Interstellar president (4): Can his kidneys take it?

Zhou Qinghao watched Gu Juntian flee in a panic and found it a bit amusing.

He really hadn’t intended to do anything—he just wanted to hug Gu Juntian.

After everything that happened yesterday, his whole body ached today; he couldn’t take it anymore.

He felt like he needed to lie in bed all day.

Young people really do have strong bodies—Gu Juntian still had the energy to go to work.

Zhou Qinghao asked, “Where do you work?” He remembered that his company donated money every year to labs researching Gene Collapse Syndrome. It was possible that Gu Juntian worked at one of those labs in collaboration with his company.

Gu Juntian replied, “Right now I work in the lab at Minghui Pharmaceuticals, but our values don’t align, so I’ve decided to resign today and find another job.”

Zhou Qinghao was a bit speechless. Gu Juntian seemed to take work very seriously, but then he suddenly wanted to quit? You had to know, Minghui Pharmaceuticals was one of the top companies—getting a job there was like reaching the top in one leap for ordinary people.

The drug that extended his life by a year was produced by Minghui Pharmaceuticals.

“What kind of job are you planning to switch to?” Zhou Qinghao asked. “Do you want me to give you some advice?”

“I plan to switch to another lab and continue researching Gene Collapse Syndrome. I don’t need your advice,” Gu Juntian said.

Who knew if Zhou Qinghao, when giving advice, might start touching him? He wouldn’t be able to resist, and then the whole day would be ruined.

So, getting out of here quickly and focusing on his career was the right path!

Once Gu Juntian was fully dressed, he turned to look at Zhou Qinghao and quickly pulled the covers up over him.

He was full of youthful energy and had just gotten a taste—he couldn’t handle any more temptation.

After wrapping Zhou Qinghao up tightly, Gu Juntian instructed, “Rest well at home. I’m heading out.”

“Okay.” Zhou Qinghao really didn’t feel like getting up.

Staying in bed was something he had never done before, but today he was going to just lie there all day.

As soon as Gu Juntian got downstairs, the butler came over with a smile and asked if he needed anything.

Gu Juntian said, “Prepare some easy-to-digest food for Zhou Qinghao and bring it upstairs. Also, as quickly as possible, prepare some food I can take with me. I need to head out.”

“Understood.” The butler agreed and, before long, handed Gu Juntian a huge vegetable and beef wrap.

Gu Juntian: “…” That was… a bit much!

But he had used up a lot of energy last night—it would definitely come in handy.

The butler added, “Young Master Gu, there’s a car waiting outside. You can use it. It’s stocked with various drinks; feel free to choose whatever you like.”

“Alright, thank you.” Gu Juntian opened the door and saw a car parked out front—it was a bit more low-key than the one he had taken yesterday.

The layout of this car was the same as the one from yesterday. After Gu Juntian got in, he indeed found a variety of drinks on board.

He opened a bottle of milk and drank it while eating the wrap. By the time he finished, the car had already stopped in front of Minghui Pharmaceuticals’ lab.

Gu Juntian got out of the car and headed toward the lab. As soon as he walked in, the supervisor scolded him harshly: “Gu Juntian, do you even want this job? It was bad enough you took a day off yesterday—now you’re late today! Do you have any idea how busy the lab is? If the lab’s work gets delayed, can you take responsibility for that?”

Gu Juntian replied calmly, “I don’t want this job anymore. I’m here to resign.”

The original owner of this body had excellent academic performance, which was how he got into such a top-tier company like Minghui.

But after joining Minghui, his experience had been far from pleasant.

Minghui was an old and established company, and its lab was riddled with internal factions.

There was also a tradition of senior staff bullying newcomers.

After joining the lab, the original owner not only had to complete his own tasks but also help senior colleagues with their work—even serving them tea and doing chores that should have been handled by intelligent robots.

Moreover, their research work wasn’t actual R&D. It mostly involved customizing anti-gene collapse medication for the wealthy.

The original owner repeated the same tedious work day after day, constantly bullied by senior staff, and worked overtime every single day…

It was only after Ning Jiano broke up with him that he realized Ning had already fallen for someone else long ago.

Even more pitiful was the fact that everything he earned in a year at Minghui had been spent buying gifts for Ning Jiano.

When the supervisor heard Gu Juntian say he wanted to resign, he looked at him in disbelief. “Are you crazy? You’re just one month away from becoming a full-time employee.”

At their lab, interns earned ten thousand a month. After going full-time, the salary doubled to twenty thousand, along with various benefits—including free housing and food.

And with time, the salary would increase even more.

