Although she no longer makes sticky rice cakes, Zhang Shuzhen didn't sit idle. She soaked corn grits, ground them, and led her daughter-in-law and daughter to make pancakes at home.

In fact, there are two types of pancakes in Northeast China: one is the large pancake that we usually eat, also called a hard pancake, and the other is called a soft pancake.

The two types of pancakes have different ingredients and are cooked in different ways.

Soft pancakes have more cooked rice in them, making them easier to cook; they're similar to the pancakes in jianbing guozi (a type of Chinese crepe).

Pour a spoonful of pancake crumbs onto the griddle, and gently spread them out into a circle using a spatula.

After that, there's no need to scrape with a scraper. Just wait for the batter to cook through, flip it over and cook it again, then fold it in half twice. Finally, place it on a cooling rack or a cutting board to cool completely before storing it.

Because there was no scraping process, the pancakes were small, soft, and thick, with some areas being uneven in thickness.

These are usually frozen outside, and when you want to eat them, you need to heat them in a pot.

Regular large pancakes need to be scraped continuously with a scraper until they are fully cooked, so they are larger, drier, and thinner. When eating them, you need to sprinkle water on them and let them sit for a while before stacking them up to eat.

Regardless of the type, it's really just a different way of eating whole grains. Otherwise, eating flatbread and cornbread every day would get boring after a while.

Three days after the exam, the school teachers finished grading the papers and compiled a list of class rankings.

Then, the children returned to school to hear their grades, the teachers assigned holiday homework, and the enjoyable holiday began.

"Big brother, guess what rank I got on the exam this time?"

Sheng Xiping had switched back to the day shift. When he went home for lunch, Sheng Xitai came to his older brother with a smug look on his face and started showing off.

"Hey, look at you so smug. What? You think you can get first place?"

When Sheng Xiping saw his younger brother's arrogant and smug expression, he knew that the brat's grades must be pretty good, so he asked this question on purpose.

"Hey, bro, can't you just play along? This is so boring."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xitai became unhappy, pouted, and ran off to sulk.

"Honey, what place did our sixth son get in the exam? Did he really get first place?"

Sheng Xiping didn't try to comfort his younger brother; instead, he deliberately turned to talk to his wife.

Zhou Qinglan just laughed there, "You, as the older brother, can't you just coax your younger brother a little and praise him a couple of times? The sixth brother got first place in the class in the final exams this year."

"Not only the sixth brother, but Chen Feng is also first, as are our fourth and fifth sisters. The two of them took first and second place in the class, and Xi Kang is also first."

This year, the Sheng family's children have all achieved outstanding academic results.

This is partly due to the children's diligence and hard work, and of course, it also owes much to Zhou Qinglan's guidance.

Because of this, Zhang Shuzhen specifically said that she would make wontons for dinner this afternoon.

We were originally going to make dumplings, but Zhou Qinglan said that it's almost New Year's Day, so let's make dumplings then.

If we eat it today, should we still make it for New Year's Day or not?

Zhang Shuzhen thought it made sense, so she decided to make wontons in the afternoon.

No vegetables, just meat and chopped green onions. Make extra filling, like a meat and egg filling.

Anyway, we have plenty of meat at home, so let's eat it. What's the point of keeping it if we don't eat it?