As the last glimmer of light on the horizon was completely enveloped by darkness, all the neon lights in the city flickered on.
The desolate Tai Street began to see a trickle of Flying Cars parking. Males with their arms slung over each other's shoulders walked over, laughing and talking.
"Heard the Moonlight Bar has a new female today."
"No way. Why would this female be so desperate?"
"Yeah, you know the bar's revenue is tied to sentence reduction time. Moonlight is a dump, and they can't even get a hundred customers a day. What revenue?"
Of course, it never occurred to them that a female who hadn't committed a crime would actually come to work at a bar.
After all, even a D-level female would have at least three males supporting her. There was really no need to come out and work for a few Star Coins.
Especially working at a bar—a job defined as a place of punishment for female criminals.
Even a female who wanted Second-class planet status could solve it easily. All she had to do was find a male from a Second-class planet and have a child with him.
There was really no need to waste several years of her life working.
Backstage at the bar, Jiang Qin sat before the vanity mirror, applying her makeup.
Her job today was a large-scale spiritual power soothing session starting at eight in the evening.
To be honest, she had no idea how to perform a proper soothing. After all, in her previous life, after she was found and brought back, the Jiang Family never even thought to send her to school.
She had learned most things on her own through her Light Computer.
Speak of the devil, her Light Computer chimed.
Jiang Qin looked at the caller ID, her heart cold.
She didn't answer, but her Light Computer was a subsidiary device to Jiang Yulian's, so the other party could force the connection.
"Where did you go? Why aren't you home? Did you know Ruming was being discharged from the hospital today? Did you run away on purpose just to embarrass her??"
Jiang Qin stared coolly at the furious Jiang Yulian on the screen, no longer feeling even a dull ache in her heart.
Before she could answer, Jiang Yulian on the other end of the Light Computer noticed her appearance.
A delicate, oval-shaped face, eyeliner that made her eyes appear slightly long and narrow, a beauty mark like a teardrop adorning the corner of one eye, and most striking of all, those crimson lips.
This face, which bore a slight resemblance to her first partner, made her expression grow distant for a moment.
To be honest, as a B-level female, she had never had fewer than five partners, and several of them had died over the years.
So, it would be a lie to say she had any real feelings for that particular male.
It just reminded her of how she felt when she was pregnant with her first child.
But—
Thinking of all the trouble this child had caused since coming back, her heart filled with dissatisfaction and annoyance.
"Why are you dressed like that so late at night?
You come back here right now and apologize to Ruming. For my sake, she has already agreed to forgive you this one time, but you have to promise you won't bully her again.
If there's a next time, you can just go rot in prison and atone for your sins!"
Jiang Yulian's brow was furrowed the entire time, her words dripping with annoyance for her own biological daughter.
Jiang Qin suddenly smiled, her weak face blooming like a delicate flower. "I won't apologize. If you want to call the police, then go ahead. I'm just afraid Jiang Ruming wouldn't dare."
With that, she ended the call and ripped the Light Computer from her wrist.
Her actions were so rough that her slender, exceptionally fair wrist immediately turned red, leaving a mark.
With her eyes downcast, Jiang Qin thought back to her previous life.
Faced with Jiang Ruming's slander and feigned magnanimous forgiveness, she had stubbornly refused and called the police herself.
'My conscience is clear, so I have nothing to fear. She's the one who should be afraid of the police, not me!'
So what if the security footage at home was destroyed? She had learned from experience. The moment Jiang Ruming had cornered her, she had started recording a video with her Light Computer.
In other words, the Light Computer she had just violently ripped off actually contained the video that proved her innocence.
But—
None of that mattered anymore.
In her past life, she had produced the video and proven her innocence, but it was useless.
Because Jiang Yulian had deleted the video. Her Light Computer had the authority to control its subsidiary device.
So, the Jiang Qin of today understood. 'The truth doesn't matter. What matters is whose side your heart is on.'
In this life, she wouldn't call the police again, nor would she hold out hope for how her family would react after learning the truth.
However, she still had to save the evidence that could prove her innocence.
Holding the detached Light Computer, Jiang Qin quickly created a temporary account on the Star Network.
This kind of account was similar to the guest accounts for some apps on Earth.
It was only for temporary storage. If you didn't log in for a long time, the account would be deleted. To own it permanently, you had to bind it to a personal Light Computer later.
She had to work now and didn't have any Star Coins to buy a new Light Computer, so this was the only option for the time being.
As for the subsidiary Light Computer Jiang Yulian had given her, Jiang Qin casually tossed it into the disposal slot of a trash can 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 this year, just came of age."
"Does that mean she doesn't have a partner yet?" a man asked, his face full of anticipation.
For poor male Beastmen like them, as long as they could have a female, who would care if she was a criminal?
A young man next to him couldn't help but sneer, "What? An old male like you has the gall to covet a young female? She's young, not stupid."
"You!!" The man flew into a rage at his words and was about to get up and fight.
Luckily, his companion grabbed him in time. "Ke Lu, don't be rash! You have to pay for any damage to the bar!
Besides, the female is about to come on stage for the soothing. If you start a fight now, you'll be thrown out..."
Then tonight's Star Coins would have been spent for nothing.
Hearing this, Ke Lu, though still furious, clenched his teeth and forced himself to endure it.
There was no other way. This was how low-class males in the Interstellar era survived, constantly weighing the pros and cons.
"Alright, shut up! The female is coming out!!"
The warmly lit bar instantly went dark.
Only the central platform remained, illuminated by a few beams of white light.
The music that had been playing also stopped.
Everyone stared at the platform in anticipation, waiting for that graceful figure to appear.
Just then, a panel in the center of the platform opened, and Jiang Qin rose up, seated at a piano.
She wore a white dress, her black hair was pinned up, and her lips were a startling, blood-red.
Her downcast eyes, her unhealthily pale skin, and her slender frame made her look exceptionally fragile and endearing.
The bar erupted in a clamor of amazed and admiring voices.
"The little female looks so frail. Is she sick?"
"The boss said she's not a criminal female, she's only working here because she needs money. Oh my god!!"
"AHHHH, who would have the heart to let such a beautiful female do such hard work? Are her males all useless trash?"
"Is she going to start the soothing? What's that thing set up in front of her?"