Gu Juntian said, “I’m not crazy. I want to resign. Can you process it quickly?” Since he hadn’t yet gone full-time, resigning should be straightforward.

“Gu Juntian, are you sure you want to quit? If you’re having a hard time, we can give you a few days off. You could even become a full-time employee early,” the supervisor said with a forced cough.

Gu Juntian looked at him and responded firmly, “I want to resign.”

The original owner had strong grades and impressive abilities. He had started interning at Minghui during his senior year of college and should have become a full-time employee two months ago under normal circumstances.

But because he had no background, they deliberately extended his internship by three months.

Gu Juntian couldn’t be bothered to argue with them—he just wanted to resign.

Seeing that Gu Juntian was determined to leave, the supervisor’s expression darkened. “If you want to quit, fine. But once you leave Minghui, it won’t be easy to find another job with this kind of stable and high income!”

Indeed, other labs couldn’t match Minghui’s benefits.

The free housing and meals alone were enough to attract many people.

But he didn’t need any of that.

Gu Juntian quickly completed the resignation process and left Minghui with his belongings. Without delay, he started familiarizing himself with the internet of this era while driving the car back to his own place.

The original owner lived in a very small rented apartment.

He had originally wanted to rent a bigger place to live with Ning Jiano, but since Ning Jiano wasn’t willing, he only rented a single room.

These types of apartments were government-owned, so renting and terminating the lease was simple and could be done entirely online.

After packing up his belongings and completing the lease cancellation, Gu Juntian returned to the car and drove toward the research park specifically built by the government for studying treatments for Gene Collapse Syndrome.

Many laboratories focused on Gene Collapse Syndrome were located there.

When Gu Juntian first arrived in this world, his initial plan was to report Zhou Jinhai’s illegal human experimentation lab, resign from Minghui, and then find a position at a government-backed laboratory in the park.

From there, he could demonstrate his abilities, work toward earning independent research credentials, and then conduct his own research.

The process would be a bit complicated, but it wouldn’t take too long—typically, it would take about one or two years to see results.

But now that he had slept with Zhou Qinghao, he needed to take responsibility for him.

Since he intended to take responsibility, he couldn’t let Zhou Qinghao die of Gene Collapse Syndrome. Ideally, his research needed to produce results within six months.

Time was tight. If he joined someone else’s lab, it would be difficult to achieve anything in just six months.

But he could establish his own lab.

Within this park, there were several vacant labs available for rent. Researchers or certain companies could lease them to conduct relevant studies.

Originally, he didn’t have the money to rent a lab. But now, he had the two million yuan Zhou Qinghao had given him.

Coincidentally, two million was just enough to cover one month’s rent for a lab.

As for the money needed to buy research materials and hire staff…

Gu Juntian planned to ask Zhou Qinghao for more money tonight.

Zhou Qinghao was already planning to give one-tenth of his assets to that scumbag the original owner—surely he could be generous with him instead.

Once he had the money, he could begin part of the research and determine a direction. Once that direction was clear, he could then apply for government funding.

Gu Juntian revised his plan. Just as he was preparing to rent a lab, a hoarse voice called out: “Gu Juntian?”

He turned around and saw a middle-aged man he didn’t recognize.

The man had messy hair, looked disheveled, and had two deep furrows between his brows.

“Who are you?” Gu Juntian asked.

“My name is Qin Zhao,” the man said with a smile. “Kid, take a good look at me. What I am now is what you’ll be in the future.”

Gu Juntian looked a bit puzzled.

Qin Zhao chuckled. “You quit Minghui this morning, didn’t you? Minghui’s been telling people you’re incompetent and have a bad attitude. None of the labs around here will hire you. You’re probably going to end up like me—unable to find a proper job.”

Gu Juntian didn’t want to waste time. He kept walking while saying, “Explain in detail.”

Qin Zhao wasn’t too pleased with Gu Juntian treating him like a subordinate, but since they were in similar situations, and he wanted someone to talk to, he began explaining.

It was actually quite simple: Minghui Pharmaceuticals had blacklisted Gu Juntian in the industry. Most labs, not wanting to offend Minghui, wouldn’t dare to hire him.

Minghui produced the most effective and least side-effect-prone anti–Gene Collapse Syndrome medication. They also sold various lab materials and had collaborations with many labs.

“They’re really petty,” Gu Juntian said, a bit speechless. He had only been an intern at Minghui—wasn’t it a bit excessive to blacklist him?

