1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 295 Night March

The indoor temperature in Ronan's house can reach around 20 degrees Celsius.

But what was on the table and what everyone was holding was strong liquor bought from Gur village.

Tonight, I have to go out every hour to change shifts, check the condition of the tobacco pile, and be ready to add fuel at any time.

But it's too cold tonight, which is torture for residents of southern France who are used to the warm Mediterranean weather. Even with oil-fired heating, fireplaces, hot water, and spirits, it takes a long time to warm up after entering the house.

Ronan, holding a thermos of hot water, asked Freddie and Alan:
How are the children?

Louis and his men are staying at Ronan's house to help out and won't be able to take care of their own families for a while, so Frosty and Nicola took the children to stay at Louis's house today. Carl and his wife also came along, as their children were not with them and had no one to take care of them.

These are all old houses that haven't been renovated yet. It's really too cold tonight, and it's windy. A regular fireplace probably won't be very effective. Louis's house has a warm, cozy oil-fired heater.

Thinking about it this way, the tens of thousands of francs spent by the two families were well worth it.

But extreme weather brings more than just a drop in temperature; it can also cause unexpected emergencies such as power outages and water shortages. Therefore, Ronan is paying extra attention to the situation at Louis's house.

He was just gone for a short while; I don't know if anything happened during that time.

Freddie took a sip of his drink and said with a smile:
"Everything is fine. Leah made strawberry cake for the kids, and they had a lot of fun. Just now on the phone, I heard the kids saying they didn't want to go home and wanted to stay a few more days."

Ronan rarely showed a smile:
"Let's see how things go tomorrow. If there's no significant temperature rise, let them stay there for a few more days so they can look after each other."

As they were speaking, the door was pushed open.

The two men from Cafu who had just gone out brought Louis back with another person.

Louis had only his eyes showing. As soon as he entered the room, he sat down in the seat closest to the fireplace, stretched his hands toward the fire, and made a hissing sound to indicate the cold.

Freddie joked with a smile:

"Your mind is outdated. That's not the warmest place in the living room. You should warm your hands in front of the radiator."

Without a moment's hesitation, Louis immediately hugged the radiator. After a minute or two, he finally removed his fur hat and mask.
"God, it's so cold today! I swear it's colder than the cold wave of 1976!"

In 1976, Louis was still farming, and he also participated in the village's efforts to combat the cold.

The man who returned with Louis said to Ronan and the others:
"The temperature outside is -10 degrees Celsius right now, but this is not the coldest time tonight. I estimate that if this continues, the lowest temperature will reach -15 degrees Celsius."

While everyone took turns going out to refuel, they also kept a close eye on the temperature changes.

At temperatures between -10°C and -12°C, most branches and buds of mature grapevines may be damaged, but the roots and trunk can survive.

When the temperature reaches -15°C to -20°C, the grape roots and trunk tissues may freeze and rupture, leading to the death of the entire vine.

If the temperature drops below -20°C, even cold-resistant varieties will have difficulty surviving.

Under the influence of cold waves, temperature is also related to the duration of freezing.

A cold wave is generally defined as a period of more than 48 consecutive hours in which the daily minimum temperature is more than 5°C lower than the historical average for the same period.

In other words, this sudden drop in temperature will last for at least two days.

However, if kept at -12°C for more than 48 hours, the grapevines may die.

Similarly, if the low temperature (below -15°C) lasts for less than 6 hours, the root system of the grapevine may still be saved, but some parts of the plant will be damaged by frost. In the spring, the damaged parts can be cut off.

The temperature had already reached -10°C before midnight, and there was a high probability that it would reach -15°C around 4 or 5 a.m. The current task is to delay the arrival of the lowest temperature as much as possible in order to shorten the time between the lowest temperature and sunrise.

Although Ronan and his team had made ample preparations, no one could say for sure whether the grapevines would survive, or how many would survive.

The situation was becoming increasingly dire, and Ronan could neither sit still nor sleep.

He put on his thick clothes again, donned a leather hat and mask, and went outside:
"I'll go get some more gas."

Louis, Freddie, and Alain exchanged glances and sighed simultaneously.

Before Ronan's shift was even over, he had already gone out two or three times.

However, they completely understood this feeling.
At this moment in Lourmaran, there are probably dozens, even hundreds, of people like Ronan who are extremely anxious.

Ronan went outside, picked up the oil canister that was placed in a safe area, and walked towards the fuel heater 'upwind'.

He prepared ample fuel for the smoke piles, and even set up the smoke points more densely, so Ronan placed this advanced device, which could stir up the descending cold air, in the northernmost position, where it could function effectively while also forming a small barrier.

Although there's only one, it's better than nothing.

On the way to refuel, Ronan's thoughts couldn't help but wander.

The fuel heater is a diesel-consuming monster; at its highest setting, it can consume up to 5 liters of diesel per hour.

Transportation costs are high in the Luberon region. Diesel is priced at 3.5 francs per liter. If we calculate based on 8 hours of burning, it would cost 140 francs, but in reality, it will definitely take longer than 8 hours.

