Oh My God, the Protagonist Shou!

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

With a family lineup this top-tier, how could they possibly be stepping stones for someone else? That made no sense, okay? Shen Can kept praising his family in his heart, while the others only felt that he was being too modest.

Wasn't he himself exceptionally good-looking too? Back then, their aunt had been a renowned beauty in A City, while their uncle had been famously handsome. Shen Can, born from the two of them, had inherited all their finest qualities, with bright eyes, white teeth, and breathtaking beauty.

Once the whole family had arrived, they immediately set off. The moment they entered the banquet hall, people surrounded the Shen Household. Situations like this had basically nothing to do with Shen Can.

He had only just returned from abroad and did not have many friends, unlike his brothers, who all had friends and 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 the large leather sofa, with the smaller sofas on either side entirely empty. Leaning against the backrest, he seemed to have only opened his eyes upon hearing footsteps. His phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, carrying an imposing air that made it seem as though he looked down on everything.

Yet his high nose, thin lips, and sculpted, ancient-statue-like features made it impossible for anyone to dislike him. Combined with his natural presence, that domineering aura simply felt perfectly justified.

He had not carefully checked the seating arrangement on the invitation earlier, so he had no idea who that person was. Shen Can silently went over and took a seat. Whoever it was probably had nothing to do with him anyway.

After a while, the Shen family all 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 powerhouse. Not only were they formidable domestically, their overseas business was flourishing as well. 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 shit, is this Huo Xi? The Huo Xi who was in the same middle-school class as Eldest Brother when he was eight and Eldest Brother was twelve? The Huo Xi who took charge of the massive, century-old Huo Household at such a young age?

Unlike our Shen Household, even though we're wealthy too, we haven't enjoyed the kind of riches passed down for over a century like the Huo Household has. The Shen family also isn't as complicated as the Huo family, with main branches and side branches and all that.

And with a family structure that complicated, everyone in the Huo Household—from elders in their sixties down to children only a few years old—has to listen to him.

Seriously, being smart would have been enough, but he's also that handsome. Being handsome would have been enough, but he's tall too. He looks a few centimeters taller than Eldest Brother.

Aside from me and Second Brother, who are only 182 centimeters tall, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother are all over 186. Huo Xi must be over 190, right?

But what's the point of being handsome and tall? What a pity. He's a huge sucker.

I wonder whether our whole family being miserable together is worse luck, or him being miserable all by himself—but miserably so—is worse.

The Shen family had grown used to hearing Shen Can's inner thoughts. Though they were shocked by what they had heard this time, they managed not to show anything.

What they did not know was that while they were startled, two others were equally shocked. One was Huo Xi, standing beside Shen Yu, and 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 your parents and the others to me?"

"Of course." Shen Yu led Huo Xi through the introductions one by one before finally stopping in front of 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 to confirm and greeted him. Huo Xi then said naturally, "I'm three years older than you. Just call me Brother."

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

"Brother Huo." After Shen Can called out to him, his gaze shifted toward the person beside his second brother, studying him closely. Is this 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, right? Whenever I visited the Shen Household before, you were at school, and then you went abroad to study. It seems we never ran into each other." Lu Shao smiled as he greeted Shen Can.

Whoa, it really is Lu Shao. This is the man who has all sorts of unspeakable stories with my second brother, who's still on their former university's CP rankings with Second Brother, and Second Brother even...

Before Shen Can could continue thinking, his second brother interrupted him. "Can Can, someone is walking toward you. They're probably looking for you."

Shen Can looked up. The person was still quite far away. They might not necessarily be coming for him, right? Was Second Brother afraid that he would not be able to see them later?

Shen Ze knew his interruption had been rather forced, but he could feel everyone in the family looking at him. He had no choice but to interrupt.

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

"Is that so? Since you knew you bumped into me, why didn't I see you call anyone to save me?" Shen Can asked, voicing his confusion. He truly was curious.

Oh my god, the 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 thought Shen Can falling into the lake had been an accident. The lake's surveillance cameras had been damaged by a thunderstorm a few days earlier, and the caretaker had only seen Shen Can fall into the water, not why he had fallen in. Therefore, they had not known Shen Can had been knocked over.

Whether the protagonist shou had intentionally bumped into him in the first place or not, the fact that he knew he had hit someone yet had not urgently sought help was rather difficult to excuse.

Shen Keke froze at those words. He had not expected Shen Can to know that he had not sought help for him. Back then, 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 once. Why did Shen Can get to be part of the Shen family? They were clearly family, so why was the Shen Household wealthy while his own family was just ordinary?

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

He normally had no chance to interact with the other members of the Shen family. That time, he had finally managed to slip into the banquet the Shen family was holding for Shen Can, and seeing how spoiled Shen Can was had made him jealous.

Zhou Jingxuan had attended the banquet with another female companion first, 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, just because you feel hurt and wronged means you can bump into people? Then wouldn't every innocent passerby be doomed whenever you feel upset?

"I didn't intentionally ignore you. At the time, he kept saying things that threw off my train of thought. I really didn't mean to." As Shen Keke spoke, tears slowly welled up in his eyes.