Early the next morning, Shi Zhen took Shi Xinghuo to his workplace and told Wang Chengfa about wanting his cousin to take over his work.

They work as laborers and don't sign any contracts. It doesn't matter who does the work. Shi Xinghuo is older and looks stronger than Shi Zhen, who has just come of age, so Wang Chengfa naturally has no objection.

Of course, the main reason he was so easy to talk to was because Shi Zhen had built a good relationship with them a few days ago.

“My cousin lives far away and doesn’t speak the local dialect very well, so please keep an eye on him,” Shi Zhen said to the others.

Everyone agreed.

Hearing this, Shi Zhen felt relieved. Shi Xinghuo was not good at communicating with strangers, but now that he had said that Shi Xinghuo could not understand the local language, these people would no longer think that Shi Xinghuo had intellectual problems.

As for the work, it wouldn't be a problem for Shi Xinghuo to follow others and do jobs that don't require much skill.

Shi Xinghuo had been digging mud for several days. Although this mud-digging work was different from the mud-digging work he had done before, it was similar and he could do it perfectly well.

Wang Chengfa was quite satisfied to see that he worked as hard as Shi Zhen.

They've almost finished digging this section of the river. Because they've worked so fast, they've even received a reward from above. Next, they'll be building the stone slope. Someone else will be assigned to manage it, so it won't be his turn. But he'll be asked to pick a few laborers to work with them. He plans to choose a few hard-working ones.

Originally, Shi Zhen was one of them, but now it can be Shi Xinghuo instead.

After delivering Shi Xinghuo to the construction site, Shi Zhen carried the pig's head back to the village.

He went to the butcher this morning and bought a pig's head.

This pig's head had no tongue or ears left. It weighed twelve pounds and cost him six yuan.

Besides the pig's head, he also bought a fairly large stainless steel basin, which he planned to use to hold the pig's head meat later.

This stainless steel basin was quite expensive, costing him twenty yuan... He had to divert the money he had saved for Shi Xinghuo.

He will pay back the principal and interest in a few days.

The iron pots on the earthen stoves in the countryside are very large, big enough to stew a whole pig's head. Shi Zhen first burns off the hair on the pig's head with fire before putting it in to stew, and then adds various seasonings.

He stewed the pig's head for three hours until the meat was separated from the bone. He then removed the bones, cut the meat into small pieces, and poured it into a stainless steel basin along with the braising liquid.

Shi Zhen's cooking skills are average; he can't make any amazing dishes, so he plans to make a local dish: cold-cut pig's head.

The method for making cold-cut pig's head meat is similar to that for cold-cut mutton. After the pig's head meat is cooked, it is placed in a container with the braising liquid. After it cools and solidifies, the meat and braising liquid are cut into pieces.

Like pig's trotters, pig's head meat is cooked in a very thick braising sauce that solidifies easily. The meat, coated in the sauce, is also very flavorful and goes well with rice.

The cold-cut mutton here is served without soy sauce, cut into small, translucent slices, while the cold-cut pig's head is generally braised.

This method of cooking pig's head not only makes it delicious, but also provides a generous portion.

The original pig's head weighed twelve jin (approximately 6 catties), but now that the bones have been removed, it should still weigh about twelve or thirteen jin (approximately 6.5-7.5 kg) with the braising liquid.

After preparing the pig's head, Shi Zhen first ate lunch with the leftover rice from yesterday mixed with the braising liquid. After resting for a while, he picked up the stainless steel basin containing the pig's head, which was covered with a gauze cloth, and carried a basket left by Grandma Guan Baiyu, which contained a knife and a scale. He then headed towards the town.

Although the basin and meat weighed only about 20 pounds, carrying such a large basin was extremely tiring. Shi Zhen couldn't walk all the way to town in one go and had to stop and go.

He's missing a lot right now; for one thing, he's missing a tricycle.

But in this era where you have to pay to register your bicycle after you buy it, tricycles are not cheap, costing several hundred yuan each.

He has no money.

After arriving in town, Shi Zhen did not go to the market, but instead went to the place where river mud was being dug.

