Jiang Miao completed her master’s and doctoral degrees, entering a Fortune 500 company at the age of twenty-one. The company’s headquarters is located in the capital star of the Gita Republic.
After working diligently and earning a generous salary for five years, Jiang Miao purchased a satisfactory house in her desired location.
Within less than five minutes of completing the property transfer procedures, Jiang Miao received a congratulatory letter from the government:
“Congratulations! You have qualified to participate in the ‘Gene-Optimized Parenting Program.’ You can submit a genetic matching application to the government at any time. Children born within the ‘Gene-Optimized Parenting Program’ and their parents will receive the most generous parenting support provided by the country. Citizens, extend your fingers and click ‘Apply’ now!”
In this era where technology has liberated humanity from household chores, giving birth is painless, and raising children is not tiring. The biggest obstacle to having children is the patience of expectant fathers and mothers, especially in choosing the one to be the caregiver.
When Jiang Miao was still a “child,” she could be said to have caused Zhang Ya almost no trouble at all, even though Zhang Ya began to lose patience in the later stages.
People in this era are overly focused on “self,” prioritizing their own happiness and interests above all else. If it weren’t for the government providing substantial rewards to encourage childbirth, perhaps no one would be willing to spend time and energy on reproduction.
Among them, the resources provided by the government to the born elite through the selection plan far exceed those of ordinary natural-born children. Jiang Miao has been separated from natural-born children since kindergarten, attending schools exclusively for selected individuals. She attended a top-tier university, where almost no natural-born individuals were present.
Being able to buy a house in the capital at the age of twenty-six is outstanding even among the elite.
Although Jiang Miao has hardly seen or known her neighbors in the new house, the real estate agent confidently assured her during the house viewing that all the homeowners in this community are genetically selected individuals.
Having enjoyed so many privileges, Jiang Miao, upon receiving this congratulatory message from the government, spent a long time contemplating alone in her new house.
Here, she can no longer have parents who worry about whether she is eating well, sleeping soundly, and putting on warm clothes when it gets cold.
But perhaps, Jiang Miao thought, this is the time for her to step out of the role of a “child” and become a “parent.”
In her past life, Jiang Miao did not dislike the idea of having children; she simply hadn’t met the right man. A low-quality marriage is not as good as a high-quality single life, so Jiang Miao remained single.
But here, all the factors that hindered her from having children no longer exist.
She doesn’t need a husband; she just needs a healthy sperm provider like Mr. Coso, a qualified parenting partner.
The process of giving birth is said to be painless here. She might not even need to give birth herself; she could be born through the implantation of an artificial uterus, courtesy of Mr. Coso. Mr. Coso earned quite a few citizenship points through the burden of these ten months – points specifically allocated to those who contribute to reproduction.
If an employed individual becomes a caregiver, the company receives subsidies from the government. If the caregiver is a genetically selected parent, the company also gains tax reduction points. Therefore, job seekers with plans to have children are highly welcomed by enterprises.
As long as the first three years are successfully navigated, there is a comprehensive education system from kindergarten to senior high school. There are various home-assistant technologies for daily life when returning home after school in the evenings. Caregivers don’t need to worry about things like meals and clothing.
Overall, the cost of raising children is not high, and raising a genetically outstanding selected individual can be highly rewarding; it is very worthwhile.
The more Jiang Miao thinks about it, the more wonderful it seems, and the more she thinks about it, the more she feels she should have a child.
Having lived with Zhang Ya for so long, Jiang Miao naturally invested emotions, but the other party did not respond in kind. This emotional indifference deeply hurt Jiang Miao.
Jiang Miao believes that if she becomes a mother, she will definitely love her child like her mother did in her past life. She will also allow her child to exist as an independent person, not interfering in their life and certainly not pressuring them to marry or have children.
Upon careful consideration, this seems… perfect!
So, Jiang Miao clicked the “Apply” button, filled out all the forms with her wonderful visions in mind, only to be informed by the system — she’s in line, waiting for the lottery.
Jiang Miao: “…”
This waiting in line lasted for eight months.
On a Monday morning, Jiang Miao encountered a familiar face on the crowded four-person bus.
For the commuting crowd who travels back and forth at fixed times between fixed locations, it’s easy to become familiar with some faces on the bus. Jiang Miao and this woman with purple hair have shared the same bus many times, making them quite acquainted.
In this situation, there is a specific term: bus friendship.
This is a social interaction method that office workers particularly enjoy. People who frequently meet on the same bus route often share similar economic levels and social statuses. If you trace it back, educational backgrounds and knowledge won’t differ much either. Usually, people can have enjoyable conversations.
During the brief journey, social interactions remain superficial, and the unwritten rule is to exchange names at most, rarely exchanging contact information. Because most people tend to present their better selves, interactions don’t deepen, and flaws and shortcomings aren’t revealed. Such shallow and short social interactions are pleasant.
However, if one were to ask for contact information, they would need to consider the risk of being sifted out by the other person along the commuting route.
After exchanging greetings, the woman with purple hair smiled and asked Jiang Miao, “The guy with green hair, thin and all, did you screen him out?”
