Chapter 2 Cousin’s Forcible Seizure of You

Chapter 2: The Cousin Who Takes What He Wants

Lou Han froze for a moment.

Cousin?

He's that young? He'd assumed the person holding power in the Lou family would be much older than him.

Then he heard the system's follow-up. Lou Han looked somewhat surprised; he opened his mouth, lost in thought.

He asked the system if he could get information about this cousin.

The system was unexpectedly straightforward, providing him with very detailed information.

"Host, the Lou family is on the brink of turmoil. This cousin of yours, who shares no blood relation, appeared at this time. His true identity is known only to the head of the Lou family, but it's said he holds considerable power and influence. Moreover, the Lou family head intends to hand over the entire family fortune to him. Currently, he's the one everyone's trying to curry favor with."

A guy like that is into me?

Lou Han felt something was off but didn't dwell on it.

Because the commotion over there was too far from Lou Han. At that moment, a guy was standing in front of Lou Han.

"Hey there." The person spoke with a teasing, youthful, and cocky voice, moving closer to Lou Han and draping an arm over his shoulder.

"Lou Han, I just saw you. Slept well last night, did you?"

"?" Lou Han frowned. How rude.

He turned to look, sizing him up. This young man probably wasn't much older than him. Though young, his expression oozed rebellion. His eyes were slightly narrowed, his amber eyes arrogant, with every strand of hair exuding an air of domineering insolence. His appearance was average.

Lou Han immediately asked the system in his mind who this person was.

"Host, he's also your brother, a paternal cousin." The system quickly added, "And he doesn't like you either."

Lou Han's emotions were genuinely mixed.

In Lou Han's line of sight, this person stood to his right. Seeing Lou Han silent, he even patted Lou Han's shoulder with his left hand.

Lou Han had never seen someone so two-faced. So he disliked him? This was probably just fake pleasantries now.

Lou Han looked down at the hand on his shoulder, then raised his eyes to meet his gaze.

That calm look, followed by his action, said it all.

His cousin quickly caught on.

The youth before him was exceptionally handsome and tall, so when he looked at someone calmly, it hit with a chill.

The cousin also frowned slightly, cursing internally about this troublesome person.

But on the surface, the cousin immediately smiled and took his hand off.

He hadn't expected Lou Han to have quite a personality.

He remembered when this person first arrived at the Lou family, he had shamelessly tried to cozy up to him. As for himself, he wanted to mess with this so-called golden boy who had just returned from abroad, so he had responded a couple of times. Unexpectedly, Lou Han immediately went crazy, excessively ingratiating himself, calling him 'brother' and acting chummy.

But Lou Han didn't seem to realize—with his aloof yet opportunistic demeanor, clearly wanting money but unwilling to bend, who would take a liking to him? Did he really think he could get a piece of the family fortune?

Although exceptionally handsome, in a powerful and wealthy family like the Lou's, they don't need pretty faces to get ahead. And opportunistic people? The Lou family has plenty of those. After all, it's a large clan; all sorts of people exist. Lou Han was clearly one of them, and even bottom-of-the-barrel.

Few people so blatantly exposed their greedy intentions like he did. He thought he was cleverly fitting in, but in reality, the other Lou family members simply didn't bother to show their contempt directly—they couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge someone like him.

So among these people, the only one who acknowledged Lou Han was himself, and thus he got stuck with this kid.

And now he dared to give him attitude?

Lou Han instantly gleaned a lot from the look in this person's eyes.

He didn't understand it, but felt this person was no competitor for the family fortune, so he simply ignored him. Lou Han turned his head to continue observing the others in his environment. After all, he had just arrived; "Know thy enemy and know yourself" was the key to victory. That's what he needed to focus on.

"Host, I find you quite utilitarian," the system said abruptly. It was actually quite human-like. Initially, when interacting with Lou Han, it had a bit of AI stiffness, but after being retorted by Lou Han a few times, it quickly warmed up to him and started speaking in a cheeky manner.

