1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 308 I also prepared a gift for you.

Not only do people celebrate the New Year, but dogs celebrate it today too.

Feng Zhen decorated the restaurant into a sea of ​​red, and Marseille didn't know where to look.

This place is simply paradise for it!

Zoe also very 'thoughtfully' made several 'little red envelopes' for the dogs, wrapped in red bread crusts, and stuffed them with meat that Luo Tianhai had been braising all morning.

The moment the other dogs received the red envelopes, they were gone.

Marseille stubbornly held it in his mouth, unwilling to swallow it, and his saliva flowed for several meters.

Because of this, Zoe announced that Marseille is now her favorite 'baby'!

Marseille didn't receive any red envelopes, but he tasted every dish at the New Year's Eve dinner.

Even Ronan couldn't quite tell; it was a silly dog ​​with a lucky streak.

Their swindling and deception methods have become even more sophisticated; it's all part of their scheme.

The younger son received prince-like treatment today, and the older son is also living a very happy and fulfilling life.

Margaret and Xiao Hei, who were invited to the restaurant, had a great time and gave all the single people present a real demonstration of what it means to be "inseparable".

Ronan even considered proposing marriage to Blackie on this joyous occasion.

But he was also afraid that Lucas would refuse.
Lucas once said that he didn't want Margaret to have children, especially since Margaret was getting older.

But Ronan still had his truffle dog on his mind.

After much deliberation, he decided to wait and let the two children's relationship develop further, until Margaret "couldn't control herself" and wanted to elope with the poor boy, then he, the old father, would go and propose to Lucas.

When Margaret arrived, her master and his family naturally followed.

Lucas's wife and son arrived in the evening, but Lucas didn't return until very late. They were already halfway through their New Year's Eve dinner when he finally showed up.

When Ronan went to meet him at the door, he reached out and weighed his bag of truffles in his hand.

It should weigh more than 2 kilograms, almost 3 kilograms, far exceeding their agreement from the previous day.

Lucas's financial pressure has increased, Ronan thought to himself.

"Lucas, it's a holiday today, why are you back so late!" the farmers complained.

Ronan said Lucas was coming too; everyone had been waiting for him for a long time.

Lucas wasn't good at lying or dealing with questions, and Ronan was afraid that the guy would swallow his pride and give Theo something expensive, so he quickly took the blame himself.

“I came back early for the holiday, so Lucas has a lot of work to do today. He has to harvest the portion I slacked off on.” Ronan led Lucas to his seat and said to the other farmers, “It’s my fault, it’s my fault. I was lazy today!”

"Oh, I see. Lucas, you've had a great day! Sit down and try Ronan's braised pork, it's fantastic!"

“Hey, move this lamb chop over there. The Lucas family loves lamb.”

"Let's have some soup first, we've been out all day."

The farmers took the initiative to care for Lucas.

Seeing that the topic had finally been dealt with, Ronan patted Lucas on the shoulder and whispered behind him:
"It's okay, just eat in peace, nothing's wrong."

Lucas's body, which had been frozen outside all day, warmed up instantly.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then patted Ronan on the back:

"Go ahead and get busy. I'll come over in a bit and I need to talk to you about something."

Ronan nodded:

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute."

The Spring Festival should be a time to spend quality time with family, and that's what Ronan planned to do too.

Unfortunately, today's New Year's Eve dinner was particularly lively.

Artists are all people who love excitement, and seeing that it was a holiday, they all came to "mooch a meal".

Ronan had already planned to add more knives and forks, which was of course welcome.

These talented individuals even put together several programs on the spot, making up for the disappointment of not being able to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

But as Ronan ate, he noticed that many of the artists were unfamiliar faces. There were usually some artists who would 'coldly visit' the restaurant, but they would not stay until the evening and would go home in the afternoon.

But today, these unfamiliar artists were singing and clapping even after it was completely dark around 7 p.m.

Ronan asked a few people, and it turned out that they were all from Gold!
“We came to Gold to see the art exhibition. We saw your ‘Hope’ yesterday (the day before yesterday) and were recommended your restaurant by Batti, so we came here. I didn’t expect Lourmaran to be so lively. It’s much more fun here than Gold. These past two days in Gold, there’s no entertainment at night. As soon as it gets dark, we have to prepare to go to sleep.”

Visitors to the exhibition at Gold came from all over the world, including big cities like Paris with its vibrant nightlife.

However, Lourmaran doesn't have a nightlife every day; today was an exception, Ronan thought to himself.

He was pondering how to use the right language to patch things up when Isabel came over and called him:

"Ronan, your friend is here."

“My friends?” Ronan turned around in surprise. “They’re all here.”

Besides the members of the Rosé Wine Association, Ronan's close friends all received his 'holiday' invitation.

Even people like Blanco, who work for the government, came with their families after get off work. Who else could it be?

Ronan stood up and looked towards the door, where he immediately spotted a gleaming bald head.

"Bruno?!" Ronan walked over excitedly.

He suddenly remembered that Bruno had said his wife and children were coming to Provence for a week at the end of the month, and he had promised to lend him his car.

Bruno asked unexpectedly:
"Is there some kind of event taking place here? Why are there so many people?"

He has been here many times, and there are more than twice as many people as usual today.

And there were people singing and dancing!

Ronan warmly welcomed Bruno and his family inside:

"You've come at the perfect time; today you'll be tasting many 'secret menu items'."

Ronan led the group to the farmers' table.

The socially awkward Parisians were immediately surrounded by the enthusiastic Provençal people.

"Boss, is this your wife? It's wonderful that you two are reunited!"

"Sit down quickly. What would you like to drink? I'll get you some cups and new cutlery!"

"My two beautiful babies, would you like some cake first?"

