Chapter 10: History

Not only the Rose Bar, but many bars along Tai Street also noticed that today their regular customers were down by one-fifth.

Only bars employing B-level females or several C-level females remained unaffected.

However, these two types of bars shared one common trait: they were very expensive!

Although many had seen the trending topic on StarNet, most people were only interested because Jiang Qin’s singing was so pleasant to hear.

They were mostly middle- and lower-class males living in the city, who cared more about practical benefits.

So only a few, out of curiosity or simply a love of music, went to Moonlight Bar.

Most people still obediently went to their usual bars, ordering a beer-flavored suppressant, waiting for that faint comfort.

Even so, this small crowd was enough to fill Moonlight Bar.

Keep in mind, this bar could hold twenty thousand people!

At the entrance, You Wei helped collect the admission fees, never losing his smile.

“Boss, will your little female sing those two songs again tonight?”

“Not necessarily. What Miss Jiang sings is up to her; our bar doesn’t interfere.”

After all, they hired her as a comfort specialist, not a resident singer!

Singing was just Miss Jiang’s unique way of providing comfort. As long as she was comforting, whether singing, dancing, zoning out, or playing games, it was all fine.

“Can’t you talk to her? We came here just to hear a live concert.”

You Wei sighed and said, “Sir, this is a bar, not a concert hall…”

“I know it’s a bar, but the group comfort from C-level females is basically optional for most. You might as well just hold a concert and maybe get even more people.”

Those two songs had surpassed ten million views within an hour of being uploaded.

Although that number was small in a federation with nearly a hundred billion people, at least a third of the population lived on barren planets or places without any signal.

Excluding the elderly, children, those who disliked music, or didn’t use the internet, ten million views in one hour was impressive.

And the number was still rapidly rising.

Netizens left comments like:

“Hard to believe such quality songs are original works by our federation’s singers.”

“The above comment is wrong—it’s not a singer, but a comfort specialist!”

“True, very few female orc-like beings are willing to enter the entertainment industry. Some films even have males cross-dressing as female roles.”

“I think we’re not short on C-level females in the federation, but quality singers are rare. This little female should leave bars and become a composer or singer to slap the Empire in the face.”

“Every year the Empire earns tons of credits from us; it’s our federation’s entertainment industry that’s disappointing.”

From songs to TV and movies, none could match the Empire’s offerings.

Mainly because of stories about cosmic wars, the Empire’s productions were all new and, due to abundant funds, entirely real performances.

They also spent heavily on redesigning the appearance of equipment.

It looked incredibly thrilling.

Unlike our federation, always trailing behind and following trends.

Over time, the criticism only grew louder.

***

On the home planet.

At Tianwen Entertainment Company, a man with long, water-blue hair tied behind him sat with his eyes closed, quietly listening to music.

As head of the composition department, Lan Yuyan made time every day, no matter how busy, to listen to the top songs from both the federation and the Empire.

It was already June 25th. Usually, singers aiming to make this month’s charts would have released their songs before mid-month.

By the end of the month, no one released new songs, saving them for the next month’s rankings.

After all, who would be foolish enough to compete with a whole month’s worth of plays with just five days?

Unexpectedly, today he found such a fool.

“Jiang Qin? A newcomer?”

At first, Lan Yuyan wanted to mock the person for poor timing, but as he watched these two songs climb the charts faster and faster, he reconsidered.

He decided to listen and see what charm these songs possessed to repeatedly attract people suffering from entertainment fatigue.

Of course, it could also be that the newcomer was being heavily promoted by capital, which would make the play count suspicious.

He first opened “Anonymous Comfort.”

Only three hours after release, the two songs had already squeezed into the bottom hundred of the charts.

And they were still slowly rising.

“I no longer shed tears…”

From the first line, Lan Yuyan recognized this was a blessed little female, likely an orc with mermaid genes.

Her voice was ethereal and pure, as if his ears were enveloped by soft clouds.

Especially the lyrics, which struck deep into the heart.

They reminded him of his youth.

Back then, he was stubborn—never turning back until hitting a wall. Whatever he wanted to do, even if it meant being bruised and bleeding, he was determined to succeed.

But late at night, he would lick his wounds alone.

The warmth in the lyrics was what he yearned for but never received.

He had never been comforted or blessed by anyone. To reach this point, he had bitten through pain and broken his back.

After listening once, Lan Yuyan silently spent two credits to download the song and listened two or three more times before calming down.

At this moment, he formed an impression of Jiang Qin.

Someone capable of writing such a song must be gentle, warm, and fond of smiling…

With a certain stirring in his heart, Lan Yuyan opened “As Wished.”

He had higher expectations for this song, ranked above “Anonymous Comfort.”

You are the distant path,

I am the child walking in your gaze.

Lan Yuyan listened quietly, feeling complex emotions after finishing “As Wished.”

He did not deny the beauty of the song, but he loved even more the beautiful imagery described in the lyrics.

In the history of interstellar development, there had been peaceful times.

Back then, technology was undeveloped; ancient people used matches and lighters. Every household ate white rice, vegetables, fruits, and raised meat animals.

However, such peaceful days lasted only a hundred years in history.

With technological progress and environmental pollution, their home planet began self-purification; all flora and fauna grew wildly and mutated, natural disasters became frequent, and human living space shrank continuously.

There was no choice; their ancestors had to abandon the home planet and migrate to other worlds.

But the universe was no safer.

Besides humans, many other races lived in it.