“It is petty. Minghui’s labs don’t do real research anyway. A lab like that can’t produce anything meaningful; all it does is wear down the talent of researchers. It shouldn’t even exist!” Qin Zhao continued ranting.

After hearing what Qin Zhao said and comparing it with some memories from the original host, Gu Juntian realized that many laboratories nowadays weren’t actually conducting proper research—they were simply scamming for funding.

Both the government and wealthy individuals donated large sums each year to labs working on treatments for Gene Collapse Syndrome, yet these labs had nothing to show for it.

This was largely because many people believed Gene Collapse Syndrome was an incurable disease—a terminal condition.

If researchers believed the disease couldn’t be cured, then naturally, they wouldn’t find a cure.

“You used to work at Minghui’s lab too, and now you can’t find a job?” Gu Juntian looked at Qin Zhao.

Qin Zhao replied, “Yeah, I used to work there. I can still find a few odd jobs. These labs won’t hire me publicly, but when they run into problems, they secretly come to me for help.”

“So you’re not officially signed with any lab, right?” Gu Juntian asked.

“Kid, do you think things will be much better for you? Unless you’re a once-in-a-century genius, no one on Capital Star is going to sign you!” Qin Zhao, clearly irritated, was getting fed up with Gu Juntian poking at his sore spots.

By now, Gu Juntian had arrived at the lab leasing center.

Labs could be rented directly via an automated kiosk. Gu Juntian said to the machine, “I want to rent a lab.”

“Understood.” The machine quickly displayed several lab options. The cheapest was one million a month, the most expensive two million.

The cost of renting a lab was about the same as what he had “sold himself” for. Without hesitation, Gu Juntian picked the two-million-a-month one, then turned to Qin Zhao and asked, “Wanna join my lab?”

Qin Zhao: “…”

He had assumed Gu Juntian was just another unlucky guy like himself—he hadn’t expected him to be a big shot!

What was going on with Minghui? Sure, a lot of people quit Minghui, but Minghui only blacklisted those without power, connections, or background who had offended lab higher-ups—people like him.

But Gu Juntian hadn’t even become a full-time employee. If he had backing, why would Minghui go out of their way to blacklist him?

Either way, now that Gu Juntian was setting up his own lab, this might be his chance to turn things around! Qin Zhao said, “Count me in! Let me tell you, I’ve got a great research direction. Let me head the lab!”

“This is my lab. I’m in charge. You’ll be my assistant,” Gu Juntian replied bluntly.

“You’re just a freshly graduated kid—do you even know how to run a lab? Do you have any idea that I used to be well-known at Minghui? The most effective anti–Gene Collapse Syndrome drug on the market today was improved by me! I’ve got a new research direction that could cut production costs by fifty percent—”

Gu Juntian cut him off. “Since you don’t have any money, you listen to me.”

Qin Zhao: “…”

Gu Juntian entered Qin Zhao’s information into the system, linking him to the newly rented lab. Then he said, “You can access my lab now. If you don’t have a place to stay, you can sleep there tonight. While you’re at it, clean the place up.”

Qin Zhao asked, “What about you?”

Gu Juntian replied, “It’s getting late. I’m heading home.”

He needed to check if Zhou Qinghao was behaving and staying home like he was supposed to.

If Zhou Qinghao dared to go out having fun with someone else, well—then tomorrow, he’d make sure Zhou Qinghao couldn’t get out of bed!

Besides, he had other things to take care of tonight.

Like reporting the illegal human experimentation lab… and drafting a list of lab supplies. After that, he’d ask Zhou Qinghao to fund his lab.

No need for a massive amount upfront—twenty million should do for the initial investment.

Thinking about that number made Gu Juntian feel a little guilty.

After taking so much money from Zhou Qinghao, he couldn’t exactly say no to any of Zhou Qinghao’s more excessive demands.

Could his kidneys handle it?

From now on, aside from researching Gene Collapse Syndrome, he also needed to start working out. If not, he’d be drained dry by that seductive little devil!

His life really wasn’t easy.

When Gu Juntian returned home, he saw Zhou Qinghao sitting at the dining table in his pajamas.

“Long time no see,” Zhou Qinghao said with a smile.

Zhou Qinghao’s smile was beautiful. Gu Juntian replied, “Long time no see.”

“I asked the chef to make something simple tonight. Let’s eat together,” Zhou Qinghao said, pulling out the chair beside him.

Gu Juntian looked at the two chairs placed closely together and immediately knew Zhou Qinghao was up to something.

But he still sat down.

Sure enough, the next second, Zhou Qinghao leaned in and kissed him.

Just as he expected. Gu Juntian kissed him back—hard.