Interstellar president (15): We will get married when I am better.

When Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao were being affectionate, the butler was downstairs, frequently glancing up toward the upper floor.

It was dinner time—were the two upstairs going to eat?

Probably a bit later. Then they could wait.

Zhou Qinghao’s residence wasn’t a secret. At that moment, a large crowd had gathered outside the estate—some were media seeking the latest news, others were individuals or groups demanding harsh punishment for Zhou Qinghao.

The crowd was in chaos, shouting and making noise, with some screaming at the top of their lungs.

The butler pretended not to notice.

He activated the estate’s highest level of security and turned on the house’s maximum soundproof mode, so the house wouldn’t be affected at all.

It wasn’t just the butler—everyone working at the estate chose to ignore the people outside.

A few gardeners carried watering cans and continued watering the flowers and plants in the garden and fertilizing the vegetables grown on the property.

Those responsible for taking care of the animals in the garden still wore smiles as they fed them.

At Zhou Qinghao’s estate, although many tasks could have been handled by intelligent robots, he chose to hire people.

Some of these employees came from very difficult backgrounds. Others had already developed gene collapse syndrome. Some were born with genetic defects and were a bit intellectually impaired.

Zhou Qinghao employed them as a form of charity.

The butler managed these workers. After Zhou Qinghao’s incident, he had already reassured them.

He spent time with Zhou Qinghao every day and knew he wasn’t the kind of person being described online.

The Zhou family, honestly, were all hopeless romantics.

Some wealthy people with low gene stability would seek out partners with high gene stability to marry and have many children, gradually improving the family’s genetics.

After all, embryos could now be cultivated outside the body, and gene screening could be done during the embryonic stage to select those with good genes.

To achieve high accuracy with this kind of selection required a lot of money—but wealthy people weren’t short on funds.

But Zhou Qinghao’s father didn’t do that. After falling in love with Zhou’s mother, who also had low gene stability, he married her.

After marriage, they could have cultivated more embryos and selected the ones with good genes, but they refused.

Children born from external cultivation had a higher probability of genetic problems. Most embryos would be eliminated during the screening process, and that wasn’t something they wanted to see.

After years of not being able to have a child, they adopted Zhou Jinhai.

Zhou Qinghao’s arrival was unexpected for them.

Zhou Qinghao had low gene stability, but they didn’t complain. They raised him with care, telling him that even if his life would be shorter than others, he could still live it brilliantly.

At first, Zhou’s father and mother planned to give the company to Zhou Jinhai, so Zhou Qinghao wouldn’t have to waste his time on it and could enjoy life instead.

Later, they discovered Zhou Jinhai had no compassion for a young child and uncovered some of his shady dealings. That’s when they drove him out.

Zhou’s father and mother were like that, and Zhou Qinghao was the same.

The butler remembered that when Zhou Qinghao was little, he once said to him, “Uncle Butler, I’m different from others. My year has twelve weeks. Every week is like a month for me. That way, when others live one year, I live four. I will cherish every week of mine and make it as wonderful as a whole month.”

Over the years, Zhou Qinghao had lived exactly like that. He cherished every day. After finishing his work each day, he would come home and do something meaningful.

He had long accepted the fact that his life would be shorter than others’.

The butler didn’t believe that someone like Zhou Qinghao would carry out cruel human experiments.

As for the claim that he brought Gu Juntian back just to swap bodies with him…

Zhou Qinghao had been coming home early every day just to wait for Gu Juntian, then stuck to him affectionately. That was clearly an old flame reigniting and impossible to put out!

If Zhou Qinghao really saw Gu Juntian as an experimental subject, he would have just sent him straight to the lab—why drag him into bed?

As the butler was thinking this, he saw Gu Juntian coming down from upstairs.

Gu Juntian asked, “Is there anything to eat? I want to bring some back to the bedroom.”

The butler smiled. “Yes, there is.”

He quickly packed a meal into a food container for Gu Juntian and even brought out an extendable bed tray for him.

Gu Juntian brought everything back to the room and had dinner with Zhou Qinghao in bed.

While eating, Zhou Qinghao took a photo and saved it in his diary file.

He had a habit of journaling, recording each day’s highlights in his diary.

That way, he wouldn’t let time slip by in a daze, wondering where it all went.

Having dinner in bed with Gu Juntian was a novel experience.

Come to think of it, Gu Juntian had appeared the most in his diary entries lately.

Or rather, everything had to do with Gu Juntian.

In the time he had left, he could look back on all of this again and again. It was truly wonderful.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time left to do so.

The two of them began eating their delayed dinner.

The atmosphere between them was very pleasant, but online, things were the opposite.

“Zhou Qinghao actually made a move on his nephew. That’s outrageous!”

“The darkness in this world is beyond my imagination.”

“Zhou Jinhai is really unlucky. Clearly they’re brothers, but Zhou Qinghao got most of the inheritance, and now even his son is being targeted by him.”

