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墨書 Inktalez
Feeling down after being bothered by two difficult people, Bai Tang didn't want to hang out anymore and went straight home. The winter day was short; even though it was just past four in the afternoon, the light had already dimmed. When Bai Tang took a taxi back to her building and looked up, she saw that the lights in her home were already on, which brightened her mood.
"I'm back!" Bai Tang opened the door and saw Bai Dad, Bai Ma, and Wu Xuemei gathered around the dining table making dumplings, while Xing Xiaokang sat next to the tea table doing homework.
"Are we having dumplings tonight?" Bai Tang asked, looking at the plump white dumplings spread out on half of the tablecloth, her mouth watering.
"Yes, lamb filling! You'll have plenty to eat!" Bai Ma said as she rolled out the dumpling wrappers. Although the Bai family wasn't from the north, they all enjoyed eating flour-based foods and often made buns, dumplings, and noodles. Bai Ma pressed down lightly on a piece of dough with one hand while rolling out the dough with a rolling pin in her other hand, turning it as she worked. Before long, she had rolled out a perfectly round dumpling wrapper that was thin on the edges and slightly thicker in the center.
Bai Dad and Wu Xuemei were in charge of filling the dumplings. Both were experienced; they placed filling in the center of each wrapper, folded it over, and pinched it tightly with their thumbs and index fingers, creating cute little dumplings.
Bai Tang quickly washed her hands and sat down next to Wu Xuemei, picking up a dumpling wrapper to start making her own. "How do you make lamb dumplings?"
"I went to buy lamb for soup today and thought about making dumplings, so I bought extra lamb for that," Bai Ma explained while rolling out more wrappers.
"But it's not even Winter Solstice!" Bai Tang replied. Eating dumplings and drinking lamb soup is a custom during Winter Solstice, right? Every year during this time, regardless of wealth or poverty, dumplings are an essential part of the holiday meal. There's a saying: "On October 1st, Winter Solstice arrives; every household eats dumplings." This custom is said to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing, a revered doctor who left behind medicinal recipes during Winter Solstice.
"Who says you can only eat dumplings or drink lamb soup during Winter Solstice?" Bai Ma shot her daughter a look. "Eating lamb in winter can boost energy and improve circulation; it also helps protect the stomach lining and aids digestion. In winter, you should eat more lamb and drink more lamb soup. I was even thinking of making lamb hot pot later; if you don't like it, then forget it."
"How could I not like it? I love lamb! I really love lamb!" Bai Tang quickly surrendered with a flattering smile on her face.
"If you want to eat it, hurry up and help me wrap them!" Bai Ma directed her daughter.
"Yes, ma'am!" Bai Tang raised her hand in a mock military salute that made the other three adults laugh.
"Mom, I have a question I can't solve," Xing Xiaokang raised his exercise book to ask his mother.
She immediately deflected responsibility: "Ask your aunt; she's a college student!"
The college student also deflected: "Ask Grandpa; he's a university teacher!"
With no one else left to push the responsibility onto, Bai Dad washed his hands and went to help his student with their homework.
"Tang Tang, do you have time tomorrow?"
"Yes, what do you need?" Bai Tang asked.
"Tomorrow I'm going to buy meat, and we can make sausages together!" Bai Ma said.
"Why go through all that trouble? Isn't there a place in the market that sells sausages? Can't we just buy them ready-made?"
"Nothing beats the taste of homemade sausages," Bai Ma turned to Wu Xuemei, "Mei, are you joining us to make them or doing it separately?"
"Let's do it together!" Wu Xuemei smiled, "Anyway, I'm not going back to my parents' house for the New Year. I'll celebrate with you and Kang."
"Great, we'll go buy meat together tomorrow. Since there are only two people in your family, five pounds should be enough."
The three chatted, and soon all the dumplings were wrapped. Bai Ma went into the kitchen to boil water while Wu Xuemei cleaned the dining table and washed the dishes. Bai Tang approached Bai Dad and Xing Xiaokang to see the math problems that even her teacher father found difficult.
"Arrange 004 squares in a row. Three friends, A, B, and C, take turns coloring these squares. Starting from the first square, A colors one square red, B colors two squares yellow, C colors one square blue, A colors four squares red again, B colors five squares yellow, C colors six squares blue... until all squares are colored. How many squares are colored blue?"
"There is an ancient Russian story that goes like this: A flock of geese is flying when another goose encounters them and calls out: Hello! 100 geese. The leading goose replies: No, we are not 100. If we increase by 100%, then add a percentage of this group again, then add 5% of this group, and finally add you, then we will have 100 geese. How many do we have now?"
"The circumference of a circle is 16 meters. Two ants start from opposite ends of a diameter and crawl towards each other along the circumference. One ant crawls at 004 meters per second and the other at 005 meters per second. Every odd second (1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds...), they turn around and crawl in the opposite direction. When do they meet after starting?"
"Find the pattern: (1) 1, 4, 7, 11, (?), (?); (?) 1, 6, 11, 0, (?), (?); (?) 7, 10, (?), (?), (4) 1, 5, 1, 4, 89, (?), (?); (5) Arithmetic sequence: 11, 14, 17,... What is the common difference? What is the 15th term? What is the sum of the first 15 terms? What term corresponds to number 101?"
"…"
Bai Tang felt overwhelmed: "What! Are these third-grade math problems?"
"These are Olympiad math problems!" Xing Xiaokang looked up with a frustrated expression; he couldn't solve any of them.
Bai Tang comfortingly rubbed the child's head: "Even middle school students would struggle with these Olympiad problems. You're only in third grade; it's normal not to know them. Don't be discouraged."
Bai Tang thought about the complaints from parents online regarding the math Olympiad problems, believing that these questions do not develop children's intelligence but rather torment them: "The brain could be used to think about many other beneficial subjects, but it's all spent on this," and "Both teachers and parents seem to enjoy challenging children with difficult material." A survey conducted by the China Social Survey Institute found that forcing children who are not strong in mathematical logic to learn Olympiad math can disrupt their normal thinking and lead to psychological issues.
"Are these problems mandatory for you to complete?"
Xing Xiaokang shook his head.
"Then don't do them," Bai Tang said decisively.
"But..."
Bai Dad also agreed with his daughter's opinion: "These problems are not something you can complete right now; your teacher understands and won't make things difficult for you."
Bai Dad decided to have Wu Xuemei call the teacher to ensure they wouldn't use these problems to trouble the children.
"Are you all ready? It's time to eat!" Wu Xuemei came out of the Kitchen holding a large porcelain bowl filled with dumplings.
"Ready, ready!" Bai Tang replied while pulling up the child, "Let's go eat dumplings."
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