Interstellar president (1): “I’ll give you one million a month, will you follow me?”

Interstellar Year 1024, March — Capital Star of the Human Alliance.

It had been over a thousand years since humanity entered the interstellar age.

Far from their homeland, humans had been living and thriving on new planets for a millennium.

Zhou Qinghao got up from bed, took the clothes handed to him by the intelligent assistant, and said, “Play the morning news.”

The sound of the morning news immediately filled the room.

“Yesterday, a mining accident occurred on resource star H12. The Alliance Investigation Bureau has begun an inquiry…”

“It is reported that the Lymont delegation will arrive in the Alliance in a few months…”

“Our country’s renowned scientist, Raelmann, has been diagnosed with Gene Collapse Syndrome. The government has decided to allocate ten percent of next year’s fiscal revenue to research on the syndrome…”

…

When Zhou Qinghao heard the words “Gene Collapse Syndrome,” he paused.

Gene Collapse Syndrome was a terminal illness.

A thousand years ago, when humans left their home planet and began living on entirely new worlds, many could not adapt to the new environment and began experiencing gene collapse.

Every planet had differences in rotation time, gravity, air composition, radiation, sunlight intensity, and so on.

Moving to a new planet was like putting a freshwater fish into the ocean — it simply can’t adapt.

Even though humans initially simulated Earth-like environments and lived under protective domes, people still kept falling ill and dying.

People had no choice but to rely on gene editing to modify the human body so it could adapt to alien worlds.

But that didn’t free humanity from Gene Collapse Syndrome completely.

A thousand years had passed. Humans no longer needed to live inside protective domes, but Gene Collapse Syndrome remained a nightmare for all.

Many seemingly healthy individuals inexplicably contracted the disease, and once it started, their bodily functions began to fail, inevitably leading to death.

Those diagnosed with Gene Collapse Syndrome typically only lived for a few months, although there were many drugs and treatments available.

Taking medication alone could extend life by about a year, and full medical treatment in a hospital could prolong it by several years.

However, there had never been a case where Gene Collapse Syndrome was cured.

Zhou Qinghao looked at himself in the mirror.

He was thirty-six years old—not exactly young, but not old either.

He was also extremely wealthy, ranked among the top one hundred on the Alliance’s wealth list.

By all accounts, he should have been able to live happily for several more decades.

But just a few days ago, he was diagnosed with Gene Collapse Syndrome.

He didn’t want to go to the hospital for treatment.

He didn’t want to spend his days lying in a medical pod, his body covered in tubes.

He chose to take medication to slow the disease.

According to the doctors’ predictions, he had about a year and a half left to live. During this time, his body would gradually deteriorate until death.

He didn’t have much time left, and in what remained, he wanted to live according to his own desires.

Zhou Qinghao brushed his teeth and washed his face slowly, then helplessly realized—he didn’t know what he truly wanted.

He was born late to his parents. When he was fourteen, his father was diagnosed with Gene Collapse Syndrome.

To stay alive long enough to see him grow up, his father spent a fortune hiring doctors, moved into a treatment pod, and used every possible method to delay the illness. Against all odds, he lived for another six years after diagnosis.

During those six years, Zhou Qinghao worked hard to learn all kinds of knowledge. Finally, at the age of twenty, he took over his father’s business.

He had a strong talent for business. Over the next ten-plus years, he led the Zhou family company to flourish.

But during that time, his mother also contracted Gene Collapse Syndrome and passed away.

And now, he had the disease too.

His family’s gene stability was clearly quite poor.

“Gene stability” was a new term that arose as more people were diagnosed with Gene Collapse Syndrome.

People with high gene stability were less likely to develop the condition. Those with low gene stability had a much higher chance of falling ill.

Gene stability was also partially hereditary.

As a result, many people nowadays chose partners with high gene stability.

After getting himself ready, Zhou Qinghao stepped out of his room and saw the butler had prepared a lavish breakfast for him.

He didn’t have much appetite, so he ate a little and got into his car.

In the past, he would’ve gone straight to the company, but today, he felt like going for a drive.

The car was fully automated. Zhou Qinghao told it to drive randomly, and it automatically mapped out a scenic route, choosing a lower-altitude airpath and flew off.

Zhou Qinghao leaned against the car window, quietly observing everything around him.

In all those previous years, he had been so busy that he never really took the time to appreciate the scenery of the Capital Star.

He had truly missed out on a lot.

As the car moved forward slowly, Zhou Qinghao suddenly noticed a young man sitting on a park bench with red, swollen eyes.

At the young man’s feet was a pile of empty liquor bottles.

Zhou Qinghao had a habit of waking up early—it wasn’t even eight in the morning yet.

Judging by the young man’s appearance, he had likely stayed up all night drinking in the park.

Was he troubled by something?

Zhou Qinghao’s full attention was drawn to the young man.

His car continued moving forward, and he would soon lose sight of the young man. Realizing this, Zhou Qinghao immediately ordered the car to turn around.

