The Cannon Fodder Wants a Bad Ending

Yu Xuan learned he was the foil to the protagonist in a melodramatic novel when he had only three months left to live. He had worked his way up from a small town with nothing but his pen, putting in endless overtime at a CBD job to cross the class divide and developing a host of occupational ailments. All of it was just to make the protagonist the cherished darling of everyone, succeeding without lifting a finger: He gave his friends his whole heart, only to be mocked as someone seeking connections and resources; He worked overtime in his subordinates' place, only for them to curse him behind his back as a workplace scab; He devoted himself to his adoptive parents, only to be called an ungrateful wolf who could never be raised right; Before he had even met his birth family, they took him to sign away his inheritance; The relationship he had struggled so hard to find turned out to be nothing more than a bet among rich young masters: "Let's see who can win over that pretty, boring block of ice." It was all to make the protagonist smile. Everything Yu Xuan fought desperately for and could never obtain was handed to the protagonist on a silver platter, only to be cast aside like trash. In three months, Yu Xuan was supposed to take the first annual leave of his career, go skiing with that young master and his "friends and family," and die in an avalanche, bringing his shattered, humiliating life to an end. * Amid the endless white snow, Yu Xuan let go of his boyfriend's hand as the man screamed in despair, and waited for fate to pass judgment. But the blizzard failed to take his life. Just before his body temperature dropped to nothing, Yu Xuan, covered in blood, managed to crawl out of the snowfield inch by inch. He took up the hobby he had once been mocked for, using music to kill fate's curse. From the far corners of the world to the Golden Hall, he composed a magnificent symphony of destiny. When they met again, Yu Xuan was a mysterious musician famous around the world, surrounded by admirers and suitors. Only then did he learn that on the day he left, his pampered ex-boyfriend had knelt in the snow all night, hands bleeding, until he was taken away after being injected with a sedative. Even then, he had failed to find Yu Xuan's remains; His adoptive parents had bought back the guitar he had loved as a child, but its owner never returned; His friends and family faced the grave they had prepared for him early, their hearts filled with remorse. Faced with all this, Yu Xuan gave an embarrassed little smile. He took half a step back, distant yet polite: "Sorry, I don't know the person you're talking about." * Gu Songyin, head of a reclusive elite family and rumored to be asexual, would never forget that day. Yu Xuan, covered in blood, collapsed in front of him. Like a snow spirit, he reached out and struggled to ask for a deal, then fought his instinct to surrender to death and crawled out of fate's mire. Gu Songyin had never meant to be a passing breeze, yet without realizing it, he had drawn himself into the world of mortal passions. [Working title and blurb for now. Might still make a few small changes.] Theme: A person must learn to love and respect themselves