"Not exactly. They live here."
"They live here?" Jiang Qin was surprised.
"Yes. They’re atoning for their cris, after all, so they’re not allowed to go wherever they please. They can only stay inside the bar.
Even to go out, they must file a request. Ordinarily, they can’t leave the bar."
That was sothing Jiang Qin didn’t know.
After all, she had no intention of committing a cri, so she had never looked deeply into the lives of female convicts.
She asked curiously, "What cris did they commit?"
Zhu Yongkang said, "Mia is twenty-three. A month ago, she beat one of her partners to death."
’What...?’ A chill went down Jiang Qin’s spine just hearing about it.
"Beat him to death?"
"Yes. Her partner had been poisoned while working out in the wilds, and both of his legs were amputated.
He could have gotten prosthetics, but there were still toxins in his body, so he couldn’t get them yet.
After he was disabled, Mia couldn’t stand the sight of him and would often beat him to vent her frustration.
So, after one particularly violent beating, she threw him out and wouldn’t let him back in the house. In the end, his wounds got infected and he died."
"The other female, Ping Yiqin, dashed her own cub to death."
Jiang Qin was speechless. ’...So it’s true. The won who get convicted are all pretty ruthless.’
Still, she didn’t understand. "Why would she kill her own cub like that?"
’Interstellar People value cubs so much. It doesn’t make any sense.’
Zhu Yongkang sighed. "Sigh... Because the child was male, and on top of that, he was blind."
"Huh? Didn’t they detect that during the prenatal checkups?"
’To be frank, the Interstellar governnt would never allow a disabled child like that to be born.
If not for the fact that you can’t tell whether a cub is a Beastman, a pure human, or a Half-beastman until they’re three years old...
...they would probably abort any non-Beastman fetuses in the womb.
After all, Interstellar resources are limited. The people in power... they don’t want anyone with bad Genes wasting resources by being alive.
Besides, people with pure human and Half-beastman Genes are short-lived to begin with.’
In response to her question, Zhu Yongkang explained, "The cub wasn’t born blind. He was hard at birth.
Another female was involved in that, and she’s also serving ti now."
Zhu Yongkang didn’t go into specifics.
Since he didn’t elaborate, Jiang Qin didn’t press the issue. She always knew when to respect boundaries with her curiosity.
...
As they approached the rooms where the two won lived inside the bar,
Zhu Yongkang stopped and said solemnly, "Those two won probably aren’t easy to get along with.
If they bully you, don’t just take it. Co find right away.
Rember, your Uncle You Wei and I will always be on your side. They’re just here to serve their sentences. If you can’t get along, we can terminate their contracts and replace them. It’s no big deal."
"Thank you, Uncle Yong Kang!" Jiang Qin was touched.
Truthfully, she hadn’t known Zhu Yongkang well at all before. It was only after You Wei left the bar that they began to interact more.
But she hadn’t expected him to state so firmly that he would choose her over two B-level female soothing masters.
After all, on paper, she was only C-level.
Generally speaking, even if he didn’t favor the two higher-Level won, he would have tried to play the diator and smooth things over.
Zhu Yongkang’s words, however, were undoubtedly sending her a signal.
A signal that she didn’t need to hold back.
*
KNOCK, KNOCK—
The knock echoed, but no one answered. Still, they could hear soone walking toward the door.
"What do you want?" The woman’s tone was impatient.
Zhu Yongkang’s expression remained neutral. "I’d like to introduce you. This is Miss Jiang Qin, whom I ntioned to you before."
Mia gave Jiang Qin a contemptuous, head-to-toe once-over.
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Miss Jiang Qin’s work hours are from 19:00 to 20:00. You start at 20:00. Don’t be late."
BAM—
Mia didn’t bother replying. She just turned, went back into her room, and slamd the door shut.
Zhu Yongkang still looked unbothered. "That’s just her temper. When you see her, you don’t have to be too friendly, or she’ll think you’re a pushover.
Just treat her the sa way she treats you.
Basically, don’t be too agreeable. Don’t give them any chance to bully you."
He was genuinely worried that Jiang Qin would be bullied by the two new won. After all, she looked like the delicate, easy-to-bully type.
Even with bodyguards and an assistant, he still found it worriso.
That was why he had deliberately brought her for an introduction, to make the two newcors understand Jiang Qin’s position here.
He had already told the two won before this.
He told them that Jiang Qin was the star of Moonlight, its very foundation.
But the two won had paid him no mind.
If the new batch of female convicts hadn’t all been so difficult to get along with, he would have already replaced them.
They certainly hadn’t been like this when he t them in prison.
...
Next, they arrived at Ping Yiqin’s door.
KNOCK, KNOCK—
"Coming!"
This woman seed a bit more pleasant than Mia.
Not only did she answer, but she also had a smile on her face when she opened the door.
Zhu Yongkang repeated what he’d said at Mia’s door. "This is Miss Jiang Qin, the one I ntioned to you."
"Ah~ I know! The star of our bar, right? Hello, hello! My na is Ping Yiqin. I’m older than you, so just call Sister Qin."
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face.
Jiang Qin smiled and shook her outstretched hand. "Sister Qin."
"I’ve heard of you before, Ah Qin. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?"
"Not at all."
"That’s good. I just arrived at Moonlight, and this is my first ti as a soothing master in a bar. I don’t really know the ropes.
I’ll have to trouble you to teach a few things from now on, Ah Qin."
Jiang Qin smiled. "There’s not much to teach, really. You just go out and perform the soothing when it’s your ti, and you’re off when your work is done. It’s an easy job."
"That’s true. After all, they wouldn’t arrange any work that isn’t easy for us won, would they?"
Compared to Mia’s cold indifference, Ping Yiqin was so effusive she acted like they were old friends.
You couldn’t tell at all that this was a woman who would dash her own cub to death, let alone a mother whose child had just died.
It was as if the child’s death hadn’t brought a single trace of negativity into her life.
This made Jiang Qin very wary.
Compared to soone like Mia, whose malice was plain to see, this type of person—who acted like your long-lost friend to your face while plotting behind your back—was far more terrifying.
As he had before, Zhu Yongkang reminded Ping Yiqin not to be late, then led Jiang Qin away.
After all, today was the grand opening, and he was terrified the two won would stir up trouble.
That’s why he repeatedly confird their start tis and reminded them not to be late.
According to the work schedule.
From now on, she would be on stage from 19:00 to 20:00 every night. She could split her performance, singing one song at the beginning and another at the end of the hour, or perform them back-to-back.
In any case, the timing was up to her.
Mia, on the other hand, would work from 20:00 to 20:30, and Ping Yiqin from 20:30 to 21:00.
Mia was on again from 21:00 to 21:30.
And Ping Yiqin from 21:30 to 22:00.
After 22:00, there would be no more soothing masters, just recorded music.
The bar closed at 5:00 in the morning.
It opened at 18:00 in the evening.
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