Admitting a child into school without parental consent could be troublesome, but he figured he could find a way, pull some strings, and make it work.
And so, Alice became a transfer student at the kindergarten. Students who arrived mid-term always drew more attention from the other children.
Moreover, Alice had inherited her mother's beauty and was quite lovely, making her even more popular with her classmates after joining the class.
Out of the more than thirty children in their class, eighteen boys and twelve girls, most of the boys, except for a few who were rather quiet, enjoyed playing with Alice.
However, the boys' affection for Alice displeased the other girls in the class.
The girls in the class spontaneously formed a group and began to isolate Alice, refusing to befriend her.
But Alice remained oblivious to the girls' ostracism. Her sole purpose in coming to school was to learn, to crave knowledge, and to become an educated person.
Alice studied diligently and with great focus, so she could usually grasp what the teacher taught quickly.
Every day after school, Alice was full of energy, immediately heading out to collect trash and sell it!
She needed to save money for the next semester's tuition. She was determined to continue her education and would not give up halfway!
The old man who had previously taught Alice how to collect trash learned that Alice had successfully enrolled. Seeing the little one enthusiastically collecting trash and selling it every day, the old man was also happy, proud of Alice.
But this happiness did not last long. Her trash-collecting activities were eventually discovered by her space pirate father, who fiercely snatched away Alice's little piggy bank, containing the money she had painstakingly saved for a long time.
Alice instinctively didn't want to lose this money, as it was her tuition for the next semester.
Little Alice charged forward, her small hands gripping her piggy bank, and stubbornly shouted, "Mine!"
"Scram!" The man roughly pulled the piggy bank away.
Alice was only a little over three years old that year. How could her strength possibly compare to an adult man's? The tiny girl was sent tumbling to the ground in a heap.
"Daddy, that's my school money, money I earned collecting trash. I want to go to school!" The usually resilient Alice finally couldn't help but cry, hoping her tears would awaken any semblance of fatherly love in the man.
However…
What greeted Alice was the man raising a knife.
"Cry again, and believe me, I'll chop you with one stroke?" the man threatened fiercely.
Alice was terrified and quickly shut her mouth, retreating into a corner.
Seeing that she had finally stopped crying, the man was satisfied. He put away his knife and left with her piggy bank.
The woman returned at some point and witnessed the scene, but her face showed no concern. On the contrary, she seemed somewhat gleeful.
"Oh, so the little money you earned collecting trash every day was snatched away, tsk tsk tsk, how pathetic!" the woman mocked.
Alice glared fiercely at the woman before returning to her room.
But soon, the room door was opened again by the woman.
The woman had a radiant smile on her face, looking at Alice happily.
"Little one, how about we make a deal?"
"From now on, I'll find you some clients. You don't have to do anything with them, just let them touch you, and they'll give us money. We'll split it three-seven, you get three, I get seven. I guarantee this will earn you much more than collecting trash!"
Alice glared fiercely at the woman and roared, "Dream on!!!"
The woman...
Her smile faded slightly. She pouted and said, "How about we split it four-six, you get four, I get six!"
Alice pulled open a drawer and took out a small knife.
The knife was something she had found in the trash heap, and its edge had been sharpened. She pointed it at the woman and warned, "Don't teach me your dirty tricks. I won't learn. And your… hmph, those dirty men, you'd better keep them away from me, or I'll kill you all!"
The woman was also startled and took a few steps back, eyeing Alice warily.
At that moment, the woman suddenly remembered who Alice's father was. As expected, like father, like daughter. The father threatened people with a knife, and the daughter… at such a young age, she could also threaten people with a knife. How unlucky!
"Bah! If you don't cooperate, you don't cooperate. What are you being so difficult for? I'm your mother!" the woman cursed with disgust.
Alice looked at her coldly. She didn't have such a mother. She disowned her!
The next day, when Alice went to school, she was listless and worried!
She was tired because her trash father had stolen all her money!
She was worried about her tuition for the next semester.
Alice had always been the most diligent student in school, and the teacher was particularly fond of her and paid close attention to her. Therefore, the teacher almost immediately noticed that Alice was not her usual self today.
During the break, the teacher couldn't help but call Alice into the office and asked in a low voice, "Alice, what's wrong today? Are you unhappy?"
Alice looked at the teacher, wanting to say something, but in the end, she couldn't help but cry, feeling wronged.
"Wuwu, Teacher, my tuition is gone. My tuition for the next semester was snatched away by my father." Alice sobbed loudly, extremely distressed, with a hint of despair.
The money she earned from collecting trash every day was limited. She had saved for a long time to gather that amount. If she had collected for another month, she would have been able to afford the next semester's tuition, but her piggy bank had been taken by her father.
The teacher was also stunned. She couldn't believe it. How could a child this young have her tuition taken by her father?
"Alice, let's not cry. It's okay. Calm down and tell me what happened, alright?" The teacher tried to comfort her, attempting to investigate the truth.
Alice couldn't hold back her tears, which kept falling.
The teacher didn't rush her. She held Alice close and focused on comforting her.
Only after Alice had cried enough did she cautiously inquire about the truth of the matter.
However, what Alice said next left the teacher utterly shocked!
She couldn't believe that such parents could exist in this world, and that such parents could be the father and mother of a child as well-behaved and sensible as Alice. It was infuriating!
According to federal law, irresponsible parents could be subject to legal sanctions. However, that was something that only formal citizens of higher planets dared to do. On their low-level planet, if they dared to apply for legal intervention one moment, the next moment, the punished person might come back for revenge if they weren't killed. Therefore, ordinary people dared not interfere, let alone apply for legal sanctions.