A Cannon Fodder's Guide to Staying Alive

Wen Yan was an adopted son of a wealthy family. To repay their kindness, he spent his whole life being cautious, obedient, and well-behaved. But in the end, his friends betrayed him, his lover personally sent him to someone else's bed, and his adoptive parents used his scandalous secrets to divert attention from the Wen family's bad press. Finally, his own family joined forces to send him to prison, where his life ended in misery.

Reborn, the protagonist learned that he was a cannon-fodder character in a nonsensical danmei novel. And the novel wasn't just full of melodrama, it had a terrible ending too. Not only did he, a minor character, meet a miserable end, but the villains wiped out the entire protagonist team, including the Wen family.

After reading the ending, the protagonist smiled bitterly. So they'd even picked out a grave for him in this second life!

Before making his escape, Wen Yan decided to win some favor with the villains, at least enough to make sure that when they struck, the knife wouldn't land on him, an insignificant cannon-fodder character.

His plan included, but was not limited to, becoming the top donor in Gu Jinyuan's livestream, taking on the haters in the comments on Gu Jinyuan's profile and building towering threads, and waiting outside the company late at night just to see his big brother...

Recently, rumors were circulating in the entertainment industry that the Wen family's adopted son had gone crazy. Not only was he making a fuss about terminating his contract with the Wen family's entertainment company, he was also clinging to the famously cold-faced King of Hell, Gu Jinyuan. He was probably hoping to climb to a better branch.

"Wen Yan? Everyone knows him. He's the little kept boy the Wen family adopted!"

"He's good-looking, sure, but he's useless. I heard the drama he acted in this time got dragged all over the trending topics?"

"Maybe Emperor Gu likes that type. He can tell him what to do, and the guy just does it. Easy to control~"

"What kind of person can't Gu Jinyuan get? Why would he be interested in a dull piece of wood like that?"

But by the time this whole joke played out, some people had left the industry, some had gone to prison, and others had lost everything. Only Wen Yan made it to the end unscathed.

It turned out he was the one who brought the whole story crashing down.

*

Gu Jinyuan was cold by nature. The good news was that he had his eye on someone. The bad news was that the other person liked someone else.

He hadn't wanted to interfere, but he never expected that person to come to him of their own accord.

With Wen Yan constantly testing the waters by his side, Gu Jinyuan couldn't very well refuse when the man came knocking...

Bonus Scene:

Lately, rumors that Gu Jinyuan would appear on a dating show kept trending. His fans were in shock, watching the production team's guest list announcement every day. The show's website crashed countless times in a single day.

--"He won the Best Actor award, and now he's going on a dating show? There's definitely something to think about. Is the old tree finally looking to settle down?"

--"Our brother never goes on variety shows. It's all rumors. Let's wait for the production team to prove everyone wrong."

When the guest list was announced, the internet was full of angry comments.

--"I want to see what kind of freaks the production team picked to pair with our brother. If they dare piggyback on his popularity, I'll flame them until they leave the internet. If I don't, I'll take the director's surname!"

--"Here's the link, you're welcome. All you little nobodies trying to fake a ship and ride his popularity, take a good look at how our brother buries you! This is your future. Better find a feng shui master to pick out a good graveyard in advance."

--"No one is good enough for our baby!"

Later, the show aired.

--"If our brother's future partner looks like this, I guess I could accept it."

--"Oh my god, Yanyan is so sweet and soft. I want to squish him."

--"Who understands the significance of that waist-grab scene? The baby's foot got stuck in the mud, and brother grabbed him by the waist and pulled him right out. Aah! Turns out the only one who can steal the spotlight from brother is his biceps... and Yanyan squirming wildly in his arms."

--"And that bit where Wen Yan wouldn't go to sleep because he was chatting with someone. Brother just carried him off with one arm... I'm done for!"

--"Huh? Where did the fans go? Why have they stopped hating?"

The fans: They'd like to hate, but brother's partner is Wen Yan, their sweet, soft, adorable wife!

--"Ahem. Our brother already won Best Actor. What's wrong with him going on a variety show?"

--"You there, maybe change your profile picture first? Don't be so shameless about switching sides, okay? At least put some effort into it. Come on, let's discuss who left those red marks on Wen Yan's neck, a mosquito or brother?"

Theme: Live earnestly, and good fortune will come your way.