Chapter 149: Charming Girl’s New Shoes

Liu Heming’s daily routine gained a new task. After cleaning up the ranch’s manure every day, he now went into the woods to pick Morel Mushrooms.

He didn’t plan to sell the ones he was picking now. There seemed to be a lot because they were fresh, but their weight would shrink significantly after drying. He didn’t know if the morel mushrooms he planted himself would be any good. If not, using dried mushrooms to make soup in winter should still taste pretty good.

“Dad, come quickly! Charming Girl seems to be having trouble walking,” Alex ran to him as soon as he returned from picking, her face full of worry.

Liu Heming grew concerned too, not knowing what was wrong with Charming Girl. She was pregnant, after all.

When he arrived at the place where Charming Girl rested, he saw that she seemed uncomfortable walking, especially with her left hind leg. Her gait looked very awkward.

Liu Heming approached Charming Girl and lifted her hind leg to check if something was stuck in her hoof. As soon as he moved the hoof, he understood the problem. The horseshoe on that hoof was badly worn, which was why she was uncomfortable while walking.

“Alex, don’t worry. Charming Girl’s shoe has a small problem. When Dad makes her new shoes, she’ll be fine,” Liu Heming put down Charming Girl’s leg and comforted the little girl.

Alex looked puzzled, glanced at her own shoes, and then ran quickly back into the house. When she came out, she was holding the horseshoe that Liu Heming had made for her.

“Dad, put this on Charming Girl,” the little girl said, clearly reluctant but still handing over the horseshoe.

“Alex is the best girl in the world,” Liu Heming picked up his daughter and gave her a big kiss.

“But this shoe won’t fit Charming Girl. Dad needs to measure Charming Girl’s foot carefully and make a new one just for her.”

The little girl truly had a big heart. This was the first gift he had given her, and she usually treasured it dearly. Now, seeing that Charming Girl had a problem with her shoe, she bravely offered hers up.

Liu Heming checked Charming Girl’s other horseshoes and found they were all quite worn to varying degrees. Instead of making just one, it would be better to make a whole set.

He contacted John. Originally, he planned to go to John’s place to make the horseshoes, but John said that to make proper horseshoes for Charming Girl, he needed to adjust the size continuously based on her hooves. So John brought his small furnace, anvil, and other tools over. This way, Liu Heming could adjust as he worked.

Liu Heming had made horseshoes before and hadn’t completely lost his skill. But while custom-making them for Charming Girl, he realized this required much more technique than just making them for fun.

Horse hooves aren’t all the same size, and the edges vary too. Take Charming Girl, for example—her four hooves weren’t even the same size. To make a good set, he had to carefully trace each hoof and adjust the angles.

John didn’t help him directly but played with Alex nearby, occasionally giving Liu Heming some technical advice. He was a very qualified teacher.

Although Liu Heming was usually careless and stingy with money, he was generous when it came to his own. Charming Girl wasn’t just any horse; she was family. So he put great care into making her shoes.

Normally, he might finish a set of horseshoes in under two hours, but for Charming Girl, each one took at least over an hour. He repeatedly checked the size until it matched Charming Girl’s hooves perfectly before finalizing it.

However, a small issue occurred during the process. This small issue really surprised and delighted Liu Heming. It happened when the first horseshoe was completed, and the System gave a notification.

“Crafted a Horseshoe. Stability increased by 1%, Speed increased by 2%, Endurance increased by 2%, Durability 30. Strength, Agility, Mental Power increased by 1 point. Appraisal Skill reward: 1 time. Please name the Horseshoe.”

When he saw this message, he was stunned. He tried hard to control his emotions so John wouldn’t notice anything unusual. But he was overthinking it; John didn’t find it strange at all and just thought Liu Heming was happy.

After more hard work, he finished the remaining three horseshoes and put them on Charming Girl. Then he thought carefully about why making these horseshoes had such an effect.

Last time, when he made the Medicinal Liquid and Black Jade Fracture-Healing Ointment, it was because the materials came from the System, so they had special effects. But this time? Except for Charming Girl’s hooves, all the materials were brought by John.

After thinking for a while, he suspected the water bucket used for cooling was the cause. To be precise, the water in the bucket.

It wasn’t ordinary water. He had been too lazy to fetch water from the house, so he used some Small Lake Water stored outside for cooking. Janet had said that over time, the Small Lake Water’s activity would decrease, so it would be a waste not to use it.

He believed the issue was with this water. Maybe when he used it to cool the horseshoes, it created this magical effect.

“Dexter, your skills are excellent. These horseshoes are very well made,” John said after also checking Charming Girl.

“John, are small furnaces and anvils like yours easy to buy?” Liu Heming asked John.

“They’re very easy to buy and not expensive. Actually, if I weren’t attached to these from using them, I could just give them to you. If you’d like, I can order a set for you,” John paused, then nodded.

“OK, John, thank you for the trouble,” Liu Heming said happily.

Before, he was interested in blacksmithing because it seemed fun, but now he found it had “practical” effects too. It seemed he had underestimated the Small Lake given by the System; it could be applied in many ways.

He used Appraisal Skill on Charming Girl.

“Charming Girl: Pregnant Quarter Horse. Strength 30, Speed 33+1.32, Stability 30+0.6, Endurance 25+0.5.”

He estimated that the numbers after the plus signs were the bonuses from the horseshoes. He still didn’t know what the standard good stats were for a horse, but he felt that Charming Girl now walked very lightly despite her big belly.