“He’s no saint either—Gu Juntian is his illegitimate child!”

…

Netizens didn’t know that Zhou Jinhai and Zhou Qinghao weren’t actually biological brothers, so quite a few people sympathized with Zhou Jinhai.

Of course, there were also people who believed Zhou Jinhai wasn’t any better—he had cheated!

Zhou Yan was furious—his father actually wanted to acknowledge Gu Juntian as his son!

As for Ning Jiano… For a while, he had gone to Gu Juntian’s lab every day to see him. But after news broke about the private lab conducting human experiments—along with the terrifying specimens and dozens of researchers who had “committed suicide”—he didn’t dare do anything anymore and quickly found a job that provided food and lodging.

He was an orphan. If he disappeared, few people would even notice.

Now he felt that working, eating, and sleeping with a group gave him a greater sense of security.

Meanwhile, Director Zhang had just finished briefing the higher-ups about Gu Juntian’s situation.

At the end, Director Zhang emphasized, “Gu Juntian is a genius. We must support his research!”

The official in charge of gene research remained silent for a moment, then opened his communication terminal and showed Director Zhang the online buzz.

Director Zhang stared at the screen for a while, then silently rubbed his eyes.

Didn’t Gu Juntian say Zhou Qinghao was his boyfriend?

Now what is all this?

“This Gu Juntian… isn’t his situation a little complicated?” the official asked Director Zhang.

Director Zhang replied, “As long as his research doesn’t violate the law, we should support him.”

Gu Juntian’s research didn’t break any laws, and he had lived a clean life.

Then… continue supporting his research?

Of course. But while supporting him, a more thorough investigation into Gu Juntian would also be necessary.

After discussing a bit more, Director Zhang said, “I’ll contact Gu Juntian right away and inform him of the good news.”

Gu Juntian had just finished dinner and was about to tell Zhou Qinghao that he’d received recognition from Director Zhang when he received a call from him.

Director Zhang told him that the authorities would provide him with support in all areas and asked if he needed any help.

Gu Juntian thought for a moment and said, “There are a lot of people outside where Zhou Qinghao and I live. Could you arrange someone to pick me up and take me to the lab tomorrow? Zhou Qinghao will come with me.”

After speaking, he looked at Zhou Qinghao. “Qinghao, are you willing to live at the lab with me?”

Zhou Qinghao nodded. “I’m willing.”

Given his current situation, going back to work at the company wasn’t possible. Since that was the case, going to Gu Juntian’s lab was a good alternative.

He didn’t want to be separated from Gu Juntian.

“Director Zhang, then I’ll trouble you with this,” Gu Juntian said to him.

When Director Zhang saw that Gu Juntian didn’t try to hide anything from Zhou Qinghao during the call and even planned to bring him to the lab, he understood that their relationship was still solid—and that what was circulating online was probably nonsense.

That was a relief. He didn’t want Gu Juntian to be distracted from his research by messy drama.

After hanging up, Gu Juntian immediately turned to Zhou Qinghao. “Qinghao, I have great news. The experiment I’ve been working on has been recognized by Director Zhang. The government is even going to fund my lab! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a cure for gene collapse syndrome—and cure you.”

Zhou Qinghao looked at Gu Juntian, his eyes filled with a smile, and praised him: “You’re amazing.”

Gu Juntian really was amazing.

If it weren’t for Zhou Jinhai sabotaging him multiple times for his own shady reasons, Gu Juntian would’ve already made a name for himself. Zhou Qinghao wouldn’t even have needed to support him.

However, Zhou Qinghao didn’t believe what Gu Juntian said about curing him.

Or rather, he didn’t dare believe it.

Researchers studying gene collapse syndrome often spent decades without making any progress.

And he only had one year left to live.

Everyone’s physical condition was different. Some people could live a few more years by taking anti-gene collapse medication. As for those placed in medical pods… some could live over ten years, with the longest-surviving patient lasting twenty-two years.

On average, medication could extend life by two years, and entering a medical pod could give a person five to six more years.

But his genes were collapsing faster than normal. Even if he entered a medical pod right now, he’d only live for two more years at most.

He believed Gu Juntian could produce results, but the chances of him achieving that within two years were slim.

Gu Juntian was overjoyed by Zhou Qinghao’s praise. “Qinghao, once you’re better, let’s get married.”

After saying this, Gu Juntian looked straight at Zhou Qinghao, waiting for an answer.

During that past month, there had always been some distance between the two of them.

But today, they had laid everything bare.

Zhou Qinghao had even promised never to drive him away.

He felt it was time to ask Zhou Qinghao for a commitment.

“Okay. Once I’m healthy, we’ll get married,” Zhou Qinghao said.

He smiled, but inside, he was full of sorrow.

In many stories he’d read, when someone made such a promise, they usually didn’t live to fulfill it.

