."

"No wonder you don't know anything, then I'll explain it to you, a city-state only houses 10,000 people, for the sake of easy communication, several city-states are built together, and several city-states added together are called a city-state cluster, and small city-state clusters can house more than 100,000 people, while large ones can house millions. All the city-states in the entire universe added together are called the 'New World'."

"Is the 'New World' large? do other planets have 'New Worlds'?" Ronnie asked two questions in a row.

"Of course it's big, the 'New Worlds' in the entire universe have a combined population of one and a half billion, and the other planets have three hundred million. There are still populations in the city-states that are now emigrating to other planets. Ronnie, all you have to do is go to school and you'll know all this."

"Okay, I want to go, can my sister come with me?"

"She can! but there's a test you have to pass before you can enroll."

"So what's on the test?"

"Alice will be back in a while and you can discuss it, if she agrees, I'll get the test material for you."

An hour later, Alice returned with a paper bag in her hand. Ronnie was happy to see her and called out, "Sister, are you going to school? Huh ... you brought a roast turkey too!"

Alice had gone out and traded a necklace left by her mother for a turkey, cake, tequila, corn, amaranth, pasta, burritos, and Ronnie's favorite chocolate.

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"You have a pretty good nose, did you smell that when I came in?" Alice laughed.

"That's for sure, I'm never sloppy with food!"

"What school did you say you were going to?"

"Michiko said we could go to school as long as we passed the exams."

"Michiko, is that true? I've always wanted Ronnie to go to school. He's never had a proper education, our mother always taught us, can I go too?" Alice asked.

Michiko replied, "Of course you can, I was just worried that you didn't want to go.”

"Isn't there a tuition fee?"

"It's a school built by the city-state, no one has to pay tuition, and you can even eat free lunch at the school."

Alice was very happy to hear that, for the first time, she had developed a liking for the City-state, which had been too foreign to her before, when she had only joined it out of obedience to her mother's wishes, she didn't want to enter the City-state if it wasn't for her mother's dying instructions, it was the same everywhere for her, she had to survive through her own struggle. "That would be great, what do we need to prepare?" She asked again.

"I'm going home now to get my review materials, just in time to get my brother and Rajeev here to celebrate your birthdays." Michiko replied.

Ronnie was overjoyed and shouted, "Go on then, I love the hustle and bustle!"

Alice, however, frowned slightly because she had called Rajeev when she went out, but the other one said he had something to do and couldn't come over. She could sense that Rajeev was avoiding her on purpose. Since the last time Rajeev had been recognized by Dorsom, he had been afraid at home. Though he was quite strong, he was birdlike in his boldness. He felt that Dorsom would definitely want to take revenge on Alice's siblings, and if he maintained a relationship with Alice, he would have to face Dorsom directly at that time, which was a situation he did not want to face. He was also pleased that Alice had taken the initiative to look for him today, but reason overcame his impulses and he found an excuse to refuse Alice's invitation.

After Michiko left, the siblings were busy setting up the food and waiting for the guests to arrive. Half an hour later, Michiko arrived with her brother Hasegawa, and there was really no sign of Rajeev. Although she suspected that he might not come, Alice was still a bit disappointed, she hadn't fallen in love with the boy, she just felt that when she needed help the most, he actually backed out of the fight, he was really unlike a man, not as responsible as a girl like Michiko.

Ronnie saw that Rajeev wasn't coming and said in a disappointed voice, "Is brother Rajeev really not coming? I kind of like him."

"Isn't it enough to have the three of us for your birthday? Michiko, sit down," Alice said.

"Alice, Ronnie, happy birthday to you both, I was in too much of a hurry to prepare any birthday gifts,please don't mind." Hasegawa said as he took a box of sweets and a silk scarf out of his backpack and gave them to Ronnie and Alice. Michiko's birthday present was a box of cookies and lipstick, and after giving the presents, the four of them sat down. Alice put candles on the cake and lit a fire.

"Ronnie, didn't you say you were going to sing my birthday song last time? why don't you start?"

Ronnie looked down and rubbed his hands together with an embarrassed look on his face, he had expected to spend his birthday with his sister, but this time there were four of them. He was shy, but at Alice's urging, he cleared his throat and sang, "Happy birthday to you!Happy birthday to you!Happy birthday to you!Happy birthday to you!" Ronnie sang, and the three of them sang after him, and after singing the birthday song, they all blew out the candles.

"Ronnie, make a wish!" Alice and Michiko urged at the same time.

Ronnie closed his eyes, clasped his hands together with his fingers, and wished in his heart, "I wish for all of my sister's chocolates to be given to me.”

After finishing his wish, he turned his head to look at Alice and said, "Sister, where's your present?"

"You're the one who's anxious, you had to grab it hard just now, aren't they all yours?" Alice smiled and handed out the chocolates in her hand.

"All for me?" Ronnie wasn't so sure.

"Of course, it's your birthday, what did you wish for?"

Ronnie stammered and didn't want to say, but being pushed he could only lie, "I wished for my sister to find a boyfriend, she'll be fourteen after her birthday."

"Alice, you're fourteen too, that's the same age as me. My brother is seventeen, you can consider him your boyfriend," Michiko laughed.

Alice blushed slightly and bowed her head in silence. Ronnie didn't realize that he had made up a random lie that would cause such a misunderstanding.

At that time, Hasegawa graciously stood up and said, "Alice, ever since I first saw you, your beauty has won me over and made me unforgettable,so today I want to confess my love to you, and I hope you can accept me, and I will protect you with my life.”

"Sister, just promise Brother Hasegawa!" Ronnie said hastily.

Michiko also persuaded, "Alice, my brother is an honest person, and I hope you can be together too."

At that moment, Alice's heart was in turmoil, how could she not expect things to turn out like this, she didn't really like Hasegawa, and she couldn't say that she hated him either. He wasn't the Prince Charming she thought he was, and she didn't really know him well enough.She wanted to refuse, but she was afraid of hurting the feelings of both sides, so she had to say, "Let's keep in touch for a while, and if it's suitable, then we'll move on."

"Sister, are you saying yes?"

"Uh-huh!" Alice replied, but in her heart, she cursed him for being so nosy.

Michiko was also happy to hear this as she raised her wine glass and said, "Then I wish Alice and my brother a bright future."

"My sister has a boyfriend, what about me? Who will be my girlfriend?" Ronnie shouted and stood up, he caught a glimpse of Michiko across the room and asked sharply, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"Little Ronnie, when you grow up and I'm not married, I want you to be my boyfriend," Michiko covered her mouth and laughed.

Alice pretended to be angry, "Ronnie, so it was you who wanted a girlfriend but pushed me out."