What to do if you find out that you are a cannon fodder in a cultivation novel?

When I arrived at the courtyard, I found the room next to mine empty except for a small bed and a dresser. It seems that nanny Wei left already. The family of 3 had very few personal items and only a change of clothes each that were already threadbare. I had to find the time to buy necessities and extra beds for them tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I took them to my bedroom where I put a table, 4 chairs and the food. They seemed awkward and hesitant to sit down

“Master Bai, I don’t think we should sit with you for dinner. How about we wait until you finish eating before serving ourselves?” said nanny Li

“I am tired and hungry, so how about we all eat together today without wasting time then set up the bedroom to sleep? we can talk about everything else tomorrow”    

“Yes master” 

All 3 sat down and started to eat timidly. They were sitting like they were on needles instead of padded chairs. Tradition in this continent was to sit on a mat and use a table with low height. As for rich and powerful cultivators, they sometimes would prefer wooden chairs. However, I used a set given by my mother. In her family, they preferred padded chairs to mats and I decided to follow suit. This was one of the many small things that helped me remember her.

Being called soft As*  a few times by others never deterred me from stopping doing what I wanted. I had several sets of this type of table and chairs in my ring   

We finished eating pretty quickly. Nanny Li took out the dirty bowls and I let her and the boys explore the courtyard. Night falls quickly at this time of year but my courtyard had excellent lighting so they could do the washing in the small unused kitchen

As for me, I was very tired. My first day back was so full of everything that I was spent physically and mentally so I decided to forgo tonight cultivation for once. I used my spiritual energy to run a cleaning spell on myself and the family of 3 - they did not want me to waste my spiritual energy for them but I was the boss so what I say goes.

I put out my bed and decided to have both Li boys sleeping with me tonight as the other bed was too small. After hesitation, I moved nanny Li’s bed to my bedroom too so the boys would feel safe. I reminded them to do whatever it takes to wake me up early tomorrow then I lied down. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow   

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“What did you say!” Shi Liu exclaimed - named as 'my dear aunt' by master Bai - 

“Master Bai brought 3 new servants to his courtyard and they are refugees from the city shelter” said the coachman. 

Lady Liu held her head and waved off the coachman. With what her daughter told her, she knew that that b*stard Bai matured overnight. She could not control him as before but he was still a young boy. She removed nanny Wei and planned to let him fend for himself for a few days until he felt the strain of living alone before assigning him another nanny with the same temperament as the previous one. This would make him doubt his judgments and be more compliant in the future    

But now he chose his own servants before even knowing about his nanny's 'retirement'. He either knew she would be removed or he was planning to remove her tonight. She smiled, he is still too young and did not know the household rules. No need to change her plan, she will  talk to him tomorrow morning and kick out the new servants.

With that she went to sleep

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It took 15 min and a bowl of cold water to wake me up. Not the most pleasant experience but the one that eliminated the sleep blues completely. I was so tired that I slept well. Now, I was full energy and motivation

“What time is it?” I asked

“6:30AM you have one hour and half to get to school but before that…”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY” said Li Yao

“Happy Birthday master” said Li Bo with a quieter voice and a big smile

“Happy birthday Master” said nanny Li

“I woke up earlier and made a small rice cake with the leftover ingredients I found in the kitchen”

I did not know I had any ingredients in the kitchen as no one had used it since I came here so she must have ‘borrowed’ them elsewhere. Mmm her cultivation level must be higher than what I thought

“ Thank you everyone, let’s share the cake”. It was the 3rd time I reached my 10th birthday and the 2nd time I celebrated it¹In his first life, he did not celebrate any of his birthday since he was 5

“No no, that cake is for you only. We will have ours on our birthdays”

Fine, the cake was so small I finished it in 3 bites…mmmm so good! 5 stars for chef Li. I made a mental note to ask for their birth dates in the future

“ Master, there are enough ingredients for longevity noodles after you come back from school so make sure to come in early!” said nanny Li