Jiang Miao shrugged.
The woman with purple hair chuckled, “The last time I saw both of you together, he was asking for your contact information, and I figured you were about to screen him out.”
Jiang Miao replied, “He’s just too talkative. And, it’s not the first time he’s asked for my contact information; there were two times before you encountered him.”
The woman with purple hair exclaimed, “He asked you three times?”
Jiang Miao helplessly said, “Yes.”
Compared to the natives of this era, Jiang Miao’s personality is relatively mild, not as self-centered and sharp. However, the persistence of the green-haired man, continuing to bother Jiang Miao after being rejected twice, became annoying.
After the third time being bothered, Jiang Miao got off the bus and activated the personal AI on her wrist, opened the interface of the public transit system, and submitted a screening application.
The operation was straightforward. She just had to select the corresponding bus trip from her travel records, and the system would automatically retrieve surveillance screenshots of the passengers.
The government’s public transit system does not disclose passengers’ personal information, but Jiang Miao doesn’t need to know the green-haired man’s full name. She simply circles him in the photo and selects the option “Do not ride with this person.”
Afterward, when she takes the bus again, the government’s AI will automatically skip the vehicle that the person is currently riding, arranging a different one for her.
As long as Jiang Miao doesn’t cancel this screening option, the two of them will never meet again on any bus in any district of the capital star for the rest of their lives.
Over the years, there have been calls for the government to add an option for “Expect to ride with” but it has never been approved.
The government claims that public transportation is an efficient means of travel for the public, and the screening feature exists to help passengers avoid harassment from specific individuals. Public transit is not a social venue, and there is no need to unnecessarily burden the AI with additional calculations by adding such an option.
Despite this stance preventing public transit from becoming a hunting ground for romantic connections, it has indeed become a comfortable social space.
“Three times is indeed excessive,” another male passenger in the car joined the conversation. “At most, two times. After being rejected twice, one should have the decency to stop. Opening the third time is just lacking in grace.”
The woman with purple hair nodded, “Exactly.”
Jiang Miao reminisced about the Earth era, recalling the persistent pursuit between men and women, the relentless advances, and the unwelcome experiences on public buses—she felt that technology had indeed changed life for the better.
The fourth passenger was a dark-skinned woman, also familiar to Jiang Miao. She changed the topic and said, “I have some good news to share with you all.”
The three turned their attention to her, and she playfully held the suspense for a couple of seconds before revealing, “I got matched in the Gene-Optimized Parenting Program.”
All three, including Jiang Miao, exclaimed in admiration, congratulating her.
The woman thanked everyone happily and continued, “I’m already thirty-nine. I want to catch the tail end of my youth and have a child soon. Everyone says it’s best to have one before fifty, as after that, the quality of both eggs and sperm tends to decline.”
Due to the higher genetic levels and longer lifespans of people in this era, their appearances often stay youthful. Generally, individuals with a natural lifespan of 110 to 130 years exhibit a youthful appearance between the ages of 20 and 50, resembling people in their early twenties from the Earth era. It’s only between the ages of 50 and 90 that they gradually show signs of middle age.
For instance, Mr. Coso and Ms. Zhang Ya initially led Jiang Miao to believe they were young people in their early twenties. Later, she learned that Mr. Coso was 37 when he fathered her, and Zhang Ya was 41.
The black woman also appeared quite young, and at the age of 39, she was still considered “young” in this era.
“Have you already negotiated with your partner? Who will give birth to the child, and who will be the caregiver?” the woman with purple hair eagerly inquired.
The black woman replied, “We haven’t agreed on the caregiver yet, but we’ve decided that I will carry the baby.”
Jiang Miao was a bit surprised and asked, “Did you volunteer for it?”
Although aware that advanced technology in this era makes many things simple and easy, Jiang Miao spent over twenty years on Earth and belonged to the group of women who embraced the motto “No marriage, no children for peace of mind.” She had seen too many frightening examples online, reinforcing her deep-seated belief that childbirth is a difficult and painful experience for women.
Even someone as intelligent and capable as Zhang Ya is unwilling to carry the baby herself. One of her criteria for choosing a parenting partner is that the partner must be the one to carry the baby.
Although the bond between mother and daughter is not very deep, Jiang Miao firmly inherited this interstellar mother’s tradition—she also checked the option “Requires the partner to carry the baby” on the application form.
“Yeah,” the black woman said happily, “My partner is going to be the dad. He’s a soccer player with a really good physique. He says every time he runs with the ball, it kicks him continuously in the belly, it’s quite amusing. I want to experience that feeling too.[1]“
Jiang Miao: “…”
Alright then.
Anyway, it’s just a bit tiring, but giving birth isn’t painful.
Actually, if you think about it, if giving birth is painless, if taking care of the child isn’t exhausting, and if raising the child isn’t expensive, then who wouldn’t want to have children?
If these were true in her previous life, Jiang Miao thinks she wouldn’t need her mom’s urging, and she would be willing to have a child of her own.
Unfortunately, these weren’t possible on Earth at that time.
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[1] maybe the guy had already experienced being pregnant