Overthinking: A Series

After he had completed his mission, Fang Ning felt a burden had been lifted off his chest. He became more energized and bright, in contrast to the gloomy, hermit aura he exuded before this.

When the System noticed this, he thought the host had finally turned over a new leaf, and would finally give up his novel and games to rise up to his responsibilities. It never expected him to play his games with renewed vigor…

Previously, Fang Ning would feel slightly ashamed when he played his games, and would show up whenever the System prompted him to. Now, this brat was still happily battling away in a random game even on the day of the Qi Family's dinner gala for its miracle medicine. At the same time, he had another computer switched on, waiting for the update notification from the novels he was following.

It was almost as if he couldn't even feel the existence of the honorable Sir System.

"Host, didn't you mention that you need to go to the Qi Family's gala to bid for a few miracle medicines in an event of an injury? How could you forget about it?" The System tried to remind a certain web-addicted youth while it was cultivating its Internal Strength.

"Oh, that? There's no actual need for us to go anyways." answered Fang Ning offhandedly, as he sneakily used the new weapon worth RMB 10000 to hack his opponents in a match of Clash of Clans.

The initial aim he had in mind when he proposed to attend the gala was to see if that miracle medicine could regrow missing limbs. Since his savior already had System-produced artificial limbs installed that were as strong as steel, even to the extent of performing better than his original limbs, there was no need for his attendance anymore. . 

System Notification: [You are disconnected.]

"F*ck me," Fang Ning was killing everything in his way and was moments away from winning the match when the game on his screen greyed out. He looked entirely confused. Soon, he realized that the price in toying the System was not low; after all, he was the one who was shouting about going there to bid for a few miracle medicines for healing purposes.

"Alright, alright, I'll go and prepare it now…" Fang Ning knew why the System wanted him to show up as himself in the gala. If it was the one who took charge, then it would be a total disaster. It never was skilled in the art of words as it would only go around insulting people. If it was in control, they might as well give up on buying anything and just be grateful for the fact that they were not chased out of the door.

The System was free to go everywhere and insult everyone only when it was using Vigilante A's identity. This was entirely thanks to the Vigilante's records (or lack thereof) and his untrackable movements.

System Notification: [You are connected to the internet.]

Sadly, it was still too late. Fang Ning dumbly watched the animations that came with the replay video of his death in the game. As a player that purchased mesmerizing skin and armor for his knight, his character stood straight and remained unmoving when he was disconnected, which caused 3 low-tier players from the enemy team to surround and bombard him with skill combinations, stuns, and weakens. Fang Ning felt no tears coming despite feeling very much like crying when he watched the animation of his character dying after all that.

Even his clanmates in the game kept on sending messages to tease him.

"What's up? Our Clan Master was on the top of his game with his 18 combo kills, and our main city is right there in front of us. Why did he suddenly stand still and die in the hands of some random weak players? What's the point?"

"Ah, it's almost too obvious. His girlfriend must've unplugged his LAN wire."

[Elder XX was banned for speech for 24 hours.]

"Haha, I was right!"

[Elder XX was banned for speech for 30 days.]

"How dare you taunt me, the king of bachelors? My heart was too soft to kick you out of the best Clan in the server. Besides, Sir System was an existence outside of humanity, and living beings such as girlfriends were not even close to being as powerful as it is. You peasants, do not bring disaster to your King." Fang Ning muttered to himself as he took over the control of his body.

Sir System was finally satisfied and retreated to cultivate in seclusion.

///

Fang Ning went to the Qi Family's exhibition gala alone. Initially, he thought of bringing Zhao Ying along to avoid awkwardness, as to his understanding, she should really like settings like these; after all, rich guys who were presentable were a rare sort.

When he made the call, he never expected her to say that she was busy learning English and would rather not attend. When he asked her the motivations to learning English, she answered that she wanted to expand Fang Fantastic Flavours to become an international hotel chain to earn the money of foreigners. However, she didn't know that the number of seasonings produced were not within the boss's control…

Fang Ning was very impressed by her determination. As the business grew substantially throughout the months, he had naturally given this beautiful partner of his some periodical bonuses. Of course she would have the motivation to expand the business! Still, when the business finally grew big enough, the one who reaped the best crops would still be him, as he was the boss who had all the shares.

He was quite curious about her learning progress and had held a brief conversation with her in English. He found out that Zhao Ying had spent a substantial amount of time in learning, but was still unskilled. She would understand some of it if he spoke slowly and clearly, otherwise she would catch nothing from it.