Soon, the young man appeared in front of him once more.

He was a very handsome young man, full of masculine charm.

He had stubble on his face and a slightly disheveled look. His clothes were obviously cheap, and the bottles by his feet were the cheapest beer available on the market.

His financial situation probably wasn’t good, and he seemed to be going through something difficult—enough to spend the entire night drinking cheap alcohol in a park.

Zhou Qinghao felt his heart beating faster and faster in his chest.

Wild thoughts began to form in his mind.

In his thirty-some years of life, he had never thought about falling in love, never even considered being with anyone.

But the moment he saw this young man, he suddenly wanted to be with him.

In the past, even if he had such thoughts, he would’ve slowly approached the person, gotten to know them—but now, he was dying.

Zhou Qinghao brought the car to a stop in front of the young man and looked at him. “I’ll give you one million a month. Would you be willing to be with me?”

Gu Juntian looked up and saw a brand-new model of flying car. This car had top-tier safety features and was made of all kinds of rare materials—one of these cost over a hundred million.

Most people only earned a few thousand a month. A hundred-million-dollar car was beyond reach for ordinary people.

And now, from its window appeared a handsome face—a man exuding mature charm—offering one million a month to keep him.

Gu Juntian had fully intended to refuse, but for some reason, at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to say no.

He hadn’t been in this world for long.

Just after arriving, he found himself passed out drunk on a park bench—along with the memories of the body’s original owner.

The original owner was a young man who had just graduated from university.

He was born into a single-parent household and never had a father growing up.

His mother hadn’t gone to college and had no particular skills. She worked in the community, taking care of and accompanying elderly people who lived alone. Thanks to the help of intelligent robots, the job wasn’t difficult, but the pay was low—only six thousand a month.

The original owner’s mother was determined to send him to college. She had been saving for his tuition for years and lived very frugally. When he was young, he often ate the meals she brought home from work, and the clothes he wore were ones she had altered from second-hand donations.

Fortunately, the original owner was smart and eventually got accepted into university.

The money his mother had saved was enough to support him comfortably through college. But while he was there, he fell in love with an orphan named Ning Jianuo.

Ning Jianuo was a baby-faced boy. His parents had both died from Gene Collapse Syndrome. He had lost them while still in his teens. His tuition was paid for with loans, and his living expenses came from school poverty grants.

The school gave impoverished students a monthly living stipend of 1,500.

The cheapest meal set in the cafeteria cost 15 credits, and 1,500 a month was just enough to barely fill a student’s stomach. Anything beyond that—like daily necessities or social activities—was a struggle.

To save money, Ning Jianuo often split one meal into two.

The original owner felt sorry for him and started buying him food and looking after him in all aspects of life.

His mother gave him 4,000 a month for living expenses, and he spent nearly 2,000 of it on Ning Jianuo.

Naturally, the two of them started dating.

Their relationship lasted for three years. The original owner had even made plans to marry Ning Jianuo after graduation. He had told his mother about having a boyfriend. But to his surprise, right after graduation, they broke up.

Ning Jianuo had found a wealthy boyfriend and dumped him without hesitation.

Heartbroken, the original owner spent his last bit of money on alcohol and drank alone in the park to drown his sorrows.

That was the original owner’s memory. Gu Juntian also saw what came after.

After getting drunk, the original owner woke up sometime past 8 a.m. He was about to head to work when a luxury car pulled up in front of him.

A man in his thirties rolled down the window and asked if he was willing to be with him—for a monthly offer of one million.

The original owner had grown up in poverty and harbored resentment toward the rich.

If it had been any other time, he would’ve cursed the man out and told him to get lost.

But this time, not only was he heartbroken, he also recognized the man.

This man was Zhou Qinghao—and the wealthy man Ning Jianuo had left him for was none other than Zhou Qinghao’s nephew!

Impulsively, the original owner agreed and said he was willing to be with Zhou Qinghao.

And just like that, he became Zhou Qinghao’s lover.

Zhou Qinghao never did anything inappropriate to him. He simply took him along to go hiking, swimming, dining, and watching holographic movies.

But the original owner grew more and more dissatisfied with Zhou Qinghao.

Zhou Qinghao casually spent tens of thousands on a single meal, living a lifestyle of luxury that the original owner could’ve never imagined. Naturally, he was jealous.

In his mind, Zhou Qinghao was nothing more than a twisted old man who toyed with poor young men.

The original owner resented Zhou Qinghao deeply. Then, rumors surfaced online claiming that Zhou Qinghao had secretly set up a human experimentation lab to find a cure for his Gene Collapse Syndrome.

At the time, Zhou Qinghao had been spending nearly all his time with the original owner—he hadn’t had time to run any secret labs—but the original owner believed the rumor, thinking all rich people were evil.

On top of that, Ning Jianuo came back to him, claiming that he had always loved him…

So when the media asked the original owner about Zhou Qinghao, he said many bad things about him—and even claimed he had been forced into the relationship.