David Clark was dumbfounded. He mechanically picked up a piece of tofu, about the size of his hand. This was cut earlier by Andrew Bennett, who had said that from now on, tofu should be cut to this size. As for the reason, it was simply because in his previous life, tender tofu was always this big, so it felt familiar to him.

The merchant trembled, “Such a small piece, are you crazy?”

Andrew Bennett smiled and said, “It’s very hard to make, and costs a lot. One piece of jade-white tofu costs more than four wen to make.”

The cost of tofu is just the beans, after all. David Clark thought his cousin must be crazy. But his heart was racing, thinking if this really worked out, then… then they’d strike it rich!

The old Jia family had been poor for years. To put it bluntly, from childhood to now, David Clark had barely eaten mutton a few times—they were so poor they were practically eating dirt.

The merchant grew angry. “Five wen? You greedy… your heart, liver, stomach, and lungs are all black, black to the core. If I buy it today, I’m a fool!”

David Clark felt uneasy and glanced at Andrew Bennett. He really wanted to persuade his cousin to lower the price, but seeing his cousin’s honest expression, for some reason, he just couldn’t say it.

Andrew Bennett smiled and said, “Yes! It’s too expensive. I plan to stop making it after today. Since you’re not buying, I’ll just take it into the city to sell and at least get some of my money back.”

Uh!

The aggressive merchant suddenly calmed down, then said, “Five wen is really too expensive, it’s unreasonable. How about a little less, huh?”

He thought Andrew Bennett was a fool. He’d planned to coax him into selling the tofu cheap, but now this fool wasn’t going to make it anymore. He couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted, and continued, “How about this, sell me the recipe. How about one string of cash?”

He’d tasted the tofu yesterday and thought it had great potential. Huazhou was close to Chang’an, with plenty of wealthy people. Those people weren’t short on money, what they lacked was novelty—like new ingredients.

He didn’t want to make a fortune with this tofu, but to use it to maintain relationships with the rich, so he could do more business with them in the future.

This was his stepping stone, and he desperately needed it.

Andrew Bennett said in surprise, “The recipe? That’s a family secret, passed down to sons, not daughters.”

Uh!

The merchant was conflicted, but didn’t doubt him.

In this era, there were many unique skills, most of which were passed down in a single line. Andrew Bennett’s explanation made sense.

Family secret?

David Clark thought his cousin lied as if it were the truth—he almost believed it himself.

The merchant, helpless, said, “Just keep supplying me with tofu, but for less money. How about one wen per piece?”

Say yes!

Say yes!

How much does tofu cost to make? David Clark knew very well—it was pitifully cheap. One wen per piece would be a huge profit!

David Clark clenched his fists, wishing he could agree on Andrew Bennett’s behalf.

We’re going to be rich! We’re going to be rich!

Just as David Clark was getting excited, Andrew Bennett shook his head. “It costs over four wen to make, so less than five won’t do… I’ll take it into the city to sell. Huh! Who’s that?”

The sound of hooves approached. The merchant glanced back and saw several riders speeding toward them. He blurted out, “Two wen, how about that?”

“Heh!” Andrew Bennett just chuckled, still playing the honest man.

When the merchant saw who was coming, he anxiously said, “Three wen! As long as you agree to sell only to me, three wen per piece, I’ll take as many as you make.”

Andrew Bennett shook his head. The merchant thought he just didn’t understand business, so he despaired, then pleaded, “Four wen, four wen, okay?”

The riders had arrived—they were all merchants.

“You dare keep it all for yourself!”

“Mr. Jia, how much is it?”

“Five wen,” Andrew Bennett said calmly.

“What, five wen? That’s too high.”

The new merchants were dissatisfied. Andrew Bennett pointed at the first merchant and said, “Then I’ll just sell it all to him.”

Uh!

The merchants were stunned. The first merchant was overjoyed, “Fine, five wen, I’ll take it all.”

“Nonsense!”

“I’m here—who dares keep it all for themselves!”

After a round of arguing, the tofu was snatched up by the merchants, leaving a pile of copper coins in the basket.

Chapter 5: The Fearless Merchant

One piece of tofu for five wen. Today’s batch was thirty pieces, three times five is fifteen…

One hundred and fifty wen!

David Clark carried the money pouch, feeling it was incredibly heavy.

A dou of rice weighs over ten jin, and five wen is enough to buy it. This money could buy thirty dou of rice.

I, David Clark, have never seen so much money!

The merchants split the thirty pieces of tofu. One of them smiled and asked, “Mr. Jia, can you make more of this jade-white tofu?”

A good thing that makes money, but only thirty pieces a day—how can you make money like that?

“No problem,” Andrew Bennett nodded, but wouldn’t say how many he could make each day.

How to make tofu, whether it’s hard, how many can be made in a day—all this was in Andrew Bennett’s mind. He deliberately kept quiet, slyly making the merchants itch with curiosity.

As for whether the merchants would give up because there was too little tofu to sell each day and it wasn’t profitable, Andrew Bennett didn’t think so.