The Taoist priest chimed in, "Ordinary families are not allowed to brew and sell wine. Brewing wine requires a lot of grain, but in this era, there is not enough grain to eat, so the imperial court still has some control over the amount of wine brewed each year."

"Yes, that's why wine is so expensive. Ordinary people can't even afford to eat, so how can they have surplus grain to brew wine?"

Xu Han pondered for a moment upon hearing this. Since that was the case, no one had brewed wine from sweet potatoes before. It seemed like this was a good way to make money.

But making money isn't something we can do right now; we'll have to wait until the war is over before making any plans.

During wartime, it's best to avoid trouble if possible, and try to stay out of the spotlight to ensure safety.

Having figured this out, Xu Han decided to put her thoughts aside for the time being and not bring them up again.

Xu Han then asked, "What are we having for dinner later?"

"I cooked a pot of porridge before you came back, but I haven't made anything else yet."

"Since I've already cooked porridge, I'll also make a pancake! How about a scallion pancake?"

"Sure, it's been a long time since I've had this. Make a few more today."

"Okay, I'll go knead the dough first."

After Xu Han finished speaking, she went back into the kitchen, kneaded the dough, and put it on the cutting board to let it rise.

Then I went to the small vegetable garden outside and picked a bunch of scallions. The freshly sprouted scallions were bright green, and they were perfect for making scallion pancakes.

Wash the scallions thoroughly, then chop them into small pieces. Add a little salt and thirteen-spice powder, and let them marinate for a while.

The scallions will soften after being marinated, so they won't tear the dough when you roll them into scallion pancakes.

Add some flour to a bowl, then add more oil and stir well to make a flaky pastry.

Cut the freshly risen dough into evenly sized pieces, roll them out into thin pancakes, brush them with a layer of oil paste, and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Roll it up from one side into a small dough ball, then roll it out thinly again into a scallion pancake.

The pancakes with bright green scallions look incredibly appetizing and are also very visually appealing.

While making the dough, Xu Han called out to the outside, "Lu Chuan, come in quickly and help me start the fire."

"They're here."

Not only did Lu Chuan come in, but the Taoist priest and Mu'er also came in.

Mu'er blinked her big, watery eyes and asked, "Mommy, are the delicious scallion pancakes ready yet?"

"It'll be ready soon. Have your father start the fire, and I'll make you some scallion pancakes."

The Taoist priest volunteered, saying, "You roll out the dough, and I'll flip it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Han looked at the Taoist priest with a suspicious expression, opened her mouth, and finally said, "Alright then."

"Hey, girl, what kind of look is that? I may not be able to cook, but can't I do something as simple as flipping a pancake?"

"Hehehe, no, no, that's not what I meant. Remember to flip it often, and it's ready to take out of the pot once it turns golden brown."

As Xu Han spoke, she placed the freshly rolled scallion pancakes into the pan.

Finally, after much debate between Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest, the first scallion pancake was ready.

Xu Han smiled and praised, "Not bad, not bad, you didn't burn it, you've improved."

The Taoist priest tore off a piece and handed it to Mu'er, saying, "Try it and see if it's good."

Mu'er took it, eating and laughing, "Delicious, delicious."

Lu Chuan chimed in, "Tear off a little bit for your brother so he can eat it himself."

"Okay." Mu'er said and ran out happily.

When they came in again, Grandpa Zhao and Ze'er followed behind them.

As soon as the Taoist priest saw the two enter, he hurriedly shooed them away, saying, "What are you two doing in here? It's so hot in this kitchen, get out of here right now."

"Haha, I didn't believe it when Mu'er said it was made by the Taoist priest. I just wanted to come in and see for myself. I didn't expect it to really be made by you. Not bad, not bad, you've improved."

"Haha, of course, what's so difficult about that? It's a piece of cake."

Just as the Taoist priest was feeling smug, Lu Chuan hurriedly shouted, "It's burnt, it's burnt!"

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest hurriedly went to stir the scallion pancakes in the pan, and sure enough, they were burnt.

Grandpa Zhao looked at the cakes the Taoist priest took out and laughed heartily, "Hahaha, you praised me too early. You're still the same as before, no improvement."

Seeing this, the Taoist priest grabbed a rag from the side and threw it at Lu Chuan, saying, "It's all your fault! Why did you make such a big fire? It's burnt. You can eat this pancake yourself."

Lu Chuan retorted, unconvinced, "How can you blame me? It was clearly your own fault for not watching the pancakes in the pan properly."

"If you had used a lower flame, would it have burned?"

Grandpa Zhao handed Ze'er to the Taoist priest and said, "Alright, alright, you two stop talking. Hurry up and take Ze'er out. If you keep making a fuss, this scallion pancake will have to become a midnight snack."

Seeing this, Xu Han added, "Mu'er, go out with Grandpa Daoist too. It's too hot in the kitchen. Your mother will call you when it's ready."

"Okay." Mu'er replied sweetly and went to play with her younger brother.

We ate dinner a little later than usual tonight, mainly because making scallion pancakes is too much trouble, plus there are more people in the family and we eat a lot, so by the time we had made enough food, it was already quite late.

After dinner, the family sat in the yard to enjoy the cool evening air.

Xu Han asked, "While we have this time, let me take out the smartweed and we can process it together. We can finish it tomorrow morning."

"Okay, take it out. We'll do it together and it'll be done quickly."

Upon hearing this, Xu Han went into the storeroom and brought out a basket of smartweed.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan also brought out a large wooden basin.

Grandpa Zhao looked at the basket full of smartweed and asked, "What should we do with this?"

Xu Han handed each person a pair of disposable gloves and said, "We only have the flowers on these, so we can just peel them off."

Lu Chuan watched Xu Han demonstrate and then started masturbating as well.

Seeing everyone working, Mu'er ran over and said, "Mother, I want to help too."

"Sweet son, this is too spicy for you to handle. Why don't you go and check on your little brother?"

Hearing this, Mu'er was a little unhappy, but when she heard that she would help take care of her younger brother, she smiled and said, "Okay."

Although there may not be a lot of smartweed, processing each spike individually is quite troublesome.

The flower spikes were very small, and after a long time, I couldn't get rid of many of them.

Fortunately, there were many people at home, and the group chatted and picked the flowers of the smartweed, and time passed quickly without them realizing it.

"Oh dear, my back is killing me."

The Taoist priest stood up and said, rubbing his lower back.

Xu Han glanced at the basket, which was still half full of smartweed, and said, "Let's finish this much for today. It's getting late, so let's get some rest. I can take care of the rest myself tomorrow."

Seeing that there wasn't much left, the group agreed.

After the Taoist priest and Grandpa Zhao left, Lu Chuan and Xu Han cleaned the yard together before going to rest.