Gu Juntian didn’t know what Zhou Qinghao was thinking.

As long as he thought about how they’d get married once Zhou Qinghao recovered, he was filled with hope for the future and couldn’t wait to return to the lab to work on his research.

He was in a great mood.

Since Zhou Qinghao was willing to marry him, he must be special to Zhou Qinghao.

He didn’t have to worry about being casually replaced anymore!

Thinking that, Gu Juntian gave Zhou Qinghao a kiss. “Qinghao, I really like you. It was love at first sight!”

Hearing this, Zhou Qinghao felt as if something had struck his heart hard.

He hadn’t dared hope that Gu Juntian would like him.

All he’d wanted was for Gu Juntian to stay with him.

But he hadn’t expected Gu Juntian to confess.

He shouldn’t have agreed. He shouldn’t have given Gu Juntian hope. That way, when he passed away, Gu Juntian wouldn’t be too heartbroken.

But he was a very selfish person.

“Gu Juntian, I feel the same. It was love at first sight. That day, when I saw you in the car, I couldn’t take my eyes off you,” Zhou Qinghao said seriously. “I’ve never liked anyone this much in my entire life. You know I have gene collapse syndrome. I was afraid you’d reject me, that you wouldn’t want to be with me. And since I don’t have much time left, I said those things…”

Gu Juntian pounced on Zhou Qinghao again.

So that’s why Zhou Qinghao kept dragging him into bed—because he liked him too much!

He had to produce results quickly and cure Zhou Qinghao!

The next morning, Gu Juntian was already urging Director Zhang to send someone to pick them up. He even brought the butler along to help pack Zhou Qinghao’s things.

As for Zhou Qinghao himself, he didn’t let him do anything.

Zhou Qinghao was sick and still had the energy to keep flirting with him—he must’ve been exhausted. He should just rest.

Zhou Qinghao had no idea what Gu Juntian was thinking. If he had, he would definitely feel wronged.

He hadn’t been the one constantly seducing Gu Juntian! Toward the end, it was Gu Juntian who kept pushing things!

All night long, there were people watching outside the Zhou estate.

By morning, even more had gathered.

Online, more and more people were demanding the police arrest Zhou Qinghao.

At that moment, a group of fully armed personnel arrived in bulletproof vehicles and entered the Zhou estate. Shortly after, they left again.

The convoy had anti-tracking technology enabled, and no one dared follow such a heavily armed group. So the cars quickly disappeared from public view.

However, the public assumed that the police had taken Zhou Qinghao away.

They were thrilled and began celebrating online. Zhou Jinhai, seeing this, was even more smug.

The only thing bothering Zhou Jinhai was that Gu Juntian still hadn’t contacted him.

Gu Juntian’s body was the most compatible with his own. He couldn’t bear to give it up.

But where was Gu Juntian now? Could it be that he had been taken in for questioning by the police?

He’d wait a bit longer. A case this big couldn’t possibly be resolved in just one day.

At the same time, Minister Li looked at the online posts, puzzled.

He hadn’t ordered anyone to arrest Zhou Qinghao!

He had told Zhou Qinghao to lie low at home for a couple of days. If given just two days, he could clear Zhou Qinghao’s name. He had even planned to award him a banner for his righteous act of reporting his own brother.

But he hadn’t expected that someone from the authorities had gone to the Zhou estate and taken Zhou Qinghao away.

He tried to find out who they were but came up with nothing.

Not long after, someone came to ask him about Zhou Qinghao and Gu Juntian. Once they confirmed that neither had committed any crimes, that person also instructed him to wrap up the case as soon as possible and clear Zhou Qinghao’s name.

That person also handed him another document.

The file showed that Zhou Jinhai had been interfering in Gu Juntian’s life all along.

Zhou Qinghao had nothing to do with the lab and wasn’t after Gu Juntian’s body—but Zhou Jinhai really had coveted it.

Minister Li hadn’t expected things to be this twisted.

Zhou Jinhai was even willing to sacrifice his own son—unforgivable!

Minister Li continued working on the case, now even more motivated thanks to official support.

As for Gu Juntian, he was already busy in the lab, and progress was going smoothly.

After all, he was full of drive now.

That day, he worked with exceptional focus, not even taking a break. It wasn’t until noon that he left the experimental zone to meet Zhou Qinghao in the living quarters.

Zhou Qinghao didn’t know anything about scientific research and was afraid of disturbing Gu Juntian, so he had stayed outside the lab.

“Qinghao!” Gu Juntian walked out of the lab and smiled the moment he saw him.

His talk with Director Zhang yesterday had inspired many new ideas, and now he could also access all kinds of resources using Director Zhang’s credentials.

He thought that by the afternoon, he could begin testing the gene therapy.

“Juntian.” Zhou Qinghao smiled as well.

Coming to the lab was really nice. He could stay close to Gu Juntian and have lunch with him.

The only downside was that skincare was a bit of a hassle.