“Not even enough to last through this month?” Charles Bennett said in shock, feeling a bit moved as well. He hadn’t expected that the food he’d been eating these days had all been bought with Steward Evans’s own private savings. Now it was already mid-October, and there was only enough grain left at home for a little over ten days, and even then, they could only have porridge. For Charles Bennett, who couldn’t go a day without meat, this was undoubtedly a huge blow. Plus, there were still two months until the New Year—where would the family’s food come from until then?

“All right, I understand. Don’t tell Auntie and the others for now, I’ll think of something!” Charles Bennett sighed. Although he still had over four hundred taels of silver, ninety of which belonged to Mrs. Walker’s private stash, that money was meant for repaying debts. Charles Bennett had already promised to deliver it tomorrow, so it absolutely couldn’t be touched. It seemed his plan to make money would have to be moved up.

Hearing Charles Bennett’s words, Steward Evans looked at him with some concern. After all, Charles Bennett had grown up under his watch, and he knew that aside from studying, the young master had no other skills. Although ever since the family’s misfortune, the young master seemed to have become a different person, handling everything in an orderly fashion, Steward Evans still didn’t believe Charles Bennett truly had any means to make a living.

Even though Steward Evans still doubted Charles Bennett’s abilities, now that Charles Bennett was the head of the family, the responsibility of providing naturally fell on his shoulders. So, Steward Evans finally sighed, turned, and left the back garden.

After Steward Evans left, Charles Bennett didn’t stay in the garden either, but returned to his own room, lay down on the simple bed, and began to ponder. Originally, Charles Bennett had slept on a carved wooden bed, but he’d sold it to pay off debts. The same went for some books and antiques in the room—none were left. The bed he slept on now had been moved from the servants’ quarters, and aside from this bed, there was no other furniture in the room, making it feel truly bare.

The money for repaying the debt was all ready, which gave Charles Bennett an unprecedented sense of relief. It felt as if he’d even paid off the mortgage from his previous life. As the old saying goes, “A man without debt is light as a feather”—this described Charles Bennett’s current feeling perfectly.

But after the relief, Charles Bennett was once again troubled by the need to earn money to support his family. He went over all the resources he had at hand: a large house, Mrs. Walker and Steward Evans—both elderly and weak—and, as someone from the future, a mind full of advanced knowledge. Although Charles Bennett wasn’t entirely sure, he felt this knowledge was his greatest asset. Whether he could live a good life in the future would depend on how well he could apply what was in his head.

Speaking of the knowledge in his mind, Charles Bennett had made a rather surprising discovery: ever since he’d transmigrated to the Ming Dynasty, his memories from his previous life were like a detailed and vast movie. Every person he’d known, every event he’d experienced, even every book he’d read, could be found in this movie with incredibly detailed records.

Sometimes Charles Bennett wondered: was it the original Charles Bennett who absorbed his past life’s memories, or had his past life’s memories taken over Charles Bennett’s mind? This was a serious philosophical question, and Charles Bennett felt that with his intelligence, he’d probably never figure it out in his lifetime. So he simply stopped thinking about it. He was Charles Bennett, and Charles Bennett was him—why overthink it?

The knowledge from his previous life was undoubtedly a huge treasure for Charles Bennett now. If nothing else, just introducing a few modern inventions would be enough to ensure his family of five never had to worry about food and drink. This thought lifted Charles Bennett’s spirits, and he began to review his memories to see if there was anything that could bring him profit. In the end, he really did come up with a few things, like soap, toothbrushes, and MSG.

But Charles Bennett quickly became discouraged. The household items he thought of were great, but due to various limitations, they couldn’t be realized. For example, MSG—he only knew it was made through microbial fermentation, but as for which kind of bacteria or what conditions were needed, he had no idea, let alone how to make it.

By comparison, the technology for toothbrushes was much simpler, and the manufacturing cost wasn’t high. The handle could be made from bone or bamboo, and the bristles from pig hair. The process wasn’t complicated, but to produce them on a large scale would require a lot of manpower and raw materials. Given that he could barely afford to eat, it was simply impossible.

Even if he managed to make toothbrushes, selling them would be a big problem. After all, people in the Ming Dynasty were used to brushing their teeth with their fingers or willow twigs. The well-off might use some tooth powder or green salt at most. Who knew how many people would be willing to spend money on a new product like a toothbrush?

As for soap, compared to the previous two, it was actually a more practical option. Charles Bennett also knew how to make soap in a laboratory setting. Although it would be difficult to produce on a large scale, given its appearance and function, even small-scale production could bring in a decent income. Unfortunately, like toothbrushes, making soap also required an initial investment—at the very least, all kinds of raw materials had to be bought, and money was exactly what he lacked most right now.