Chapter 446: Chapter 444: Concert in Progress

For her first-ever concert, Jiang Qin naturally gave tickets to everyone she knew well.

As a result, pretty much everyone she knew was gathered at the venue.

Even the Night Bar closed for the day. All its employees came to the concert, along with several of their partners and family members.

Although Shi Lichuan couldn’t make it to the venue, his family was there. They had wanted to visit when Jiang Qin gave birth, after all.

When they heard about the concert, they decided to just wait for it.

It wasn’t exactly that they waited on purpose; they also had to consider that the New Year was approaching.

They really wanted to visit the Federation, but they were afraid of bothering their son and his family during the holiday. Besides, they had already returned to their home planet.

So they didn’t make the difficult trip, sparing everyone the trouble of having to host them during the New Year festivities.

This was just the nature of Interstellar family ties. Once children married, it was essentially like they had started their own separate branch of the family. The time they spent together became very, very scarce.

Some might not even see each other once a decade.

In addition to the Shi Family, the Lan Family was also there: Mrs. Lan, her partners, and Lan Yuyan’s two younger brothers.

Lan Yan, however, was still nowhere to be seen.

From the Empire, Long Yue had also made the trip. She had originally planned on visiting her little niece, but the political situation in the Empire had made it inconvenient for her to travel.

It still wasn’t completely safe, but since she was only staying for a few days, there shouldn’t be any issues.

Yuan Ling had no family or friends, so he hadn’t given out any tickets.

As for Yun Xie, several of his old brothers-in-arms had come, and one of them even brought his partner.

They were all fans of Jiang Qin and hadn’t been able to snag tickets, so they were thrilled to receive them.

"Boss, you’re the man! I thought I was going to miss this concert for sure!!"

"Yeah, I was wondering if I should ask you for a ticket. My female master really wanted to come."

Yun Xie’s lips curled into a smile; he was in an excellent mood.

Since getting married, he had only been able to get together with them on the Star Network. Of course, that was mainly because his brothers were always busy.

There were often months at a time when they couldn’t contact each other, so they were naturally happy to be reunited now.

"It’s still hard to believe, thinking back on it. Who would’ve thought our boss would get snatched up so fast?"

They all knew it would be easy for someone like Yun Xie to find a female, but marrying an S-level female was a different story entirely.

So when they first learned that the female he’d found was only C-level, they were heartbroken, even though they supported his decision.

They all thought he had given up on himself.

But as it turned out, not only was he alive and well, but the female he chose was suddenly revealed to be S-level.

And on top of it all, he was already a father!

It just goes to show you how unpredictable life can be.

Who would have thought that their whole group would end up becoming fans of Miss Jiang Qin?

"Boss, you’d better work hard to stay in her good graces. Whether we get to come to the next concert depends entirely on you!"

"That’s right, work hard at it! And you should pay more attention to your skincare and health routine, too."

"Boss, you want me to send you that ’Compendium of Sweet Nothings’ I bought on the Star Network?"

Yun Xie shot him down. "Get lost. My Qinqin doesn’t like that stuff."

"Boss, that’s where you’re wrong. When a female says she doesn’t like it, it means she definitely does!"

"Heh..." Yun Xie mercilessly shoved away the head leaning in toward him.

"Hey, don’t be like that, Boss! I’m only telling you this because it’s you. I wouldn’t teach this to anyone else.

After all, if I taught anyone else, I’d just be creating more competition for myself! But you and I, we go way back!"

"Just listen to the music and shut up."

"But it hasn’t started yet!"

But Yun Xie had already resolved to ignore him. The group continued to joke and mess around until the concert began, at which point they finally fell silent.

***

Jiang Qin’s look for the night was particularly magnificent.

Her first outfit was a long, flowing golden gown with a wide skirt, embellished with tassels. The opening song was "As Wished."

The familiar instrumental introduction began to play.

She slowly began to sing:

"You are the distant road

The lamp in the dense fog across the wilds

I am a child, walking within your gaze

You are the bright moon and the gentle breeze..."

The powerful and uplifting song, filled with beautiful wishes, instantly stirred memories in many people.

Memories of the Star Network back then.

Many of the fans in the audience had once been skeptics.

After all, who would have believed that singing could soothe spiritual power rampages? And yet now, even watching a stream of her performance could lower one’s Riot Value.

Two years ago, no one would have dared to believe the Riot Value could be lowered so easily.

Well, not *that* easily. After all, besides Jiang Qin, no one else was currently capable of it.

No one understood what the crucial difference was.

They were all Beastman females singing the exact same song, yet when other females sang, it had no effect.

There had been a few successes, but they were a far cry from Jiang Qin, and their abilities were unstable.

The only thing to do was to continue the research.

No one was sure what the research institutes were actually studying, but it wasn’t like the general public cared anyway.

After all, people had been living this way for millennia and were long accustomed to the status quo.

So ordinary people like them had long since let go of that obsession; it was only the high-ranking officials and researchers who refused to give up hope.

In fact, another theory was circulating privately among the populace.

Many said it was perhaps karmic retribution, a turning of the wheel.

History told them that starting three thousand years ago, females had been oppressed for millennia. The current reversal of their status, they believed, was because some mysterious entity could no longer bear to watch.

Otherwise, why was it that only in the Empire and the Federation did this kind of relationship between females and males exist?

The Myriad Races, the aboriginals of the cosmos, were not like this at all.

In fact, among the Myriad Races, females had held a revered status from ancient times to the present day.

...

Seeing the massive number of Spiritual Bodies materializing all around, no one was surprised anymore. It had become a common sight.

Everyone excitedly sang along:

"And I will love the world that you love

May your smile be as you wish it

I stumble as I reach to hold your hand

Please take me to tomorrow..."

When the song ended, Jiang Qin wasn’t even out of breath.

Standing center stage, gazing out at the venue that could hold thirty million people, she felt she had no regrets in this life.

"Everyone, I’m sure you all know why I chose this song to open the show, right?"

"WE DO!!" the crowd roared back.

Jiang Qin smiled. "Because for me, this song was a beginning."

"When I was at my most lost and destitute, the Night Bar gave me a job. And on my very first day of work, the song I sang was ’As Wished.’"

"That’s why today, I chose to open with it once again."

"I want to thank all my fans who have supported me all this time, following me from a tiny little bar all the way to this grand stage!"

"I’m truly, truly so happy, because I have so, so many kindred spirits."

For someone who loved to sing, there was no greater joy than having so many people who loved to hear her.