Chapter 3: The First Job

After the last glimmer of light in the sky was swallowed by darkness, the neon lights of the city sprang to life.

On the cold and quiet Tai Street, speeding vehicles gradually pulled up one after another. Groups of males strolled over, arm in arm, chatting and laughing.

“I heard there’s a new female at Moonlight Bar tonight.”

“No way? Why would a female make such a reckless choice?”

“Exactly. You know the bar’s revenue affects the reduction of criminal sentences. Moonlight’s been declining; it barely draws a hundred customers a day. Where’s the income supposed to come from?”

Of course, none of them considered the possibility that a female could be working at the bar without a criminal record.

After all, even a D-tier female would have at least three males supporting her, so there was no need to work for a few starcoins.

And to work at a bar—a place defined as a punishment zone for female offenders—was even less likely.

For females seeking status on a second-class planet, it was easy enough: just find a male from that planet and have offspring. There was no need to waste years working.

Backstage at the bar, Jiang Qin sat before the makeup mirror, carefully applying her cosmetics.

Her shift was to begin at eight that evening, tasked with large-scale mental soothing.

Honestly, she had no real idea how to conduct the soothing properly. After all, in her previous life, after being returned, her family had completely neglected to send her to school.

Most of what she knew, she had learned on her own through the neural interface.

Speaking of which, her neural device suddenly buzzed.

Jiang Qin looked at the incoming call with cold indifference.

She didn’t answer, but since the device was linked to Jiang Yulian’s, the call was forcibly connected on the other end.

“Where have you gone? Why aren’t you home? You know Ru Meng got discharged today, and you deliberately ran away to embarrass her?”

Jiang Qin watched the angry face of Jiang Yulian on the screen, feeling no sting of pain—not even numbness anymore.

Before she could respond, Jiang Yulian noticed her makeup—her slender, oval face emphasized by winged eyeliner, a tear mole at the corner of her eye, and most striking of all, her blood-red lips.

This face bore a faint resemblance to her first partner, causing Jiang Yulian to look somewhat dazed.

To be honest, as a B-tier female, Jiang Yulian had never had fewer than five partners, several of whom had died over the years.

So any affection she claimed for that male was false; it simply reminded her of the feelings she had when she first conceived.

But—

Thinking of the trouble this offspring had caused since returning filled her with frustration and resentment.

“Why are you dressed like that so late at night? Come home and apologize to Ru Meng this instant. She’s already agreed to forgive you once for my sake, but you must promise not to bully her again. If there’s a next time, you’re going to the prison to atone!”

Jiang Yulian frowned throughout, her words dripping with disdain for her own daughter.

Suddenly, Jiang Qin smiled weakly, her fragile face like a delicate flower blooming for the first time.

“I won’t apologize. If you want to report me, go ahead. I doubt Ru Meng has the courage to do so.”

With that, she ended the call and ripped the neural device from her wrist.

The sudden, rough movement left her slender, pale wrist red and marked.

Lowering her gaze, Jiang Qin recalled her previous life.

Faced with Ru Meng’s false accusations and feigned forgiveness, she had refused firmly and reported it to the authorities.

She had nothing to fear if she was innocent; the ones who should be afraid of the investigation were not her.

Even if the home surveillance was sabotaged, she had experience. The moment Ru Meng tried to block her, she had started recording through the neural device.

In other words, the device she just tore off contained video evidence of her innocence.

But—

None of that mattered anymore.

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

Jiang Yulian had deleted the footage—the neural device allowed her to manipulate connected devices.

Now Jiang Qin understood: the truth was irrelevant; what mattered was whose side people took.

This time, she would not report it, nor would she expect any reactions from her family upon learning the truth.

Still, she needed to safeguard the evidence of her innocence.

Jiang Qin quickly created a temporary account on the StarNet using the neural device she had removed.

Such accounts were like guest accounts on Earth apps—used for temporary storage and deleted after long inactivity. To own the account fully, she would need to bind it to a personal neural device later.

She had to work soon and had no starcoins to buy a new device, so this would have to do for now.

As for the device Jiang Yulian gave her, Jiang Qin casually tossed it into the bar’s disposal bin before going on stage.

***

“The female is about to perform!”

“So exciting! I wonder what the new female looks like? I heard she’s only eighteen, just reached adulthood.”

“Does that mean she doesn’t have a partner yet?” The man’s face was filled with anticipation.

For struggling male beasts like them, having a female partner mattered more than whether she was a criminal.

A boy nearby sneered, “What? You, an old male, still have the nerve to covet a young female? She may be young, but she’s not stupid.”

“You!!” The man flew into a rage, ready to strike.

Fortunately, his companion grabbed him just in time. “Cool down, Kelu. Damaging the bar means you’ll have to pay compensation!

Besides, the female is about to go on stage for soothing. If you act now, you’ll be kicked out…”

Tonight’s starcoins would be wasted.

Though furious, Kelu grit his teeth and held back.

Such was the life of low-tier males in the galaxy—they always weighed every risk and benefit just to survive.

“Enough talk, she’s coming out!”

The bar, once bathed in warm light, suddenly darkened.

Only the central stage was lit by a few beams of white light.

The music stopped.

Everyone eagerly watched the stage, waiting for the graceful figure to appear.

At that moment, the cage in the center of the stage opened, and Jiang Qin rose from the piano bench.

Clad in a white dress, her black hair pinned up, lips crimson like fresh blood.

Her lowered eyes, pale and slightly sickly skin, and frail frame made her seem especially captivating.

The bar erupted with noise—gasps and admiration.

“She looks so frail. Is she ill?”

“The owner said she’s not a criminal female; she’s working because she lacks money. Oh my god!!”

“Ahhh, who would let such a beautiful female work so hard? Are all her males useless?”

“Is she here to perform soothing? What are those things she placed in front of her?”