The orphan Keith was considered the healthy one out of the other orphans. Though that didn’t mean anything given that Keith was still extremely skinny and the signs of malnourishment were clear as day.
Thus, Shi Tian was somewhat surprised that Keith would attempt to offer him some meat when the other four orphans were still busy chomping down on the meat without a care.
Keith, who was still holding onto the meat that he intended to share with Shi Tian, was somewhat disappointed.
“I-I see…” Keith’s head was lowered slightly as he gradually returned to the table and ate with the rest.
Meanwhile, Shi Tian started to pay some attention to Keith and realized his demeanor was indeed different from the other orphans.
The other orphans only had eyes on food and didn’t seem to have any sentiment on other stuff.
But Keith was different.
How so?
It was the eyes that Shi Tian came to notice from Keith. Those eyes of his were familiar to Shi Tian. After all, those were the determined eyes that showed one resolution to survive.
Back then, when he had to take care of himself and Sheng Lan, he couldn’t afford any failures and could only advance forward for the survival of the two of them.
‘If this Keith could show such determination at this early age despite the circumstances, then maybe he could be trained.’ Shi Tian thought to himself.
As for the other orphans, Shi Tian could only shake his head as none of them seemed to have any potential or determination to survive.
Just based on the fact that they were starting to fight among others for more meat was enough for Shi Tian to understand.
Unlike Keith, who only took what he needed to fill his stomach, the other orphans were fighting to eat as much as they could, even if they could no longer stuff their stomach any longer.
If they couldn’t stuff it any longer, then they would place the meat in their broken pocket for storage.
Shaking his head, Shi Tian didn’t find their actions hideous. In fact, it was the norm for these orphans that would never know when they could eat again.
Time slowly passed by, and Shi Tian finally received a text from Mary, telling him to go back.
Mary: Alright, we’re finished with our businesses here. Bring the orphans back to the dark alley.
Nathan: No one was killed, right?
Mary: What do you take me for? I’m a gracious woman and not the bloody kind. *shy emoji*
Shi Tian rolled his eyes at her for trying to act cute in the text message. If he didn’t see how ruthlessly she had acted in the wilderness, then he might have bought her act, but that was only an if situation.
Getting up from his seat, Shi Tian clasped his hands.
“Alright, pack everything up and throw it in the trash can. We’re heading back.” He instructed.
Keith and the other orphans nodded their heads. They did as instructed and threw the packages in the trash.
Once they finished cleaning everything up, Shi Tian began to walk back, but it soon became clear that some or most were unable to keep up with his movement.
The four orphans that had stuffed their stomachs to the brim were having trouble walking properly. In fact, they were rubbing their stomach with their hands, a clear definition that they overeat and are now struggling with digestion.
The only one that was capable of keeping up with his movement was Keith, who knew his own limit of how much he could eat.
And this was the main reason why Shi Tian noticed Keith was different.
They had been malnourished and never ate a full meal before. Therefore, there was a limit to how much they could eat at once, especially when their stomach isn’t used to having so much food.
“Why couldn’t they keep up, mister?” Keith asked timidly when he turned to look at his fellow orphans and noticed Shi Tian had stopped his movement.
“Because they have stuffed themselves over their limit, so now they are struggling to move around.” Shi Tian cooly explained.
Had he known this was going to happen, then he wouldn’t have made the food stall owner put extra ingredients onto the portion. Though he never requested it and was just the guilty conscience of the food stall owner taking place which prompted him to put extras.
Knowing that moving forward right now would be detrimental and might even cause more delay if he didn’t let the four orphans rest properly first, Shi Tian could only tell them to stand by the side temporarily.
However, Keith seemed to have other intentions as he walked close to Shi Tian and asked, “Mister, how did you become strong?”
And he continued, “When you lifted the owner up, you looked cool and domineering.”
“That’s nothing special,” Shi Tian brushed it off. The food stall owner only had a tough build on the surface, but didn’t have much training.
Not to mention, with his experience in fighting tough monsters in the wilderness, even if the food stall owner had some form of training. It wouldn’t be difficult for Shi Tian to apprehend him.
Meanwhile, Keith’s eyes were sparkly as the more Shi Tian didn’t care, the more impressive he seemed in front of him.
“Mister, can I become strong like you one day?” Keith asked with a smile, his hands forming into a fist.
Remaining silent briefly, Shi Tian subtly understood the mindset of Keith.
After seeing how strong he was, Keith also wanted to become someone strong so that he wouldn’t need to rely on others to survive. It was the mindset of someone wanting to survive with their own effort.
“If you train your body and eat properly, then you could become strong. Everyone started from zero and climbed their way to the top to become strong.” Shi Tian decided to give him some advice.
“Train your body and eat properly…” Keith repeated Shi Tian’s words in a low tone, seemingly in deep thought.