This had made Fang Ning to slightly satisfied with himself. The System Cyber Cafe had been open for more than 2 months now, and he had already mastered the nuances of English. He faced no problems in reading, listening and speaking, and when the foreigners released a new game, he no longer needed to scour the Web for a Chinese-translated version, and he could interact smoothly with other foreign players. He had received many praises from that.

As Fang Ning was feeling secretly delighted, he made a guess and assumed that his increased learning ability was an effect of System's daily circulation of Internal Strength, and the amazingly nutritious herbs. Both factors had caused his already good memory to improve alongside with his comprehension skills, which led to a rise in his intelligence. His wild imagination had become more bizarre by the day.

As the familiar Zhao Ying turned down the invitation, Fang Ning, despite being the boss, failed to exude an aura of being one, as he now lacked a plus one. However, he would've never forced her to attend, and that was building off the fact that she was thinking for the greater development and growth of their shop.

He went to a design retailer alone, and let the staff to style him up in a good dinner outfit. His bill was almost RMB 80000, and the staff was so happy that she had repeatedly praised his charm and appearance.

Then, he took a cab alone to go to the posh place stated in the invitation. Even if he arrived in a cab, the receptionist was entirely respectful and had asked an usher to lead him directly to his seat after he saw his invitation.

The exhibition gala was held in an incredibly well-furnished ballroom, and on the tables was neatly-placed, high-quality cutlery for every guest. On the stage right, in the front of the ballroom, was a long banquet table with displays placed on top of it.

In front of each banquet table, there would be one or more gold-plated labels, with names of different people written on them.

As Fang Ning walked to his table guided by his usher, he heard someone calling his name.

"President Fang! Here, right here." A rich and fat middle-aged man waved at him, a young lady in a white dress in tow.

"Greetings, President Zhao, you're here early. And this is…" Fang Ning went to greet them amicably.

"This is my daughter Liu Yao. She took her mother's last name. She is 20 this year, a few years younger than you, President Fang. Yao Yao, meet President Fang. President Fang is extremely successful at a young age (rich), and has a really good personality (stays at home every day). He is entirely different from those young men who hang around aimlessly in the city."

President Zhao was a friendly fatty, and was introducing the young woman beside him to Fang Ning, albeit too enthusiastically, if Fang Ning had to say. Fang Ning looked at the girl, and she had features as delicate as a porcelain doll's. She looked slightly abashed.

When she looked over to Fang Ning, she seemed to have understood the implied message in her father's words. Red bloomed in her cheeks like a porcelain doll with a blush. She lowered her head and said to Fang Ning, "Hello, President Fang."

"Hello, Lady Liu," Fang Ning greeted. This was the first time he met a woman with such delicate features, and he had the urge to steal a few more glances just to see if it was an effect from makeup application. However, her dad was standing right beside her, so he gave up after a cursory look in her direction.

"Here, I've had them arrange for us to sit at the same table. Let's chat for a while we wait for the others to arrive. It's only past 7, and the exhibition gala will only start at 8." President Zhao had handled Fang Ning with ease, and three of them sat around the banquet table that they were assigned to.

Liu Yao was a quiet one. She did not speak after she took her seat, nor did she look around. She sat quietly there like a quiet willow in the breeze, or a silent orchid in a valley. Nowadays, it was rare for a lady to exude such grace and elegance.

On the other hand, Fang Ning sat on the other side of President Zhao, pretending that he wasn't looking around.

President Zhao was a person who knew how to navigate the crowd, and he was incredibly experienced in conversational skills. When he spoke with Fang Ning, the latter found out that despite being a hermit, he would never run out of things to say, nor were there awkward silences in the conversation. They shared thoughts about the weather and the changes in society, and had exchanged their outlook and feelings. Their conversation was pleasant and flowed well.

However, the two men heard footsteps approaching them in a middle of a conversation, and soon an arrogant voice came upon them, "Oh, look at how over-enthusiastic you are, President Zhao. It seems that the rumors are right then, when they talked about how you want to find a rubbish superpowered individual to marry into the family."

Fang Ning was stunned when he heard that, but he did not look at President Zhao. Instead, he studied Liu Yao's expression through the System View, and he noted that even though she blushed at that, she did not seem to hate the idea, nor did she look like she was entirely against it. 

A tinge of delight grew in his heart. The silent and obedient girl was always his type, and she had fit into his preferences down to a T. Even though the words of that person was sharp and unpleasant, Fang Ning was already far away in his thoughts.

'Hm, if I agreed to marry into the family, does it mean that I can continue to stay in and play my games? If I do that after marriage, will I be called a trash of a man?'

System Notification: [Marriage Mode will be unlocked only after the System has reached Level 100.]

'Oh, so this was another episode of the Thinking Too Much Series for me…'