1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 342 The Huge Changes in Lourmaran

Ronan clearly remembered Cornell's tone and expression when he complained about the government taking away their signs, and could even recall what clothes he was wearing and what kind of alcohol he was drinking that day.

But two weeks later, that sign reappeared!

And it's the one the farmers made!

Even more amazingly, it wasn't there when Ronan drove away from Lourmarin that morning.

Ronan rolled up the car window and continued driving.

After seeing the second and third signs leading into Lourmaran village, the signs returned to their positions from half a month ago.

"Who is so bold as to dare to 'defy the rules'?"

He guessed that some daring farmer must have put the sign back up.

Maybe it's Henry?

After that guy got rich, he was arrogant and disrespectful to everyone except Ronan. Every time he met Theo, it was like a bolt from the blue. Pierre tried to talk him out, but he wouldn't listen and even warned Pierre to mind his own business.

Perhaps he no longer takes the government's words seriously?

Ronan returned to the restaurant and saw Henry having dinner with his wife Josephine and daughter Lisa.

When he went over to ask, he discovered that it wasn't Henry who did it.

“Mr. Ronan, I’ve been learning more complex weaving techniques from Josephine recently and haven’t left home.” Henry stood up nervously. “Oh, no, no, we’ve had two meals at your restaurant this week!”

The cold wave also had a significant impact on knitting orders, which only recently started to improve at the Gold stall.

Orders in January and February were less than half of those in December, resulting in a direct halving of women's income.

However, the weather had a relatively small impact on Josephine.

She is the most skilled knitter in Lourmaran besides Batty and Ronan.

No one but her can make lamps and ornaments with complex designs, and her income is relatively stable.

It can only be said that people with excellent skills can make money under any circumstances, and Josephine was born to do this job.

Seeing that the three of them had ordered four dishes, and that Henry had a bottle of red wine instead of just a glass, Ronan smiled and patted Henry on the shoulder, gesturing for him to sit down and continue eating.
"It's nothing, I was just asking. You guys go ahead and eat."

Henry picked up the hat from the table:

"I'll go ask Mr. Ronan for you and see who put it back."

Ronan forcefully pressed him back into the chair:
"No need, it doesn't matter who put it back, it'll be gone tomorrow anyway. These dishes you ordered are new, try them and see how they taste, do you need any adjustments?"

“No adjustments needed, it’s absolutely delicious!” Henry sat down again and picked up his fork. “Josephine and Lisa thought it was so good that we came back again. Our whole family loves it!”

That evening, Ronan asked several farmers who were eating and drinking at the restaurant, but none of them knew what was going on.

Ronan didn't take it to heart.

Anyway, this stuff can't be kept.

Whoever secretly put it back, they'll definitely behave themselves after the government confiscates it twice more.

The next morning, the sign was still there, and Ronan comforted himself that it was still early.

The sign was still up the next evening, and Ronan guessed the government probably hadn't noticed it yet.

But those signs were still standing on the side of Highway D943 on the morning of the fourth day.

It didn't last this long, not even during the Lunar New Year; it was all gone by the morning of the third day.

Ronan wasn't very familiar with the laws of Provence and wasn't sure if private signboards were illegal, but he knew they weren't allowed.

To avoid causing trouble for himself or the person handling the matter, Ronan decided to return early that day and remove the signs.

Unexpectedly, when he drove back to Lourmarin that afternoon, he found that the signs had changed.

The wooden signs that were originally made by farmers have been replaced with ochre sandstone.

Not only is the name of Ronan Restaurant hand-carved in French, but it also comes in English, Italian, and German, and is decorated with a lavender pattern around it, making it even more attractive than the signs near Gold.

Ronan sensed something was very wrong, and instead of going back to the restaurant to relax, he drove straight to the Lourmaran government building.

"Where's Blanco?" Ronan asked someone at random.

When the man saw Ronan arrive, he said happily:
"Hey Ronan, it's been a while! Come visit often. Blanco seems to be out of the office. I'll go look for him. Why don't you wait in the break room? I'll make you a coffee."

Ronan was in no mood for coffee and said proactively:
"Have you noticed the many signs that have been put up on Highway D943 and in the villages?"

Sylvie's laughing voice came from behind him: "I had someone do it."

Ronan turned around and saw Sylvie's head peeking out of a room. He immediately asked with delight:

"You pressed it?"

Another head appeared behind Sylvie's, and Blanco smiled and waved to Ronan:
“You’ve come at the right time. We were just talking about you. Do you have anything else to do later? If not, come in and tell us what happened in Gold.”

Ronan: "???"

Ronan entered the room where Sylvie and Blanco were and found it to be a small conference room with four or five people sitting inside.