It's cold today, so the braising liquid for this pot of pig's head meat has long since solidified, becoming inseparable from the diced pig's head meat.

Shi Zhen had timed his arrival perfectly. Wang Chengfa and the others were having their afternoon snack when he saw them. He carried a basin over and said, "Uncle Wang, I made some cold-cut pig's head at home that I was planning to sell. I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I'd cut some for you to try."

After Shi Zhen finished speaking with a smile, he took a knife, cut some of the meat, and shared it with the people who were digging river mud.

He didn't cut much; each person received about two ounces, except for Wang Chengfa, who received a little more, about four ounces.

This afternoon, Wang Chengfa gave the workers a snack of pickled vegetable buns. They tasted good, but no matter how good they were, they weren't as good as meat!

Especially for people at this time, who had just come from an era of food and clothing shortages, cooking was not yet very skillful with seasonings.

In most households, the only seasonings are salt, soy sauce, and MSG; sugar and vinegar may not even be available. But Shi Zhen's stewed pig's head contains spices.

The pig's head meat is solidified in the braising liquid. One bite and you'll find it not only flavorful but also very chewy!

Pig's head meat is mostly fatty, which many people don't like, but the people on the construction site all like it. Everyone thinks it's delicious, and without Shi Zhen even mentioning it, someone asked, "Shi Zhen, are you going to sell this pig's head meat? How much?"

Shi Zhen smiled and said, "I plan to sell it for two yuan a pound."

"Two yuan a pound? I'll buy a pound," someone said. Meat in town costs more than two yuan a pound, this isn't expensive.

Most importantly, this meat is delicious!

His family always boiled meat in plain water and ate it with soy sauce when they bought it; he had never tasted meat this delicious before.

Wang Chengfa also said, "I'll buy two jin. The taste of your pig's head meat is almost the same as the braised pig's trotters in the restaurants in town."

Shi Zhen thought that the braised pig's trotters in the town's restaurants were probably just stewed with some spices and soy sauce, which explained why Wang Chengfa thought they tasted the same.

He came here hoping to sell the pig's head meat here... Without thinking, Shi Zhen went to cut the meat and said, "Uncle Wang, I'll sell it outside for two yuan a pound. I definitely can't sell it to you for that much. I'll give you one yuan and fifty cents a pound."

Wang Chengfa was quite happy to get a 50-cent discount: "I'm so sorry... could you cut me a little bit, just this much?" He gestured with the pork head meat.

Shi Zhen cut it up, put it into the plastic bag he bought, and weighed it with a wooden scale. It weighed a little over three jin in total.

Shi Zhen said, "Uncle Wang, four yuan will do."

The scale that Shi Zhen used was left by Guan Baiyu's grandmother. It's quite old, and the weight isn't made of iron, but of stone.

Iron weights only became popular in recent years.

Wang Chengfa was about to say that the scale might be inaccurate, but when he saw that Shi Zhen had only charged him four yuan for more than three jin, he was immediately satisfied.

Seeing this, the remaining people all came over to buy.

Shi Zhen calculated it at 1.5 yuan per jin, and even rounded it down, so the pot of pig's head meat sold out in no time.

He bought the pig's head for six yuan, and with the addition of spices and other ingredients, the cost was at most eight yuan, but he sold it for fifteen yuan.

The profit is almost doubled, but he can't make too much in a day, and he can't sell too much in town, so it's not easy to make money consistently.

But this is a good start.

"Shi Zhen, are you making this braised pig's head again tomorrow? If you are, bring it over here, and I'll buy some more then." In the end, the group only managed to buy about a pound each, which they were sure they could finish today, so they thought they'd buy some more tomorrow—they were happy to spend 1.5 yuan to give their families an extra meal.

Shi Zhen said, "I'll do it again tomorrow, and I'll definitely come over then."

After making arrangements with these people, Shi Zhen stayed behind, watching Shi Xinghuo work and occasionally giving him pointers.

Only if Shi Xinghuo performs his job well can he continue to work.