To maximize cold resistance, all smokestacks should be replaced with fuel-fired heaters, which could raise the temperature of the entire area by more than 4 degrees Celsius.

Even if a cold wave brings the temperature down to -15 degrees Celsius, it will not reach the threshold for the plant to freeze to death.

However, putting aside how many fuel-fired heaters Luberon actually had, even if he did have that many, no one could afford the cost; even Ronan was horrified by the number.

Ronan exhaled a long puff of white breath.

Whether it's agricultural cold-resistant equipment, testing systems, or physical protection, everything is currently too outdated, too unrefined, and too unintelligent. The agricultural ecology of the Vaucluse province must be upgraded!

As Ronan was thinking, he noticed something flash twice to his side out of the corner of his eye, as if someone was taking a picture with a flash on in the dark.

He looked in that direction and saw the lights of Theo's house flashing a few hundred meters away. Before Ronan could react, Theo's house completely vanished, as if swallowed by a monster lurking in the darkness. Ronan abruptly turned his head towards his own house and found that the once brightly lit house was now just a blurry shadow.

"The power's out?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

"what!!"

"what---"

As darkness descended upon the house, the Louis family seemed to be in hell, as four piercing screams rang out simultaneously.

Chaos erupted in the darkness as the mother frantically searched for her child, who cried and tried to find a place to crawl in or hide. If the child accidentally bumped into an unknown object, several more shrill screams would immediately follow.

"Don't run, don't be afraid, stay where you are!" Leah shouted.

But she clearly felt two warm little feet stepping heavily on her feet one after the other and running sideways, while her brain was stimulated by the screams and felt dizzy.

She hadn't experienced the power of her child's "lion's roar" for over a decade and had become somewhat complacent.

Carl and Zoe also helped maintain order, trying to control the children running around the house, especially Freddie's two sons.

It's unclear now whether they were genuinely screaming out of fear, or if they found it amusing and screamed even louder and ran even faster.

After several sounds of things falling were heard, the mothers in the room used all their strength, hoping to control the situation with their "tiger roars," but to little avail.

Frost's breakdown and scream:
"If Freddie were here, Leon and Milo would be terrified of their father. They wouldn't dare utter a sound if Freddie glared at them."

Nicola had her two children under control and asked Leah in the darkness:
"Lia, where's the electrical box? Did the circuit breaker trip?"

Leah crouched down, reaching out her hands to feel around, and said:
"I'm on my way to the electrical box, dear."

Zoe had already gone to the window at some point:

"It's all dark around here, it's not a problem with the electrical box, Mom, are the flashlight and candle in the drawer under the TV?"

Leah immediately changed direction, carefully avoiding being stepped on by the two boys who were still running around, as she struggled forward:

"Yes, darling, I'll go get it right now."

"Huh? Who's taking my cane? Leon, is that you?"

"Leon, stop right now!" Frosty walked over to the sound.

"Ouch—" Leah was bumped into, her body spun halfway around, and she immediately lost her bearings.

Where is the TV cabinet located again?

"Shh-"

A dim candlelight appeared in front of the television in the living room, and then the screen reflected the profile of a boy.

Frosty picked up his two mischievous sons, one in each arm, and the farce finally came to an end.

“I’ve placed candles and matches in the most easily accessible places in every room, so that everyone can use them quickly no matter what,” Vieri said, lighting a candle and looking at the few people scattered throughout the room.

"Aunt Nicola, the candles are in the sideboard next to the sofa."

"Mom, there are also candles in the drawer on your right."

"Zoe, I also put one on the windowsill."

After pointing out the locations of the candles near everyone, Vieri, holding a candle, picked up old Karl's cane, returned it to him, and comforted everyone, saying:

"It must be due to an overload of electricity. It's too cold, and too many people in the village are using electric heaters. But Ronan said that the government is prepared for 24-hour emergency repairs, and it will be fixed soon. Everyone, please rest."

After saying this, Vieri took the candle and went to where the boiler was:

"I'll go check how the machines are running and fetch a few buckets of water in advance, so that even if there's a problem with the water system later, it won't be a problem."

Although the few candles were dim, everyone present saw a light in their eyes that was no less powerful than the candlelight, dispelling the darkness and bringing precious light.

That calm and composed boy—no, no, the man—was Vieri?

Power was restored an hour and a half later.

The phone at Louis's house rang immediately.

"Are the children alright?" Freddie asked abruptly.

Before the other end could reply, Alan snatched the phone away:
"Nicola, take good care of the children and tell them not to be afraid!"

Louis shouted into the phone:

"Lia! Even though there are no men around, I know you can take good care of everyone, and Zoe too. You are both the best and most wonderful women!"

Several women's laughing voices came from the other end of the phone.

Who says we don't have men here?

"You have no idea how meticulous and calm Vieri is."

“Freddy, I swear even if you were here, you wouldn’t do as well as Vieri. He took very good care of us, so you can rest assured.”

(End of this chapter)