"Miss Jiang!"
"Miss Jiang!!"
…
Suddenly, the entire bar erupted with voices calling her name.
Jiang Qin blinked in surprise, then offered a soft smile, her pale face glowing gently beneath the lights. A breeze lifted the fringe of her hair from her forehead.
In that moment, it felt as though she had returned to the stage of her very first life.
Back then, many of the things she did were arranged by the company or sponsors, often following a pre-written script. But the fans beneath the stage—they had truly loved her.
At that time, she often thought:
If one day, I could stand on stage without anyone telling me what to do—if I could just be myself—that would be enough.
Now, the people in the audience had changed.
And she—standing on the stage—could finally be herself.
After a moment of thought, Jiang Qin leaned closer to the mic and softly said, "Thank you all for supporting me—and for supporting Moonlight Bar.
I'm feeling in a pretty good state today, so I'll sing one more song. This one's called 'To Those Who Love Me, Thank You.'"
**"Sometimes we're near, sometimes far—
Our distance changes like the stars.
Clinging close, yet torn apart,
Hearts divided by heaven and earth.
It's hard to define just what we are.
I'm your shining star,
And you… are the one who knows me."**
Under the dim, mellow lights, the entire bar listened in quiet reverence.
The man who had shouted earlier looked even more moved now. If not for his friends restraining him, he might've shouted again.
In a shadowy corner booth, a striking man with flaming red hair downed a blood-red glass of expensive suppressant in one gulp.
Seated beside him were two other men—one with cropped white hair, the other with long, flowing blue. All three wore high-grade combat suits, clearly standing apart from the typical rough-edged mercenaries.
The red-haired man smirked. "This little female is quite something. Listen to these lyrics—'To those who love me, thank you… I'm the star, you're the confidant.'"
He scoffed, "Saying thank you, but really she's warning that guy who just shouted. Right? Drawing the line between her and him."
The white-haired man stayed silent, sipping his suppressant slowly.
All three were S-rank males. They'd merely dropped by the bar while on a mission to buy suppressants. To them, the soothing effects of a female's pheromones were negligible.
The only thing worth noting in this rundown little place… was the girl's voice. Her songs were genuinely beautiful.
In fact, Bai Mufeng—the white-haired one—had been surprised to find himself momentarily moved.
If not for their tight schedule, he might've stayed a few days longer.
The blue-haired man's voice was warm and gentle. "Maybe you're overthinking it."
"Ha," Gu Tianyou rolled his eyes crudely. "Don't kid yourself. You know how these females look down on lower-ranking males.
She let that guy off earlier to act magnanimous in public—but she's worried he might get delusional. So she sings this to remind him: 'Know your place.'
A star and her fan. Isn't that just the difference between worship and being worshipped?"
He leaned back, scoffing. "Females like that all love to fake it. Just like Bai Sisi—fake to the end."
The more Gu Tianyou spoke, the more convinced he became.
Even though she was only a C-rank female, she still acted like she was above the rest—like no male in the galaxy deserved her.
All because she could sing.
Jiang Qin, of course, had no idea someone in the audience was misinterpreting her.
She hadn't planned this song in advance. It was purely spontaneous.
It wasn't even one of her pre-recorded pieces—just a melody she suddenly felt like sharing.
Once, she too had stood in the crowd, listening to her idol.
Now, she borrowed that same song… to thank her own listeners.
"Let me sing this song of love,
To show my heartfelt gratitude.
To those who love me—
Truly, thank you.
I cherish our quiet understanding…"
She didn't know if the bar patrons would ever become her true fans.
But right now, in this moment… they were her loyal audience.
Meanwhile, back in the lounge, Jiang Qin was replenishing her spiritual energy. An Zeyu immediately ran a scan on his purification level, brimming with anticipation.
Two songs—1% purification drop.
He had mentally prepared himself for this. With so many people in the bar tonight, Jiang Qin's mental power was bound to be stretched thin. The soothing effect would be diluted.
But even that 1% was a pleasant surprise.
Still, he felt torn inside.
On one hand, he wanted more people to hear Jiang Qin's voice—to help her climb the charts.
On the other hand, the more people there were, the less effective her spiritual comfort would become.
In the end, reason won out over sentiment.
He used all the revenue from the night's livestream to buy up suppressants and had them stocked directly at Moonlight Bar.
It was his way of supporting her.
Turns out, he wasn't the only one thinking this way. For a while, the bar's stock of suppressants nearly sold out.
Yuwei grinned so hard his eyes nearly disappeared, flashing rows of white teeth.
"Haha! We'll need to restock tomorrow. Let's see who still dares to say Moonlight's going under!"
Back when business was bad, even the suppressant suppliers demanded upfront payment—like they were scared he'd skip out. He'd suffered enough mockery back then.
Thinking of that, Yuwei straightened his spine.
Hmph. Tomorrow, those stuck-up bastards will eat their words.
"Say what you will, that little female really can sing," said the red-haired Gu Tianyou.
The blue-haired one gently reminded him, "Didn't she just say she doesn't like being called 'little female'?"
Gu Tianyou didn't care. "So what? I'm not chasing her. Why should I care what she likes?"
"You finished?" Bai Mufeng finally spoke.
"Just a sec," Gu Tianyou replied. "Didn't think this shabby little bar would sell suppressants this good. Seems better than the ones on the market.
I wonder if they've got some connection to Origin Corp—maybe access to the upgraded formula."
Bai Mufeng gave Gu Tianyou a silent, speechless look.
"You really never considered that the effect might have nothing to do with the suppressant?"
Without hesitation, Gu Tianyou replied, "If it's not the suppressant, then what else could it be? Don't tell me you think it's that little female's soothing ability?"
What a joke.
If a mere C-rank female could actually stir the mental energy of an S-rank male, that news would send the entire scientific institute into a frenzy trying to debunk it.
Impossible. Simply impossible.
Bai Mufeng didn't bother arguing. He merely closed his eyes and leaned back into the sofa, choosing silence over rebuttal.
The blue-haired man, on the other hand, appeared lost in thought.
After a while, he took out his neural pad and ran a scan on his Rage Index.
Suppressants could only reduce the index if paired with soothing pheromones. But they hadn't been soothed at all—so even drinking the highest-grade suppressant should've only been enough to maintain the current level, not reduce it.
So, when he saw that his rage index hadn't dropped a single point, he wasn't surprised in the least.
Lan Shaoyu couldn't help but wonder if he was losing his mind—actually entertaining such an absurd suspicion earlier.
With a soft chuckle, he powered off his neural pad.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qin was feeling noticeably better than she had the day before.
Yesterday, just two songs had drained her completely. But today—after performing the same number—she still had energy left in reserve.
Even so, her contract clearly stipulated two performances a night.
She was being paid a base salary, after all—there was no way she was going to volunteer for unpaid overtime.
So as far as she was concerned, her work for the day was complete.