"Tsk tsk, so you're this kind of host." Of course, when it bound with Lou Han, it had his background information.

According to the background file, Lou Han was a total slacker.

Lou Han was originally a graduate of a Federal Advanced Academy. During his studies, his grades were so good every year that the academy's publicity department used them in their promotional material. He even graduated as a top student, giving a speech at the graduation ceremony. Even though Lou Han's family background wasn't particularly outstanding within the Federation.

But with his prominence, he had accumulated substantial resources at that academy filled with children of wealthy families. Many people expected him to achieve great things after graduation.

How Lou Han came into contact with the eldest son of the Xi family and actually ended up marrying him remains a mystery, because the Xi family's eldest son didn't attend this academy at all!!

And Lou Han truly, genuinely, took the talent described by that academy's principal as "outrageously brilliant" and the "peerless, solitary genius" and chose to... just check out???

Young man, do you have no shame? Don't you know a person's value lies in labor?!! This was what Lou Han's fan club yelled their heads off about. Yes, Lou Han had even accumulated a bunch of junior fans, both male and female, at school.

According to these junior fans, Senior Lou Han was extremely diligent and hardworking at school. He was always the first to arrive at the lab in the morning, leaving late at night. He was always exceedingly gentle to every junior who spoke with him. So they suspected the Xi family's eldest son had forcibly taken possession of their senior.

But the truth was... Lou Han was just a lazy bum. The pretense at school had exhausted him, and he urgently needed the dazzling life of wealth and luxury to recuperate.

Lou Han had nothing to say to the system. In his heart, the system was a kidnapper.

And now, to get out quickly, he had to complete the task immediately.

Before he came in, he was having a long-awaited dinner with his partner, Xiao Jing. It was quite urgent.

Lou Zimin took a few steps back. Several other young people immediately gathered around him.

-

While Lou Han was spacing out, that boy scoffed, "Tch," and had already turned and walked away.

"No way, you didn't get to mess with him? Lou Zimin, you're so useless."

"...Damn, don't say it. Who knows what's wrong with him."

"Hey, better not provoke him either. Who knows if someone so pretentiously aloof might actually get angry."

"You guys think he actually believes he has a backer now..."

"You're kidding."

This group glanced back at Lou Han, exchanged meaningful looks with each other, and simultaneously burst into a wave of mocking laughter.

Lou Zimin and this group of spoiled, unruly rich kids didn't dare approach the area surrounding that cousin with a different surname. For some reason, they all felt this cousin, not much older than them but exceptionally powerful, gave them the creeps.

It wasn't an illusion. Even their notoriously unruly Third Uncle, famous throughout the family, was kowtowing to that person.

It seemed Third Uncle wanted to borrow money from this powerful cousin to keep his company afloat, but so far, it hadn't happened.

Everyone had just flown back from across the globe and didn’t really know each other. Now, they had to see their grandfather and couldn't leave. After huddling together like birds of a feather and failing to use Lou Han to tease one another, they grew bored.

However, seeing the crowd greeting that cousin disperse, and only their own elders arriving, they peered into the distance. Not spotting the cousin’s "honorable presence," the group couldn't help but cheer in relief.

Of course, Lou Han was unaware of this. He noticed that the group had already left, and the others were also returning from the entrance, ready to go.

Since they were all headed the same way, Lou Han naturally followed, assuming he was supposed to be with them.

To the right of the living room was an even more spacious area, where servants were already waiting to lead them via a private elevator to the residence of the Lou family head.

·

Old Master Lou lay on the bed, his graying hair still neatly combed. But the old man was clearly in his twilight years, lacking the energy for much conversation. With so many descendants, most could only exchange a word or two, and some didn't even get to speak.

“Dad! The doctor said as long as you take care, you’ll definitely pull through. You have to hold on—what will I do without you?” Lou Han’s third uncle cried bitterly, snot and tears streaming down his face.

