Oh, My Protagonist Shou

That evening, Shen Can looked at his extraordinary father, beautiful and gentle mother, dignified and talented eldest brother, handsome and charming second brother with a face like polished jade, strikingly handsome third brother with sword-like brows and starry eyes, and dashing, energetic fourth brother.

With their family's top-tier lineup, they were still supposed to be stepping stones for someone else? That made no sense, okay? Shen Can kept praising his family in his heart, while the others merely felt that he was being too modest.

Wasn't he himself stunning as well? Back then, their aunt had been a renowned beauty in A City, while their uncle had been famously handsome. Shen Can, born of the two of them, had inherited all their best traits: bright eyes, white teeth, and breathtaking beauty.

Once the whole family had arrived, they set off at once. As soon as they entered the banquet hall, people surrounded the Shen Household. This sort of occasion basically had nothing to do with Shen Can.

After all, he had only recently returned to the country and had few friends, unlike his brothers, who all had friends or classmates coming over to greet them. Shen Can walked toward the Shen Household's seats, intending to sit down, only to see that someone was already seated beside them.

That person sat alone on a large leather sofa, with the smaller sofas on either side completely empty. Leaning against the backrest, he seemed to have only opened his eyes upon hearing footsteps. His phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, carrying an air of domineering disdain, as though nothing in the world was worth his notice.

Yet his sharply sculpted features, high nose, thin lips, and ancient-statue-like handsomeness made it impossible to dislike him. Combined with his own imposing presence, that arrogance somehow seemed perfectly natural.

Shen Can had not carefully checked the seating arrangement in the invitation, so he did not know who that person was. He silently went over to take his seat. Whoever it was probably had nothing to do with him anyway.

A while later, the Shen family members came over as well. Shen Yu had not expected to see Huo Xi here. There had been rumors that someone from the Huo Household would be returning to the country soon, but he had not expected it to be Huo Xi.

The Huo Household was a century-old elite family. They were not only powerful domestically; their overseas business was thriving as well, and just last year they had secured another major international project.

"Huo Xi, long time no see." Shen Yu stepped forward to greet Huo Xi. They had been classmates before and had studied together for several years.

[Huo Xi! Holy crap, is this Huo Xi? The Huo Xi who was in the same middle-school class as Eldest Brother, who was twelve at the time, when he himself was only eight? The Huo Xi who took charge of the colossal, century-old Huo Household at such a young age?]

[Unlike our Shen Household, even though we're also rich, we haven't enjoyed the Huo Household's century-long legacy of wealth and prestige. The Shen Household's family structure isn't as complicated either, with all those main branches and side branches.]

[And even with such a complicated family structure, everyone in the Huo Household, from elders in their fifties and sixties to children only a few years old, has to listen to Huo Xi.]

[Sigh, it would have been enough if he were smart, but he's also so handsome. Fine, he's handsome—but he's tall, too. He looks several centimeters taller than Eldest Brother.]

[Other than Second Brother and me, who are only 182 centimeters, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother are all over 186. Huo Xi must be over 190, right?]

[But what good are being handsome and tall? What a pity. He's such a huge sucker.]

[I wonder whether our whole family suffering together is worse, or whether his being miserable all alone—but miserably so—is worse.]

The Shen family had grown used to hearing Shen Can's inner voice. Although they were startled by what they heard, none of them showed it.

But they did not know that while they were surprised, two others were equally shocked. One was Huo Xi, standing beside Shen Yu; the other was Lu Shao, standing beside Shen Ze.

After shaking hands with Shen Yu, Huo Xi naturally said, "Aren't you going to introduce Uncle, Auntie, and the others to me?"

"Of course." Shen Yu led Huo Xi through the introductions one by one, then finally stopped before Shen Can. "This is my fifth brother, the youngest in our family, Shen Can. He just graduated from university and returned from abroad not long ago."

"Just graduated? Twenty-two?" Huo Xi asked as he looked at Shen Can. Shen Can nodded in confirmation and greeted him. Huo Xi naturally said, "I'm three years older than you. Call me Brother."

That voice matched the one he had just heard, but Shen Can had not opened his mouth at all. So he had heard Shen Can's inner voice? A huge sucker? He was rather curious whether what Shen Can had said was true. If it was, then how exactly was he a huge sucker?

"Brother Huo." After Shen Can called out to him, his gaze shifted to the person beside his second brother, whom he began sizing up relentlessly. [Could this be that Lu...]

"Hello, Uncle and Auntie. Hello, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, and Fifth Brother. My name is Lu Shao, and I'm your second brother's good friend. You haven't met me before, have you? Every time I went to the Shen Household, you were at school, and then you went abroad to study. I don't think we ever crossed paths." Lu Shao smiled as he greeted Shen Can.

[Whoa, it really is Lu Shao. This is the Lu Shao who has quite the story with my second brother, who's still on their old university's CP rankings with him, and Second Brother even...]

Before Shen Can could continue thinking, his second brother interrupted him. "Can Can, someone's walking this way. They should be looking for you."

Shen Can looked up. That person was still far away. They might not necessarily be coming for him, right? Was Second Brother afraid he would not notice later?

Shen Ze knew his interruption had been rather forced, but it felt as though everyone in the family was looking at him. He had no choice but to interrupt.

After waiting a moment, it really was someone looking for him. Shen Keke stood before Shen Can and said, seemingly embarrassed, "I'm very sorry. Last time, I accidentally knocked you down and caused you to slip into the lake. I didn't do it on purpose."

"Is that so? Since you knew you knocked me down, why didn't I see you find someone to save me?" Shen Can voiced his confusion. He was genuinely curious.

[Oh, my protagonist shou. You knocked me into the lake, then kept arguing with the protagonist gong. If the caretaker at the safety booth beside the lake hadn't noticed that I'd fallen in, little Can Can's life might not have been saved.]

The Shen family had believed Shen Can's fall into the lake had been an accident. The lake's surveillance cameras had been damaged during a thunderstorm a few days earlier. The caretaker had only seen Shen Can fall into the water and had not seen why he fell in, so they did not know he had been knocked down.

Whether the protagonist shou had intentionally bumped into him in the beginning or not, the fact that he knew he had hit someone but did not immediately seek help was difficult to excuse.

Shen Keke froze at his words. He had not expected Shen Can to know that he had not looked for help. At the time, he had clearly noticed that Shen Can seemed distracted, which was why he had deliberately bumped into him.

But he had not intended to knock Shen Can into the lake. He had only wanted to bump him. Why did Shen Can have to be part of the Shen Household? They were clearly family, so why was the Shen Household rich while his own family was merely ordinary?

The Shen family enjoyed the best education and the best life, while he lived an ordinary existence. Even attending a banquet required him to rack his brains to sneak in. They were clearly family.

He usually had no opportunity to come into contact with the other members of the Shen Household. That time, he had finally managed to slip into the banquet the Shen family had held for Shen Can. Seeing how spoiled Shen Can was had made him jealous.

Zhou Jingxuan had first attended the banquet with another female companion, then argued with him. He had felt hurt and wronged, and in a moment of muddled thinking, he had rammed into Shen Can as if venting his frustration.

If Shen Can knew what he was thinking, he would definitely say: Bro, does feeling wronged and upset mean you get to hit people? Then wouldn't every innocent passerby have to suffer whenever you felt wronged or upset?

"I didn't mean to ignore you. At the time, he kept cutting me off with every sentence and threw off my train of thought. I really didn't do it on purpose." As Shen Keke spoke, tears slowly welled up in his eyes.