Easier said than done.
Fortunately, the first step was not particularly difficult.
After Jimmy had finished playing, Mo Fei handed Tom over again.
Looking at little Jimmy, who was drenched in sweat, and Aiwen behind him, he took the initiative to remind them, "Although it's still the depths of winter, this child needs more sunlight..."
"Jimmy, you can bring him along to spend more time with the other children. Don't worry about hurting him. Also, let him get a little more sunlight. That will help him grow better... And if he feels unwell, you can bring him to me. I'll take a look... Sorry for the trouble, little Jimmy..."
Mo Fei's earnest request made Jimmy blush.
He had never been so excited before. It felt as though he was taking part in something very important.
"N-no problem, Director..."
Listening to Mo Fei's instructions from behind Jimmy, Aiwen began to study the child in Jimmy's arms.
The director had never paid so much attention to a child before. Thinking back to the director's somewhat pale face when he first adopted the child, and the enormous changes he had undergone afterward, everything pointed to one thing-
This child's identity was no simple matter.
Could this child be of royal blood, or was there some aristocratic secret involved?
For a moment, a child's wild imaginings unfolded rapidly in his mind.
It also made him start paying more attention to Tom.
Only after sending both of them off to play did Mo Fei finally have some free time.
Today also happened to be the beginning of the month, when the system data updated, so he intended to start planning which skill to upgrade next.
[The trust of those around the host has increased.] [Belief Points: 2] [Aiwen: 1 Belief Point, (dependence)] [Lina: 0.5 Belief Points, (trust)] [Boer: 0.5 Belief Points, (trust)] ... [Jimmy: 0.5 Belief Points, (trust)] [Tom Riddle: 0.000002, (unfamiliar)]
Just as he had initially expected, Aiwen's Belief Points had settled at the level of dependence, steadily providing one Belief Point, while the other children had reached Aiwen's initial level of trust.
As for Tom's unfamiliarity, that was also within expectations.
However, this seemed to mean that next month, only Aiwen would be able to reliably provide one Belief Point. The other children would not be able to provide any new Belief Points in the short term.
That would leave a substantial shortfall in Belief Points, so every single point had to be carefully budgeted.
To upgrade his skills more effectively, Mo Fei needed to think about how Aiwen's trust had increased back then.
If he was not mistaken, Aiwen had undergone such a great change only after their heart-to-heart talk.
In other words, his actions or words needed to truly touch the scars deep within the children's hearts and then soothe their wounds before they could become completely dependent on him.
At that moment, he was immensely glad that he owned an orphanage, where everyone was a child.
After all, the wounds in children's hearts were not quite so raw and bloody, and were easier to reach.
If it had been a group of adults...
Hmm...
All he could say was that being a psychologist had never been an easy job.
Anything someone could readily reveal was definitely not the most painful thing deep within their heart.
Getting the children to open their hearts was not something he could resolve all at once today. The most pressing question was still which skills to upgrade for the greatest benefit.
Mo Fei looked at his system panel.
[Host: Mo Fei] [Age: 42 (24)?] [Skills: Cooking (advanced), Computer proficiency (beginner), Farming (beginner), Herbology (novice), Medicine (uninitiated), Mending (uninitiated), Masonry (uninitiated), Business (uninitiated)...]
His gaze landed on an inconspicuous entry in the skill list: [... Fighting (uninitiated)]
Although he did not know why fighting could be classified as a skill, it seemed to be the most suitable ability for direct combat out of everything he knew.
Moreover, after going over all the experiences of both men, he was surprised to discover that this skill actually came from an experience he himself had once had.
Not the Mo Fei from London, but the Mo Fei from the twenty-first century.
It was nothing as melodramatic as school bullying, nor did it involve delinquents outside school.
The source of the skill was simple: roughhousing between boys.
Men were often emotional creatures. Sometimes, two people might get into a fight over some inexplicable bet.
Afterward, if someone helped smooth things over, it would soon blow over, but in the moment, they would always turn it into a matter of principle.
Mo Fei had been no exception.
During his adolescence, he had repeatedly come to blows with boys at his school over trivial matters. Although the teachers had never found out, he had earned something of a reputation at school through those fights.
Later, after he started working, looking back only made him feel that he had been far too reckless. It had become an embarrassing chapter of his past.
Now, however, even that embarrassing past seemed to have its uses.
That experience had given him a foundation for improving his combat strength.
Mo Fei simply did not yet know how many Belief Points it would take to advance from uninitiated to novice. It probably would not exceed one point.
Then what skill should he upgrade with the remaining point?
Should he upgrade animal husbandry, which he had considered before, to increase milk production, upgrade fighting again to give himself sufficient combat strength, or choose some other practical skill?
This choice could be crucial.
In fact, Mo Fei had also considered saving one Belief Point until he urgently needed it.
But on second thought, upgrading a skill did not immediately produce the best results. His body needed an adjustment period.
The energy would gradually transform his body, allowing it to adapt to the skill he had upgraded.
So, if an urgent need really arose, knowledge-based skills would be fine, but if it involved a physical ability, it would be too late.
Just then, the sounds of the children playing outside helped Mo Fei make his decision.
"Boer, there's a big hole in your clothes! A goblin that only appears in winter will crawl through it and eat you in one bite..."
It was Kyle's voice. As Mo Fei smiled, he also suddenly realized that it was still winter.
Even if Mo Fei mastered highly proficient animal husbandry techniques, in the current weather, even the grass cows usually ate was in short supply. Even if he wanted to increase production further, the shortage of feed was an inherent obstacle.
Mo Fei tapped his head. "Honestly, I couldn't see the forest for the trees. Now isn't the time to study dairy farming. It's the wrong season. Honestly..."
Then he decisively removed animal husbandry from his list of upgrade priorities.
Now things were much clearer. His first step was still to see what upgrading fighting would do, then decide whether to improve that ability further.
[Fighting (uninitiated) → Combat (novice)] [Belief Points: 2 → 1]
It had likewise cost one Belief Point, but this time, the low-grade skill of fighting had become the more systematic skill of combat.
A large amount of systematic combat knowledge and technique began to appear in his mind.
Along with that knowledge came intense physical pain.
When he upgraded Cooking before, he had only felt a slight tingling sting in his hands and tongue, nothing this intense. Now, however, a fierce pain that seemed ready to shatter his entire body swept through him in an instant.
Mo Fei nearly passed out.