Bruno's wife looked at her husband in horror.

God, what's going on?
Do we just sit down and eat without ordering?

Is this appropriate?

Before Bruno could explain the Provençal hospitality to his wife, something was simultaneously stuffed into the mouths of all four members of the family. They chewed it a few times—hmm, it was actually quite tasty?

“How can our friends who have come from afar eat cold dishes? I’ll heat them up for you and make you a few new ones. Here, each of you have a dumpling first. Dumplings should be eaten while they’re hot.” ​​After feeding the dumplings, Fabian’s wife got up briskly and went to the kitchen.

Theo's wife held up a whole leg of lamb and brought it to them:

"Shall we have a leg of lamb to tide us over first?"

The four pairs of eyes in front of her widened instantly.

Use a leg of lamb as a base?
Isn't this a proper meal?

After Bruno's wife sat down, she whispered to her husband:

"Your friends seem pretty good."

She looked up again at the restaurant's decor and style:

"And I really like this restaurant."

Bruno smiled with relief:

"Thank God, I'm so happy you like it here."

This was Bruno's first meal with his wife and children after arriving in Provence, and he specifically chose this place.

“I’m also glad you like it here.” Ronan left for a moment and then came back, just in time to overhear the conversation. He handed the car keys to Bruno. “Unfortunately, you can’t open the roof right now.”

Theo jumped to his feet, his eyes wide with disbelief:

"Seriously, Ronan? You're going to lend out your convertible?"

"A convertible?" Bruno looked at the car keys in his hand.

Cornell brought over the cutlery, carefully set it out for them, and added with a smile:

"And it's a convertible sports car, but even if it weren't convertible, it would still turn heads. Grab the car keys! Theo has been eyeing it for months, and Ronan hasn't lent it to him yet."

Ronan smiled and said to Bruno's family:

"I hope Provence will leave your family with wonderful memories."

Bruno's wife couldn't hold back any longer and asked her husband in a low voice, her brows furrowed:
"You actually feel lonely in this kind of atmosphere? Bruno, if this is what you call loneliness, I'd be 'lonely' to death in Paris! Your work environment here is fantastic!"

After dealing with all the unexpected situations, Ronan finally had time to sit down next to Lucas.

Lucas didn't hear Ronan's words about "leaving all the pain behind last year," and a lingering gloom remained on his face.

Ronan deliberately lightened his tone, hoping to influence him:

"what's up?"

Lucas lowered his voice and said to Ronan:
“The price of truffles has gone up recently, and too many truffle hunters are protesting. We can’t go against everyone in Capontra. I heard that the price will soon rise to 3500 by February. Once the price goes up, we should stop cooperating.”

He said to Ronan earnestly:

“I’m not stopping you from making money, it’s just that you’re different from me. You have so many things you can do, and being tied to me would take up too much of your time. You can’t do anything right now.”

Ronan was in good financial condition.

Lucas knew very well that Ronan wouldn't have taken on Mr. Alphonse's business if it weren't for his own sake.

Now that prices have gone up, Lucas wants to free Ronan up.

But Ronan was thinking about something else. He covered his mouth with his hand and said in an even lower voice:

"But I'm your 'shield'."

To alleviate the pressure, Lucas will inevitably continue to work under 'high pressure' in February.

He would inevitably be suspected by some people.

Lucas used to be one of the most pleasure-loving people in the village.

But if Ronan is tied to him, he can use a similar reason to shift the blame onto himself.

Moreover, he's much better at making up excuses than Lucas.

Ronan knew all too well that, compared to money, Lucas was more unwilling to give up his self-esteem.

I'm freed, what will you do then?
"What are you two saying? Why are you covering your mouths?" Pierre muttered in dissatisfaction.

Ronan smiled and waved to him:

"secret!"

Theo drew Pierre's attention and proudly said:
"What could the two of them talk about? It must be big business deals worth hundreds of thousands or millions, just like the one they're working on now."

Cornell nodded repeatedly:
“Yes, yes, I can vouch for it, it really was a ‘big business’!”

Ronan grabbed Lucas's arm and looked anxiously at the farmers, saying:
"It doesn't matter which channel you sell to, you can ask me or I can ask, but it's best if we work together, so I can help you."

Lucas lowered his head and pinched Ronan's arm hard:

"Buddy, that's all for now."

Ronan said in a gentler tone:
"I prepared gifts for all my friends for the New Year, and naturally there's one for you too, but I'll have to wait a little longer to give you your gift."

Lucas arrived late, didn't understand the meaning of the 'gift,' and didn't witness the scene of nationwide celebration. He simply remarked thoughtfully:
"Thank you."

Lucas had too many things weighing on his mind, so he went outside to smoke and get some fresh air halfway through his meal.

They encountered Louis, who had just returned from outside.

"You went out?" Lucas asked.

Louis excitedly raised the two bottles of red wine in his hand:

"It's a holiday today, and Carl's wife allowed him to drink a little more. I'm going home to get my 'collection'!"

Lucas smiled and nodded at him:

"Come in quickly."

After a few seconds, he suddenly turned around and asked Louis:
How much is my house worth now?

When he returned to Lourmarin in October, he asked Louis the same question.

Louis quoted him over 50.

Now, several months have passed. Has the price changed?

Louis is a passionate real estate agent:

"Compared to last year, prices have definitely risen a bit, but the cold snap has caused prices to drop slightly. However, I believe prices will continue to rise in March and April, and your big house might sell for 600,000 francs then. If something positive happens in Lourmarin in the next few months, or if you find a good buyer, it could even sell for 650,000 francs."

“Okay, thank you.” Lucas raised the hand holding the cigarette and gestured.

60.
This 60 francs might be his last trump card.

(End of this chapter)