But An Lan didn't give him that chance at all.

A hint of shyness and determination flashed in her eyes. She grabbed Lu Fan's neck and pulled him down.

She closed her eyes slightly, as if to gather her courage, and then kissed him fiercely.

Lu Fan's pupils dilated instantly, his face filled with disbelief, and he froze, as if he had been frozen in place.

However, the next second, his arms naturally wrapped around An Lan's waist, responding affectionately.

About two minutes later, the two separated, both panting, their faces flushed with a charming blush, their eyes filled with love and shyness.

Just as Lu Fan was about to make his next move, An Lan seemed to suddenly come to her senses.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes. She forcefully pushed Lu Fan away and quickly got to her feet.

Then, she reached out and, with a slight tremor, pinched Lu Fan's chin, her face showing a hint of stubbornness and shyness.

Lu Fan looked completely bewildered, his eyes filled with confusion: "???"

An Lan blushed and tried to make her voice sound calm as she said, "Don't overthink it, Lu Fan. I'm just using you to vent my anger. In this day and age, you don't expect me to take responsibility, do you?"

Just as Lu Fan was about to retort, An Lan pinched his mouth shut with her hand, making his lips pout and look like a comical duck.

"That's it, get up!"

After saying that, An Lan turned around and left quickly, leaving Lu Fan, who was still burning with anger, lying on the bed in a daze, questioning his life.

An Lan ran into the yard, her heart still pounding as if it would burst out of her chest.

She splashed some cool water on her face; the cool water touched her burning cheeks and calmed her down a little.

She covered her burning face with her hands and let out a soft breath: "Phew, I actually kissed him by force. Luckily I reacted quickly. Indeed, the gentle embrace of a hero is a graveyard. I must restrain myself in the future."

It took Lu Fan quite a while to slowly recover from that wonderful dream that seemed to be wrapped in sweetness.

He awkwardly adjusted his clothes, then smoothed his hair before slowly walking out of the room with slightly hesitant steps.

He glanced up and saw An Lan pretending to be busy arranging some odds and ends in the yard.

Their eyes met unexpectedly, and for a moment, the surrounding air seemed to be frozen in place.

Immediately afterwards, a burst of laughter unexpectedly escaped from the corners of their mouths; the laughter was crisp and loud.

"Pfft, hahaha~"

The sound echoed in the courtyard.

Sure enough, after doing those shameful things that make people blush, they really can't look the other person in the eye. The more guilty they feel, the more uncontrollably their lips become, and they just want to laugh.

That smile instantly dissipated the romantic atmosphere between them.

An Lan, still smiling, walked straight to the stove and began preparing the ingredients with practiced ease, saying, "Let's eat first. Look how late it is."

Lu Fan smiled and walked over, helping to hand over this and that. Occasionally, their hands would accidentally touch, and then they would exchange a knowing smile.

After lunch, the warm sunlight shone in the yard, making the drying rice look golden and bright, like a golden ocean.

Looking at the rice, Lu Fan became very interested. He rolled up his sleeves, puffed out his chest, and said with great enthusiasm, "Teacher An, just you wait and see! Today I'll show you what a real farmer is like."

As he spoke, he strode to the side and moved a heavy, large stone.

Immediately afterwards, he grabbed a handful of rice, as if he were holding a flag of victory.

Then, he mustered all his strength and hurled the rice stalks hard at the stone.

The rice stalks made a series of crackling sounds as they were violently struck by the stones, like firecrackers.

The rice grains seemed to be overwhelmed by his enthusiasm and momentum, and they all fell off the stalks, scattering on the ground like a group of mischievous little elves.

An Lan watched Lu Fan's exaggerated and energetic performance and laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up. Between laughs, she shouted, "Be careful, don't throw it on yourself!"

Lu Fan didn't even look up, his hands still busy, and he shouted back, "Don't worry, Sister Lan, how could I be so stupid! This is a piece of cake for me!"

After a flurry of activity, they finally managed to get all the rice grains off the stalks.

Throwing rice stalks is exhilarating, but when it comes to collecting them, trouble begins.

The rice grains were scattered everywhere by Lu Fan, and the two of them could only bend over helplessly, carefully searching the ground inch by inch, looking like two treasure hunters.

Just as I was looking, the chubby little hen came running over, clucking.

Seeing the scattered rice grains on the ground, their eyes lit up, and they couldn't wait to bend down and peck at them.

Lu Fan reacted quickly, grabbing the little hen by the wing and gently tossing it aside. He even waved his hand in the air, shooing it away, saying, "Go away, go away! This isn't something you can eat. Don't you know what kind of 'class' you are? Don't you have any self-awareness?"

The little hen didn't seem angry at all. She flapped her wings and slowly swayed away to another place.

After a great deal of effort, the rice was finally all collected and filled half a ceramic basin.

Looking at the pot of rice, Lu Fan's face beamed with pride. He turned to An Lan and said, "Although the amount isn't much, it's still rice! Once the ones in the terrarium grow, we'll never lack rice again!"

Once the rice has been collected, the next step is to husk it, a task that requires considerable skill.

Lu Fan searched around the yard like a treasure hunter, and soon found a worn but still usable bamboo mat.

Then, he brought over two more bricks that had been left over from before. These bricks, despite being exposed to wind and rain, remained incredibly sturdy.

He laid the bamboo mat flat on the ground, and then carefully poured the rice on it.

The rice stalks were like a group of naughty children, rolling around happily as soon as they touched the bamboo mat.

Lu Fan placed the two bricks firmly on the rice, gripped the edges of the bricks tightly with both hands, and began to rub them back and forth rhythmically.

As he rubbed the rice, he muttered to himself, "It's a pity we don't have a stone mill. Before machines existed, we used those big millstones. Just pushing the millstone around made hulling the rice so easy!"

An Lan wasn't idle either. She rummaged through a corner and found a tattered straw hat. She walked over to Lu Fan, stood beside him, and rhythmically fanned herself.

With each flap of the fan, the husks that were removed drifted away like snowflakes into the distance.

An Lan asked with a smile, "If that's the case, what will happen to the remaining rice? There will definitely be more and more rice later on, and we can't keep grinding it with bricks like this."

Lu Fan continued working, his brows furrowing slightly as he pondered seriously: "Hmm... I'll think of another way later. Doing things like this all the time isn't a long-term solution. Maybe I'll make a stone mill myself."

As he spoke, he continued his shelling work with great enthusiasm, and the two men's laughter echoed in the yard once again.