Chapter 7: Gaining Some Notoriety

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Although no one truly believed that Qin Jiang’s singing could soothe spiritual energy, they all recognized the quality of her voice. As a result, many people edited clips from An Zeyu’s live stream tonight and uploaded them to StarNet. The titles all focused on Qin Jiang:

“Information Wanted on This Female Everywhere!”

“A Struggling Bar Welcomes Two Thousand Guests Overnight—All Because of Her!”

“Can Singing Really Calm Spiritual Energy? Is It a Rare Gift or Just a Publicity Stunt?”

Many users, initially drawn in by the headlines, found themselves captivated by the two songs. They eagerly asked in the comments if these were new releases and when they might be uploaded. Some even speculated whether Qin Jiang was a beast female with mermaid genes, given how beautiful and emotionally stirring her singing was.

In today’s fiercely competitive galaxy, everyone valued spiritual power and combat strength above all. Entertainment was scarce. Music, for example, was almost nonexistent in the Federation, with fewer than ten new songs annually, most of which came from the Empire. After all, most beast folk with mermaid genes resided in the Empire, rarely drifting beyond its borders. Even those who did were often genetically mixed and had lost the mermaid’s signature melodious voice.

Therefore, when people heard this fresh, unique style, their first thought was that Qin Jiang must possess mermaid genes. In reality, she had inherited the rabbit genes from Yulian Jiang. Regardless of her genetics, the fact remained that her singing was enchanting. Netizens scoured the web, eager to find her account and urge her to upload her songs.

Unfortunately, no one succeeded. Qin Jiang had never had an account before; she had been undocumented until recently, only obtaining citizenship after starting work. Her past was a blank slate.

***

After work, Qin Jiang was not feeling well either. She had thought singing two songs wouldn’t be tiring, but upon stepping down from the stage, waves of dizziness and nausea overwhelmed her. She knew these were symptoms of spiritual energy depletion.

“Miss Jiang, the boss asked me to bring you this spiritual energy recovery potion,” said a male server dressed in a suit, respectfully holding a tray as he knocked on her door.

Surprised, Qin Jiang accepted the potion. “Thank you.”

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Though it was just a low-grade spiritual energy recovery potion, it sold for 18,888 star coins on the market. The bar’s entrance fee was 888 coins per person, meaning over twenty guests’ fees would be needed to cover the cost of one bottle.

The Moonlight Bar hadn’t seen more than a hundred customers a day for quite some time. So she hadn’t expected the boss to send her such a gift. In this day and age, bosses who didn’t treat their employees like beasts of burden were exceedingly rare.

But thinking back to the sudden influx of customers in the second half of the evening, Qin Jiang understood—it must have been a bonus.

She slipped the potion into her bag and left the bar, heading toward the apartment assigned by the boss.

Taiyi Street was bustling at this hour. Muscular males with beast ears, tails, or scales covering their arms—half-beasts—all towering at least 1.9 meters tall. Compared to them, Qin Jiang, only 1.7 meters, looked particularly petite.

Because she was female, many males cast subtle glances her way. If it weren’t for the stringent female protection laws in the galaxy, some might have dared to approach her.

Stopping or surrounding females in public was illegal, and bothering them could lead to criminal charges if the female reported it to the security forces. So these males dared only to cast passionate looks or take off their shirts to attract her attention, but none dared to approach for her Lightbrain ID.

“Little female, need a companion? I’m a B-level male. Lightbrain ID is ***.”

“Little female, I’m also B-level, can cook, do laundry, and fight alien beasts. Consider me. Lightbrain ID is ***.”

Opportunities favored the prepared. While these males couldn’t approach for her ID, they could broadcast their own IDs from a distance—maybe the little female would notice.

After all, spotting a lone female walking the streets nowadays was a rare sight!

Qin Jiang chose to ignore their enthusiasm, not even daring to smile politely lest she be misunderstood. She kept her head down and walked on.

Soon she reached the apartment complex on this street and entered by facial recognition.

The apartment assigned by Youwei had two bedrooms and a living room—not large, but equipped with everything she needed, including a housekeeping robot to manage chores.

Since leaving the Jiang family, she had no star coins left and couldn’t afford anything—luckily, the bar provided meals.

Her preservation fridge was stocked with a month’s supply of nutrient liquids in various flavors.

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The nutrient liquids didn’t taste good—thick and watery, filling the stomach with just one tube, though it felt like eating nothing.

But for Qin Jiang, who had struggled on a barren planet for eighteen years, having fresh supplies was already a blessing.

In the past, fresh anything was a luxury. The nutrient liquids she scavenged from the garbage dumps were always expired; one tube had to last three days, leaving her perpetually hungry.

To save enough for a spaceship ticket, she rarely spent star coins earned from selling scavenged items, always hoarding them.

By age fifteen, she had saved enough.

But then, a half-beast uncle who often cared for her suffered severe injuries and urgently needed a mid-level healing potion.

She used all her savings to buy it.

After all, a spaceship ticket could be saved for over a few years, even ten—but a life lost was lost forever.

Unfortunately, that uncle died in the alien beast storm when she was sixteen.

Because she had disguised herself as a pure human male, the uncle saw her as half a son. Without his protection in those years, she might have died many times—killed during robberies.

Staring at the empty room, Qin Jiang pushed those harsh memories aside.

If the uncle knew she had finally escaped that barren planet and obtained citizenship on a Class Two planet, he would surely be happy for her.

She had a home now.

Work at the bar for five more years, and she would own this apartment.

This would be her home—her own.

***

At the Jiang residence, it was already ten o’clock at night.

But the family had not yet gone to rest, all sitting on the living room sofa.

Yulian Jiang’s face was dark with fury. After pressing her Lightbrain several times, she tore it off angrily and smashed it onto the floor.

Fortunately, the Lightbrain was well-made, bouncing a few times without breaking.

“She turned off her Lightbrain!”

She hadn’t considered that Qin Jiang would destroy it outright. Without a Lightbrain, Qin Jiang would never receive allowance money from her again.