Do as told and exist in ordinary surroundings (4)
I believe the answer is:
obey
'do as told' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'exist in ordinary surroundings' is the wordplay.
'exist' becomes 'be' (synonyms).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'ordinary surroundings' becomes 'oy' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'be' inserted within 'oy' is 'OBEY'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for obey that I've seen before include "Be ruled by" , "Do as you're told!" , "Submit to authority" , "Hear" , "Follow orders" .)