Chapter 2: Job Hunting

Jiang Qin knew that at this moment, everyone in the Jiang family was probably cursing her at the hospital, but she no longer cared.

At this same time in her previous life, she had also gone to the hospital.

There, she watched her family repeatedly hurl harsh words at her on behalf of Jiang Rumeng.

She wanted to explain that she hadn't pushed her down the stairs, but no one was willing to believe her.

They were convinced that having grown up on a barren planet, she had picked up all sorts of bad habits.

Lying, stealing, jealousy, and malice were all labels they slapped on her.

Back in her room, Jiang Qin calmly packed her things.

She had only been back with the Jiang family for a month, so she didn’t have much. Only her biological mother, Jiang Yulian, and her partners each gave her a gift to welcome her.

As for her three half-brothers, who shared the same mother but different fathers, they did not accept her and naturally gave no gifts.

Jiang Rumeng also gave her a necklace, marked with some scratches, said to be a keepsake from their biological mother.

Coming from the barren planet, Jiang Qin had nothing equally precious to give in return, so after explaining, she declined the gift.

But this was twisted into a sign of hostility toward her sister, as if she refused the gift out of enmity.

However, none of that mattered to her anymore.

Jiang Qin picked up a very light bag and left the Jiang family.

Inside were only a few items she had brought when she left the barren planet.

She hadn't taken anything belonging to the Jiang family, except for a bracelet left by her biological father.

***

Taiyi Street.

This was the bar district in Langor City.

Unlike the dazzling, intoxicating bars on Earth filled with neon lights and temptations, interstellar bars were the only refuge for males without female companionship.

Many females who had committed crimes chose to work here, providing large-scale spiritual comfort every night.

Interstellar beings were divided into three types:

The first type were pure humans without spiritual power, considered useless and treated like pets.

Their bodies were fragile, and the irritants in the air made them constantly weak and ill.

The second type were half-beasts, genetically incomplete with some animal traits and poor physical stability, rarely living past a hundred years.

In a world where full beasts could live up to three hundred years, dying before a hundred was considered an early death.

The third type were fully evolved beasts.

Both males and females of this group possessed spiritual power; males could transform into beast forms for combat, while females had the ability to soothe and purify with their spiritual energy.

This group dominated the vast universe.

Perhaps living in the interstellar realm meant no one could ever die a peaceful natural death.

Male beasts, except for females with spiritual power, were all vulnerable to an irritant factor in the air.

Once it entered the body and accumulated to a critical point, it could cause madness and eventual death by bursting.

The only way to prevent this was to regularly take suppressants and receive spiritual comfort from females.

The drinks sold in bars were suppressant beverages mimicking the taste of alcohol, and paired with female spiritual comfort, they offered these males brief relief.

Thus, every night, this street came alive with activity.

But now it was daytime, and only a few quiet bars were open, making the area peaceful.

Jiang Qin stopped in front of an aging bar at the end of the street.

On the light screen by the door was a notice:

[Hiring female workers. Monthly salary: one million star credits. Requirement: Level C or above.]

Females were rare in the interstellar society. Of course, pure and half-beast females were not considered among the valuable ones; they might receive some preferential treatment, but could not be compared to fully evolved beast females.

Because their children had a ninety percent chance of awakening as pure humans or half-beasts, they only received benefits related to gender ratio disparities, without high social status.

Females with spiritual power, even at the lowest level D, unless they were heinous criminals, would not be sentenced to death in the interstellar realm.

Punishments were humane.

The first option was to enter a breeding facility, be assigned males, and after giving birth to females or a certain number of males, receive a pardon.

The number depended on the crime’s severity.

The second option was to work in the military rear, with the duration depending on the crime, usually very long.

The third option offered reduced sentences and quicker pardons but was dangerous, as it involved working on a barren planet.

The last option was working in a bar.

This was the only way for criminal females to remain on their home planet, though the sentence durations were longer.

For example, if working on a barren planet required three years, working in a bar could require at least eight.

However, females rarely committed crimes, so many bars on various planets often had no female workers.

No female would willingly take on spiritual comfort work in such places.

They were high above it all, preferring to wait for males to seek them out, taking those they favored as partners, and generally refusing to provide comfort otherwise.

Their spiritual power was also limited.

The lower the level, the weaker the comfort effect.

Bar comfort work was an extensively diluted effect— even combined with suppressants, it was of little help.

Thus, level D females were generally not accepted.

Level C provided a slight soothing effect; the higher the level, the better.

But if not criminal females, bars couldn’t even recruit level C, let alone higher.

Jiang Qin had undergone awakening at age three, her spiritual power just enough at level C to meet the threshold.

Other females might disdain the million star credits salary, but she valued it immensely!

On the barren planet, she never dared reveal herself as a beast female, disguising herself as a pure human male scavenging for scraps.

Even knowing she could earn a fortune, she dared not try.

The laws on the barren planet were chaotic, inhabited by many who lived day to day without restraint.

They were not bound by law.

With hunger, poor living conditions, and occasional attacks by alien beasts, many might be alive today and gone tomorrow.

No one cared about such things.

No one investigated; dying was meaningless.

So even after leaving the Jiang family, she could never return to the barren planet.

Working in the bar meant not only earning money but also automatically gaining residency on a level-two planet.

This was a benefit the Federation encouraged for females entering bar work, though the highest residency granted was level two.

Level one and home planet residency required other qualifications.

Having made her decision, Jiang Qin no longer hesitated.

She carried her bag and walked straight into the bar named Moonlight.

“Hello, I’d like to apply for the position of comfort specialist.”