After taking out the bean sprouts, Henry Thompson noticed some unsatisfactory aspects. For example, the sprouts on the top layer were longer, while those in the middle and bottom layers were shorter, making them look a bit uneven. However, this didn’t affect the edibility of the bean sprouts.

Moreover, the reason Henry Thompson chose to make mung bean sprouts was, first, because mung bean sprouts have a fresh taste, unlike soybean sprouts which carry a strong bean smell, making mung bean sprouts more acceptable in terms of flavor. After all, the emergence of a new food definitely requires others’ approval. Secondly, he personally preferred eating mung bean sprouts. Since he was going to make bean sprouts anyway, he naturally wanted to choose the kind he liked. In any case, the feed for the cattle was quite mixed, including soybeans, mung beans, and black beans.

By this time, it was already night, but Henry Thompson was still excitedly heading out, carrying a large bowl of mung bean sprouts in his hands. He wanted to take his invention to show William Foster Sr., and hopefully have them bring the bean sprouts to Chang’an to try selling them for a high price. Although he believed that, for the nobles of Chang’an who rarely saw vegetables throughout the winter, bean sprouts would surely be popular, it still needed to be tested in reality. So he was feeling a bit nervous.

Walking along the uneven field path by the dim lantern light, it was only around seven or eight in the evening, but in this era, there weren’t many forms of entertainment at night, and poor families were reluctant to use up lamp oil, so most people went to bed early. When Henry Thompson arrived at the Li family’s manor, the whole place was already quiet, with only the watchdog occasionally barking a few times.

Henry Thompson patted the doorpost of William Foster Sr.’s house and called out a few times. Apparently, William Foster Sr. inside hadn’t fallen asleep yet, and soon came out of the house in his clothes. When he saw Henry Thompson outside, he was quite surprised and said, “Master, why have you come so late?”

“Uncle Liu, I did it!” Henry Thompson finally had the chance to share his joy with someone else.

“What did you do?” William Foster Sr. still hadn’t figured out what was going on, but he opened the door and invited Henry Thompson in anyway.

“Look at this!” Henry Thompson brought the large bowl in his hands up to William Foster Sr. and moved the lantern closer so he could see the bean sprouts clearly.

“These... are bean sprouts?” William Foster Sr. was also very surprised to see the bean sprouts in the bowl. Having farmed for so many years, he recognized bean sprouts at a glance, and he remembered that Henry Thompson had asked him about bean sprouts before, which made him vaguely realize something.

“That’s right, they’re bean sprouts, and they’re also a kind of vegetable. If we take them to the market to sell, there should be quite a few buyers. With this business, our manor won’t have to worry about running out of food in the winter!” Henry Thompson said excitedly again.

“But... but are bean sprouts really edible?” William Foster Sr. still found it hard to believe. Although he had grown beans for many years, he had never actually eaten bean sprouts. After all, for tenant farmers, every bean sprout was a crop, and even losing one would make him feel bad for half a day, let alone taking them to the kitchen to cook.

“Of course they’re edible, and they taste especially good. Uncle Liu, go call the heads of the other families in the manor, let’s discuss how to do this bean sprout business!” Henry Thompson now showed a very confident attitude. Although he wasn’t sure if bean sprouts would be popular right from the start, if even he didn’t have confidence, then William Foster Sr. and the others would have even less.

William Foster Sr. respected Henry Thompson greatly, so he agreed without hesitation and went out to call the others. In no time, the men from the other four families arrived, all wearing their clothes. The five families in the manor were actually all related. Two of them were William Foster Sr.’s younger brothers, and the other two were his brothers-in-law, surnamed Zhang—one called David Bolton, the other Samuel Bolton. From their names, you could tell they were farming folk.

In fact, when Henry Thompson’s mother handed the manor over to William Foster Sr. to manage, she let him choose the tenants himself, so naturally William Foster Sr. took care of his own relatives. Whether it was his two younger brothers or his two brothers-in-law, they were all honest tenant farmers. Among them, William Foster Sr. was the oldest and most respected, which made it easier for him to manage things.

The group of tenant farmers all gathered in William Foster Sr.’s courtyard. Since it was dark and cold, William Foster Sr. lit a fire in the yard. Henry Thompson sat in the middle, explained the bean sprouts, and then had them pass the bowl around so everyone could taste the bean sprouts. Even though they were raw, they weren’t hard to eat.

“Master, these bean sprouts are quite crisp and refreshing, but I wonder if people would actually buy them. After all, no one has ever eaten this before.” At this moment, a middle-aged man sitting to Henry Thompson’s right spoke up. This man had a very distinctive appearance—the most noticeable feature was that one of his eyes was much bigger than the other, making him look a bit comical. This was William Foster Sr.’s second brother, nicknamed Charles Foster. His smaller eye looked normal, but the other was several times larger than most people’s, hence the nickname “Big Eye.” Even the younger generation called him “Uncle Big Eye.”