Making tofu is actually not difficult: soak the soybeans, grind the soy milk, boil the soy milk, filter it, add the coagulant, press it...

All the other tasks were snatched up by David Clark, not allowing Andrew Bennett to do them. He would use the excuse of going to the latrine to avoid the step of adding the coagulant.

There’s really no secret!

Finally, one time, Andrew Bennett grabbed him and then took out the gypsum, saying, “Crush this stuff, then dissolve it...”

David Clark was dumbfounded. “Andrew, this is a treasure, it should be yours.”

Who doesn’t keep their treasured recipes hidden? Andrew Bennett’s generosity brought tears to David Clark’s eyes. “Aunt, Andrew is being foolish again.”

This guy always mentioned the original body’s deceased mother, which made Andrew Bennett a bit conflicted. He said irritably, “Just do as I say.”

Adding the coagulant is actually a very simple thing—once you know, you get it.

Andrew Bennett taught the rest to David Clark, and seeing his tears fall into the soy milk, he felt that people of this era were truly sincere.

If it were in the future, if you taught someone a way to make money, just making a video would make you famous.

But people now want to avoid it, to keep it secret for you, showing their simplicity.

Simplicity is good!

Andrew Bennett said calmly, “As the saying goes, ‘In books there are houses of gold, in books there are beauties as fair as jade.’ Cousin, rest assured, I’ve been reading a lot lately and have gained much insight. I’ll learn even more in the future.”

Reading at this moment is a luxury, and the circulation of books is even more frustrating. The main way to obtain them is by copying, which shows how hard education is.

David Clark is illiterate, yet he has great respect for scholars. Hearing this, he believed it, and his eyes filled with admiration. “Andrew, you just focus on your studies. Oh, but the books are still pawned at the shop. I’ll go redeem them later.”

“That’s fine.” Although Andrew Bennett felt life at Yangjiawu was decent, if he wanted to live even more comfortably in the village, it would be best to have the status of a scholar to show off.

But you need tools to show off!

Andrew Bennett planned to take a scroll out for a stroll every day when he was bored, gradually changing his own status.

Later, the day’s tofu was once again sold out, and David Clark took the money and the receipt to the city’s pawnshop.

The so-called pawnshop originally started in temples, where you could mortgage real estate for money. Nowadays, most pawnshops are still run by temples, but here in Huazhou’s market, there’s a private pawnshop, and David Clark had pawned Andrew Bennett’s sets of books to them.

When David Clark arrived at the market, it was not yet noon, so he couldn’t do business.

According to Tang dynasty rules, every local market could only start trading at noon and had to close before sunset.

David Clark spent one wen to buy a few steamed buns, squatted at the market gate and ate one, then reluctantly looked at the remaining buns, finally broke off a piece to eat, and resolutely put the rest into his pocket.

Although the old Jia family was gradually getting richer by making tofu, David Clark, who had grown up poor, was still stingy by nature.

Dong dong dong...

The market began to beat the drum. By the rules, at noon, the market drum is beaten three hundred times, then trading begins.

But this wasn’t Chang’an, so it wasn’t so strict. As soon as the drum sounded, everyone rushed into the market.

In Huazhou’s market, you could find anything. You could think of it as a large shopping mall in later times—basically, anything the common people wanted to buy was here.

Amid the bustling crowd, David Clark found the pawnshop, took out the receipt, and said, “I’m here to redeem that box of books.”

The pawnshop clerk took the receipt, glanced at it, and said, “Wait.”

David Clark turned around and watched the merchants and customers talking loudly. There was even a Sogdian merchant with several Sogdian girls selling Sogdian cakes.

Most of these Sogdian girls sold wine in taverns run by Sogdians; not many sold Sogdian cakes. Their clothes were, well... David Clark stared without blinking, until one of the girls threw him a flirtatious glance, and only then did he instinctively cover his lower body with both hands.

David Clark licked his lips. “Damn, they’re really good-looking!”

The old Jia family was too poor, and no one in Yangjiawu would take a fancy to him or Andrew Bennett. If nothing changed, the Tang dynasty would have two more bachelors.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

The clerk came back and said, “Your interest comes to half a wen. I can’t give you half a wen here, so you’ll have to pay an extra half a wen.”

It’s like in later times, when you have five li of interest, but the smallest coin is one wen—how do you pay five li? You can’t!

That’s the trick. When someone comes to redeem something, the pawnshop will play games with the interest. Otherwise, how could there be half a wen of interest?

Most people don’t bother about that half a wen and just pay it.

The clerk thought nothing of it and reached out for the money.

David Clark’s eyes gradually widened...

“Why should I?”

He said angrily, “That’s half a wen! You can buy a lot with that!”

Prices in the Tang dynasty were still reasonable. Five wen could buy a dou of rice, and half a wen could indeed buy some things.

But this is a pawnshop!

Half a wen here is like cabbage—no one would argue with a pawnshop over half a wen.

So someone laughed and said, “So stingy.”

The clerk sneered, “Then why don’t you give me half a wen?”