“Enough,” the old man closed his eyes. “I summoned you here to distribute some of my private assets. Since some of the children have just returned, consider this my gift.”

That old bastard, still clutching the bulk of the fortune. Lou Yihua seethed with hatred.

Next came the dispensing of the gifts.

First was the eldest uncle—the old master gave him shares in one of the family companies.

Lou Han watched closely. He felt he was here to fight for the inheritance and lead the family to revival. He had already noted that the eldest uncle was rather mediocre but could potentially be recruited later.

Then came the third uncle, third aunt, fourth aunt…

Then it moved to the grandchildren, and finally to Lou Han.

The old master’s words were even more succinct: “I’m giving you the house in the backyard, the one filled with roses. Your father liked it, and you will too.”

“…”

The Rose House. Lou Han felt like Belle.

Of course, that was a joke. After getting off the elevator, Lou Han pondered the old man’s intentions. Seeing how others had just pretended to weep while subtly showing impatience, he guessed most of the assets were still in the old master’s hands.

Could it be that even at this critical juncture, he still hadn’t settled on a preferred successor?

And that Brother Wang who contacted Lou Han—could he prove the company was now riddled with holes, with someone trying to manipulate the selection? Was it the third uncle? Or that cunning, fox-like fourth aunt?

Protocol dictated that Lou Han leave only after the other elders had departed. Lost in thought, he deliberately lagged behind.

When he reached the living room downstairs, someone suddenly stepped into Lou Han's path.

This person was very tall, wearing sunglasses—every inch the traditional bodyguard.

His presence in front of Lou Han was quite unexpected.

“The boss wants to see you,” he stopped Lou Han, motioning with his hand to indicate the direction.

Following the gesture, Lou Han realized he was being directed toward a corner of the room. He didn't know who was looking for him, but since he was in his own home, he assumed nothing would happen. He followed him a few steps.

He soon came to a stop.

In his line of sight, facing the window under the dazzling lights, there was a chair where a figure was seated. In front of the chair, his third uncle stood respectfully.

Lou Han had already pretty much figured it out.

—In this mansion, aside from this “cousin” who was an outsider and likely brought his own people, everyone else would be attended to by the servants.

Lou Han felt a sense of wicked amusement. It seemed everyone meets their match—Third Uncle had his own comeuppance too.

He stood there for a few seconds, savoring the scene.

Ah, the road to defeating Third Uncle is long. Better to be smart and enjoy the show first.

But after a few more seconds, Lou Han’s gaze was drawn to the lower left.

—The person in the wide chair in front of Lou Yihua was completely turned away, revealing only a hand. That hand was unmistakably that of a mature man—distinct knuckles, long and fair fingers, with a plain black ring on the index finger.

The hand held a cigarette, its ember glowing faintly. Even in this simple frame, the owner exuded an inexplicably noble and elegant aura.

One could almost imagine how casually and indifferently the man was listening to Lou Yihua speak.

Lou Han had always hated smokers, but upon seeing this hand, he found he didn't feel much aversion toward the person behind it…

Lou Han took a moment to steady his nerves. This cousin was definitely not easy to deal with. He stood in place, composing himself.

Then, the next second.

The system slowly intoned a sentence to him, “Host, work hard. The novice task is about to begin.”

Lou Han narrowed his eyes, somewhat surprised: “…The novice task is only starting now?”

“Yes, host. You never asked, but actually, the novice task is to interact with the cousin.”

Lou Han was stunned. After a moment, he asked as if possessed: “Isn’t it about fighting for the inheritance?”

“No, host. Your target has always been the cousin. You went off track earlier. The cousin likes you, and the first task is to handle his pursuit of you properly.”

Lou Han: “…………?”

Just as Lou Han turned to leave, the man in the chair spoke, his voice lazy and brief: “Come here.”

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