The ranch was growing, but a problem quickly became apparent: manpower efficiency.
With five head of cattle, fifty chickens, and five *mu* of pasture, Li Wei and his workers were stretched thin. Moving the mobile chicken coop required two men. Herding the cows from the pasture back to the barn took Li Wei and Ox walking for half an hour, shouting and waving sticks.
It was inefficient. It was primitive.
"We need horses," Li Wei said, staring at theSystem notification.
**[Quest: The Cowboy Way.]**
**[Objective: Acquire and train 2 riding horses.]**
**[Reward: System Knowledge - "Western Riding & Horsemanship".]**
Qin Hu, who was oiling a leather strap by the bunkhouse, looked up. "Horses are for the wealthy or the military. A decent horse costs five taels of silver. A warhorse? Fifty. You have copper coins."
"I don't need warhorses," Li Wei said. "I need working horses. Stamina, not speed. Steady, not flashy."
He looked at the rocky hillside. "And I know where to find the ones nobody wants."
***
**The Scrub Horses**
Li Wei didn't go to the prime stables. He went to the caravanserai outside the town gate—the resting stop for long-distance traders and transport teams.
Here, horses were tools. And broken tools were discarded.
He found a teamster cursing at a wagon. Two horses were hitched to it. One was a massive, feather-footed beast, stomping the ground irritably. The other was a smaller, rugged horse with a tangled mane, refusing to move.
"Move, you stubborn mule!" the teamster whipped the smaller horse.
The horse laid its ears back and kicked the wagon wheel, splintering the wood.
"Damn beast!" The teamster threw his hat down. "Useless nag! Can't pull, can't lead!"
Li Wei approached.
**[System Scan: Equus ferus caballus.]**
**[Subject 1: Large Horse (Draft mix). Breed: Local Heavy Horse.]**
**[Trait: Strong, Slow, Intelligent. Issue: Sore front left hoof (Stone bruise).]**
**[Subject 2: Small Horse (Mountain pony). Breed: Scrub Mix.]**
**[Trait: Endurance, Agile, Stubborn. Issue: 'Barn Sour' (Refuses to leave herd).]**
"Sir," Li Wei called out. "You look like you have a problem."
"My string is cursed," the teamster spat. "The big one went lame yesterday. The little one is a man-eater. I'm selling them for meat. I need fresh oxen for the mountain pass."
"Meat price?" Li Wei asked.
"Two taels for the pair. Take them off my hands."
Two taels (2000 coins). It was nearly all his liquid cash, plus the profit from the next month's eggs.
"I'll give you one tael for the pair, and I'll help you fix your wagon wheel so you can drive your cart back to town."
The teamster looked at Li Wei, then at his broken wheel, then at the "man-eater."
"Done. Take them. Before they kill me."
***
**The First Ride**
Leading the two horses back to the ranch was an exercise in patience. The big horse, whom Li Wei named "Mountain," limped slowly. The little horse, a dirty brown color, whom Li Wei named "Storm," bit at Li Wei's sleeve every time he got close.
"You bought trouble," Qin Hu said when they arrived. He walked up to Storm, who immediately tried to bite him.
Qin Hu didn't flinch. He backhanded the horse's nose—not hard, but firm.
"No biting."
Storm snorted, stepping back, surprised by the discipline.
"That one has spirit," Qin Hu noted. "The big one... he's just sore."
"Mountain has a stone bruise," Li Wei said, lifting the big horse's hoof. He used his knife to pare away the blackened sole. A pocket of pus oozed out.
"Ox! Hot water! Pine tar!"
Li Wei treated the hoof, packing it with tar and wrapping it in a cloth. "He'll be sound in a week. But Storm... he needs to be ridden."
"Ridden?" Da Shan laughed. "He'll throw you into the river."
Li Wei grabbed a rough wool blanket and a thick rope. He didn't have a saddle. He didn't have a proper bridle. He was operating on System knowledge and prayer.
**[Technique: Breaking with Trust.]**
**[Step 1: Desensitization.]**
Li Wei spent an hour rubbing the blanket all over Storm—his neck, his flank, his belly. At first, the horse shied and kicked. But Li Wei persisted, moving slowly, speaking low.
"You're not going to the slaughterhouse," Li Wei murmured. "You're going to be a king on the plains."
He draped the blanket over the horse's back. Storm froze, tensing.
"Good."
Li Wei made a crude hackamore from the rope, looping it around the horse's nose.
"I'm getting on," Li Wei announced.
"Boss, don't!" Ox shouted.
Li Wei vaulted onto the horse's bare back.
Storm exploded.
He bucked. He twisted. He kicked his hind legs high into the air.
Li Wei gripped with his thighs, his hands clutching the rope mane. The world spun. The ground rushed up and spun away.
*Thud. Thud. Thud.*
"Ride it out!" Qin Hu shouted from the fence. "Don't pull! Give him his head!"
Li Wei didn't pull. He leaned forward, keeping his center of gravity low. He moved *with* the horse, becoming a sack of grain rather than a rigid rider.
Storm twisted left. Li Wei shifted left.
Storm bucked right. Li Wei shifted right.
For three minutes, it was a violent dance.
Finally, Storm realized the weight on his back wasn't hurting him. It wasn't restricting him. He stopped bucking. He stood, heaving, sweat lathering his neck.
Li Wei sat up straight. He patted the horse's neck.
"Good boy," he whispered. "Walk on."
He nudged with his heels.
Storm took a step. Then another.
A cheer went up from the workers. Even Qin Hu nodded in approval.
"Still think he's a man-eater?" Li Wei grinned, circling the horse around the corral. The feeling was intoxicating. The wind in his hair, the power between his legs. He was taller than everyone else. He was faster.
He wasn't a peasant walking in the mud anymore. He was a rider.
***
**The Cowboy Hat**
That evening, Li Wei sat by the light of the oil lamp. He had a piece of stiff, oiled cloth he had bought from the cloth merchant. He also had some thin bamboo strips.
He was weaving.
"What is that?" Li Chen asked, watching his brother's fingers move deftly.
"A hat," Li Wei said.
"It looks weird. Like a flattened cone."
"It's to keep the sun out of my eyes," Li Wei explained. "And the rain off my neck. The sun on the plains is fierce. If I'm going to be riding all day, I need protection."
He finished the wide brim. It wasn't leather—it wasn't time for that yet—but the shape was unmistakable. A Stetson shape. The classic cowboy hat.
He put it on his head. It cast a shadow over his eyes.
He stood up, grabbing a stick.
"Yellow!"
The dog ran over.
"Let's practice."
Li Wei whistled a sharp note. He pointed to the left. Yellow ran left. He pointed right. Yellow ran right.
He climbed onto Storm's back, bareback.
"Walk on."
He rode the horse around the perimeter, the strange hat on his head, the dog trotting alongside.
**[Quest Completed: The Cowboy Way.]**
**[Reward: Western Riding & Horsemanship (Level 1).]**
**[Bonus Reward: "Lariat" (Knot Techniques & Throwing Accuracy).]**
Li Wei felt the knowledge settle in his mind. How to coil the rope. How to swing it overhead. How to catch a running calf.
He looked at his ranch. The cows were sleeping. The chickens were quiet. The horses were fed.
It was still small. It was still poor.
But as he rode Storm under the moonlight, the silhouette of a man on a horse against the sky looked like something new to this ancient land.
It looked like freedom.
"We start branding the calves tomorrow," Li Wei said to the wind. "And we start training the dogs to herd."
The Rancher had found his mount. The real work was about to begin.