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

I was one hour late when I arrived next to the classroom. All the students were outside chatting and laughing, a pretty rare sight in this section. It looks like no one found out that I was late... or no one cared.

“What is all this noise!” said a middle aged man a few minutes later. He had an old scar that crossed his left eye but the eyeball itself seemed fine

Everyone stopped talking and we all put ourselves in 2 lines on each side of the road

“We welcome the city lord!” we said in unison with a bow. 

“Explain” said the city lord

He was always a man with few words so I always liked him. He would get sick due to poisoning 10 years from now. He survived at the end but would lose his position as the city lord to my first uncle’s brother-in-law. The brother of my dear aunt.

It was one of the things I wished to change, the city would stay safe under his rule and I could get a backer.

“My lord, our teacher is not here yet and we cannot enter the classroom without him” said one of the student 

With a flick of his hand, the city lord summoned the school's dean who arrived within seconds. Most students were amazed

“Welcome city lord, if you had told me you were coming today I would have waited outside for your arrival” said the dean nervously. Weird, why is the dean nervous?

“Explain this” said the city lord with a nod toward the students 

“It seems that teacher Wei did not come to the school today… His servant just told me that he was sick … I was on my way to cancel today’s lessons as his disciple can only replace him starting tomorrow”

With the city lord's silent knowledge, the dean waited a few heartbeats before turning to us “You already heard, lessons are canceled today. Go to other activities or the library. In.Silence” The dean was less scary than the city lord so while others left hurriedly I bowed first to the city lord and the dean before walking toward the library in a leisurely manner.  

I did not know that the city lord kept staring at me with a half smile until I disappeared from his view   

I stayed in the library until lunch time, I had to double check my knowledge before taking the exam. The good news was that, with my perfect memory recall, all the knowledge I had for the 3 basic fields was good enough to graduate. The bad news was that no servant was waiting for me at the school door with my lunch. It looks like nanny Wei will have to be dealt with tonight - so, in the end, not so bad for bad news -

Still, I was hungry. Time to try the cafeteria for the first time. It was commonly known that the food there was not as good as a home cooked one but students were not allowed to leave the school during the day without adult supervision. The cafeteria was deserted as most students would get lunch from their families and eat at the outdoor area on a sunny day like today. Because I was the only one eating indoors, the cafeteria’s cook asked for my preferences and cooked me a pretty good meal.

I paid extra for the good service. I might have to use the cafeteria more often in the future

I was eating alone surrounded by empty chairs and tables. You might ask why no student talked to me since morning? 

Simple, I had no friends. From 7 to 10 years old I was arrogant only at home. Outside I was an introvert and only talked to my cousin at school when talked to first. It was only after meeting the Bas*tard who should not be named that I changed from the quiet introvert to an arrogant prick toward everyone. 

“A Shin, why are you eating cafeteria's food?” a voice similar to my dear aunt asked. Who was it if not her daughter, the she-wolf cousin.

2 girls and 3 boys were with her looking at me with the same fake smile. The last dumpling that I had left tasted like cardboard as soon as I heard her. I took my time swallowing it before answering

“Isn’t it because the nanny your mother assigned me is incompetent?” 

“What! …What do you mean? my mother would never do it on purpose!” the fake smile turned more fake. Yep this 11 years old cousin was in it too but she was still too young to restrain her face from showing her true feelings.

I might not have to deal with nanny Wei, the mother daughter duo would take care of it in my stead. That is if they want to keep their reputation intact. I would just need to find someone to replace the nanny today. It should be easy with all the refugees on the street these days. 

“Young master Bai, my older brother found out about the canceled lessons so he came to take us shopping. Would you like to join us? we could stop at a tea shop if you are still hungry” said the tallest boy in the group trying to change the subject

In the 1st life, after the canceled lessons, I went to chat with my she-wolf cousin Yu JinLi as I did not know what to do with my time. This group shared their meal with me, then we all went shopping. To thank them for the meal, I payed for all their purchases including the adult’s that took us out of school. I did not care about the amount as I was happy the lessons were canceled for the day.

It was after this shopping spree that everyone in the Yu family (and the city) knew how rich I was. Hence, the numerous friends that I got overnight. Those friends did not disappear when I was broke, they were the ones who pointed fingers at me at each turn and made fun of me after I was expelled 7 years later.

Now that I think about it, the Yu family must have always suspected that my parents gave me more money and treasures. Today was one of the many schemes to check if it was true. Tsssk using a gang of kids to test me, I am decades older than you this time around! Well I wonder where they found the courage to test me just a month before the estimated time of my parents return.

“Sorry, I prefer to avoid being seen with people who liked bullying kids from poor families” and that was the truth.

This group loved making fun of powerless kids and even hit them in places that cannot be seen. They were all from mid level families so they were smart to not do it near school to avoid expulsion. In my previous life, I was an introvert so I found out about it too late.

Two years from now, they would kill a 9 year old boy during one of their bullying sessions. Two of my cousins were part of it too but with some money and threats to the parents of the victim they avoided a lawsuit. They were lucky because the city lord was absent at that time and all evidence were removed before his return