There were densely packed documents in front of them, some of which contained drawings, such as street plans.

Before the meeting room door was even closed, the Lourmaran government officials started chattering excitedly, using words like "lovebirds," auctions, bidding wars, and art-related terms, instantly transporting Ronan back to Gold.

Ronan knows they're anxious, but don't rush, because I'm even more anxious than you:
"Did you install those signs with my restaurant's name on them?"

Sylvie looked smug, as if she were saying, "Praise me!"

"Of course! You have no idea how many stone quarries I searched before finding one that could complete the order within three days. I was practically driving all the way to Avignon!"

"What about those pieces of wood from the other day—"

Ronan was interrupted halfway through his sentence by the impatient Blanco:
"I also asked Sylvie to put them there. The stone signs weren't finished yet, but we couldn't let tourists get lost on the mountain roads of Luberon. We used them to get by for a few days."

"Tourists? What tourists?" Ronan had just figured out the previous question when a new one arose.

Sylvie said with great enthusiasm:
"You've been 'shining brightly' in Gold for the past two weeks, so of course you don't know anything about Lourmaran. Lourmaran these days—"

Blanco interrupted Sylvie again, looking at Ronan and saying:
"Tell us about your time in Gold. For the past two weeks, we've only heard your story from other people. Now it's your turn to tell us what your story is all about."

Ronan made no secrets, using concise language to make 'Hope' the most eye-catching artwork in Gold in January, attracting the attention of Normand, the director of the Grané Museum, who gave Ronan a second opportunity to exhibit the work, and recounted the series of battles sparked by 'Lovebirds'.

During the process, Blanco and others would also ask some questions in real time, most of which were gossip they had heard from who-knows-where.

For example, questions such as "Did Ronan have some kind of cooperation with Marechar in private? Why would Marechar go all out to endorse 'Lovebirds'?", "Are Miss Patricia and Zoe best friends who have known each other for many years?", and "Is the national priority purchase right not something that Curator Normand made up on the spot?"

Ronan answered all the questions he could, and for those he didn't know, he would honestly tell them everything he knew.

“I don’t know if the ‘national right of first refusal’ is real, but after the auction, Mr. Normand’s assistant, Day, told me that they had started the national treasure authentication process and that we should have the results in about a week.” Ronan thought for a moment. “Zoe and I are going to Gold to see some friends soon, and I’ll ask about the progress then.”

Ronan still has a lot of 'finishing touches' to do at Gold; this is just the beginning.

According to Batty, it was fortunate that he and Zoe did not appear at Gold Stadium these past two days, otherwise there might have been a stampede.

After the auction of 'Lovebirds' ended, Ronan's name could be heard in every corner of Gold, and Zoe's name also became even more prominent.

The temporary booth of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative, bearing the name of Chairman Ronan, receives more customers a day than many small exhibitions.

Cafu and his team were overwhelmed with orders.

Batistuta's exact words were:
Although Ronan's people have left Gold, an artistic storm called Ronan is sweeping across Gold!
As Ronan recounted the story, Blanco clapped excitedly the whole time.

"What? You actually set up a stall in Gold that says 'Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative'?"

"Did Zoe mention 'Lourmaran' during the thank-you segment at the auction? That girl. Is she home today? I want to go thank her in person!"

"That's fantastic! You three are all amazing!"

After recounting everything that had happened in Gold, Ronan looked at Sylvie, who hadn't finished speaking:

What's going on in Lourmaran lately?

For a while, Ronan went to Gold every day, and sometimes he would stay out late to have dinner with some newly acquainted artist friends. Several times when he returned to his home in Lourmarin, the lights were already off.

After returning from Gold, Ronan plunged back into the mountains to collect truffles, leaving him with little time to observe Lourmaran or even meet with his friends.

However, what changes can happen in Lourmaran in just half a month?

Sylvie opened her mouth, eager to answer Ronan's question, but ultimately held back and passed the question to Claude, the head of the Lourmaran Tourism Management Center:
"Let Claude answer; he can give you a more intuitive understanding of what happened in Lourmaran."

Claude was probably the most excited person there when listening to the story.

Blanco just clapped, while Claude slammed his fist on the table and stomped his feet. He was practically shouting "That's good!"

Claude picked out a document from the files in front of him:
“In January, Lourmaran only received fewer than 300 tourists. Although February is only halfway through, more than 3000 local and international tourists have already visited Lourmaran. During the same period, the village of Mena in the Golden Triangle only had more than 5000, and our neighbor Gould only had 600.”

He looked at Ronan and said excitedly:
"The more than 3000 tourists who came to Lourmarin have one thing in common—they all attended the Gold art series events, so Ronan, these sudden influxes of tourists are all because of your promotion in Gold!"

(End of this chapter)