Chapter 3: First Job

When the last trace of light on the horizon was completely swallowed by darkness, the neon lights of the city flickered to life.

Hovercars landed one after another on the desolate Tai Street, and males walked over, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, chatting and laughing.

"I heard a new female arrived at the Moonlight Bar today."

"No way? Why would a female be so desperate?"

"Exactly. You know that a bar's revenue is tied to the reduction of criminal sentences. Moonlight has been in decline; they can't even get a hundred customers a day, so where would the revenue come from?"

Of course, it never crossed their minds that a female might come to work at a bar without having committed a crime.

After all, even a D-rank female would have at least three males providing for her; there was truly no need to work for a few measly star coins.

And to work at a bar, no less—a place defined as a site for female criminal rehabilitation.

Even for a female who wanted to obtain second-tier planet status, it was actually quite simple: she just needed to find a male from a second-tier planet and bear his offspring.

There was really no need to waste years of her life working.

Meanwhile, in the bar's backstage area.

Jiang Qin sat before the vanity mirror, applying her makeup.

Her job today was to perform a large-scale mental soothing session starting at eight o'clock in the evening.

To be honest, she had no idea how to perform a standard soothing session. After all, in her previous life, after she was found and brought back, the Jiang family never even thought about sending her to school.

She had learned most things on her own through her optical computer.

Speaking of the optical computer, it chimed.

Jiang Qin looked at the caller ID, her heart cold.

She didn't answer, but since the device was a subsidiary optical computer linked to Jiang Yulian’s, the other side could force a connection.

"Where did you go? Why aren't you coming home? Do you know that Rumeng is being discharged today, so you’re deliberately running away from home to embarrass her??"

Jiang Qin looked coldly at the furious Jiang Yulian on the screen; she didn't even feel a dull ache in her heart anymore.

Before she could answer, Jiang Yulian on the other side of the screen noticed her appearance.

Her thin, oval face, eyes slightly elongated by eyeliner with a tear mole at the corner, and most strikingly, those crimson lips.

This face, which bore a thirty-percent resemblance to her first mate, left her momentarily dazed.

Truth be told, as a B-rank female, she had never had fewer than five mates, and several had died over the years.

So, to say she had any real feelings for that male would be a lie.

It just reminded her of the feeling she had when she first conceived a child.

However—

Thinking of the trouble this child had caused since returning, her heart was filled with dissatisfaction and annoyance.

"Why are you dressed like that in the middle of the night?

You are to come back immediately and apologize to Rumeng. For my sake, she has already agreed to forgive you once, but you must promise not to bully her again.

If there is a next time, you can just go to prison and atone for your sins!"

Jiang Yulian’s brows were furrowed the entire time, her words filled with disgust for her own daughter.

Jiang Qin suddenly laughed, her frail face blooming like a delicate flower: "I will not apologize. If you want to call the police, then go ahead. I’m just afraid that she, Jiang Rumeng, wouldn't dare."

After saying this, she hung up and tore the device from her wrist.

Because the movement was somewhat rough, her slender, pale wrist turned red, leaving a mark.

With her eyes lowered, Jiang Qin thought back to her previous life.

Faced with Jiang Rumeng’s framing and her feigned, magnanimous forgiveness, she had refused firmly and called the police directly.

She was upright and had nothing to fear; she wasn't the one who should have been afraid of the police!

Even if the home surveillance had been tampered with, what did it matter? She had already gained experience; the moment Jiang Rumeng stopped her, she had activated her optical computer to record a video.

In other words, the device she had just roughly torn off actually contained the video that proved her innocence.

But—

None of that mattered anymore.

In her previous life, she had produced the video to prove her innocence, but it was useless.

Because that video had been deleted by Jiang Yulian, who had the authority to control the subsidiary optical computer.

So, the current Jiang Qin understood: the truth didn't matter; what mattered was where one's heart leaned.

In this life, she would not call the police again, nor would she harbor any expectations for how her family would react upon learning the truth.

However, she still needed to keep the evidence of her innocence safe.

Jiang Qin took the torn-off device and quickly created a temporary account on the StarNet.

This kind of account was similar to a guest account on Earth's apps.

It was just for temporary storage; it would be deleted if not logged into for a long time. If she wanted full ownership, she would have to link it to a personal optical computer later.

She had to work now, and she didn't have the star coins to buy a new device, so this was the only way.

As for the subsidiary optical computer Jiang Yulian had given her, Jiang Qin tossed it into the trash compactor before going on stage.

***

"The female is about to go on stage!"

"I'm so excited! I wonder what the new female looks like? I heard she's only 18, just reached adulthood."

"Does that mean she doesn't have a mate yet?" the man asked, his face full of anticipation.

For poor male beastmen like them, as long as they could have a female, who cared if she was a criminal?

The youth next to the man couldn't help but sneer: "What? You, an old male, have the nerve to covet a young female? She's young, not stupid."

"You!!" The man was enraged at these words and instantly wanted to stand up and fight.

Fortunately, his companion held him back. "Kelu, don't be impulsive. You'll have to pay for any damage to the bar!

Besides, the female is about to go on stage to perform the soothing. If you start a fight now, you'll be kicked out..."

Then the star coins spent tonight would be wasted.

Hearing this, Kelu gritted his teeth and held back his anger.

There was no helping it; this was how the bottom-tier males of the interstellar world lived, constantly calculating the pros and cons just to survive.

"Alright, stop talking, the female is coming out!!"

The bar, which had been bathed in warm light, suddenly dimmed.

Only the high platform in the center remained, illuminated by several beams of white light.

The music stopped.

Everyone looked expectantly at the platform, waiting for that graceful figure to appear.

Just then, the center of the platform opened, and Jiang Qin, seated at a piano, rose up.

She wore a white dress, her black hair was pinned up, and her lips were as red as blood.

Her lowered eyes, her slightly sickly pale skin, and her frail figure made her look exceptionally pitiful and endearing.

The bar erupted in noise, filled with sounds of amazement and admiration.

"The little female looks so frail. Is she sick?"

"I heard from the boss that she isn't a criminal female; she's only working because she needs money. My god!!"

"Ahhhhh, who could bear to let such a beautiful female work so hard? Are her males all trash?"

"Is she going to perform the soothing? What is that thing placed in front of her?"