1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 366 Thank you, Radio Hero!
“Dried flowers.” Ronan looked at his work with satisfaction. “I’ve taken some materials to make a wreath.”

Flower wreaths are the most skillfully made item by the women of Lourmaran. These lovely women have designed a wide variety of styles. According to Batti's incomplete statistics, they have made a total of thirty to forty different styles of flower wreaths.

With so many styles, there are many decorations needed, giving Ronan a lot of room to improvise.

Pires said "God" four or five times in a row, then rushed over to the armchair to examine it closely:
“This chair is completely different from the one in your restaurant.”

Not only Pires, but even Batty thought that the woven chair Ronan was referring to was the one in his restaurant with rattan wrapped around its wooden frame.

That's why Batistuta was so surprised when Ronan said he wanted to make more than a dozen styles.

Ronan's requirements for chairs in the restaurant were practicality and sturdiness.

The chairs we make now are intended to be sold as high-end furniture; the starting point is different, so the styles are naturally different.

Ronan said dismissively to the dumbfounded Pires:

"That's just one type of woven chair. There are many styles that can be made, just like the patterns on embroidered quilts. You can design it however you want."

The mere mention of the embroidered quilt jolted Pire up instantly, and he coldly snorted:
"Don't compare this to an embroidered quilt. An embroidered quilt is like a painter's canvas on which any pattern can be created."

Ronan adjusted the angle of the lounge chair, intending to take some photos:

"Neither craft is better. Both are the crystallization of culture, but weaving can make many styles, such as lamps, baskets, boxes, garlands, decorations, chairs, tables, wardrobes, bedside tables, and beds. It can make common everyday furniture and items."

Pires repeated the words Ronan had said, increasing the volume with each word until the last few were shrill like a soprano.

Ronan shrugged:

"Yes, these can all be made from vines, grass, and bamboo."

“I don’t believe it!” Pires said confidently. “Who would buy this? Can furniture made from this material be more durable than wood and stone?”

Ronan gently patted Pires on the shoulder, telling him to calm down:
"I'm not trying to scare you, but woven furniture is much more expensive than wood and stone. I saw a woven furniture store in Paris where nothing was less than $1000, and the cheapest chair was $2000."

“US dollars?!” Pires’s voice cracked as he shouted.

2000 francs is a huge sum of money in Lourmarin, and you're telling me it's 2000 US dollars?

Ronan picked up his camera and crouched down to find the best angle:
"Let's make a few chairs first to test the waters. If there's a market, the next step will be to make tables, cabinets, beds, and other furniture. Then you'll see if I'm lying to you."

Pires, the big mouthpiece, has unusually fallen silent.

He quietly watched Ronan take photos for a while at his house, then left silently, looking absent-minded as he went.

After Ronan finished taking the photos, he dialed Cafu's pager, and the call came shortly afterward.

"What's up, buddy?" Cafu's place was in a mess, sounding like he was in a crowded market.

Ronan sat down on the sofa and picked up the water glass in front of him:

"I'd like to talk to you about the prices in the high-end furniture market in Provence, and how much you plan to spend on acquiring woven furniture?"

While making this chair, Ronan suddenly realized that he was unfamiliar with the high-end furniture market in Provence. Since moving here, he had never bought any high-end furniture, nor had he ever even browsed it.

He'd only ever been to the flea market with Zoe.
The price quoted to Pires was true, but it was a price many years later. In 1987, woven furniture was only popular in small circles among the wealthy in Italy and Switzerland, and the market in Provence was completely untapped.

In the future, these furniture designs should be taught to women. It would be inappropriate if it takes too long and the products don't sell for a good price.

Although the price will definitely follow the product, Ronan wants to gather more information to design the next style.

Cafu spoke very bluntly, seemingly unwilling to waste time:
"You report it."

Ronan smiled and put down the cup in his hand:

"Aren't you afraid I'll ask for an exorbitant price? Just kidding. Give me a reference range based on the Provence furniture market, and I'll design the chair based on that information."

Cafu spoke faster and sounded very anxious:
"I'm not kidding you, my buddy. Your 'Lovebirds' is on display at the Granet Museum today. Do you know what the name 'Ronan' means in Provence? It means a national treasure-level art master! Enough said, I'm off to sell my merchandise!"

Before hanging up the phone, Cafu shouted rapidly:

"Sell as many as you want, I'll take them all!!"

Ronan, holding the microphone that was emitting a busy tone, couldn't help but widen his eyes.

More than an hour later, Cafu, having finished his work, called Ronan again to give him a detailed account of the day's events.

Cafu had a good experience in Gold, so he asked Cotillard about the exhibition time of 'Lovebirds' in advance and made preparations ahead of time.

They rented temporary stalls in the markets, decoration markets, and furniture markets near the Grané Museum.

They thought they couldn't compare to Gold this time, because Aix was too big, and they couldn't guarantee that their booth would run into customers who had visited 'Lovebirds'.

As expected, foot traffic wasn't great, but the few customers who stopped by Ronan's name all bought things from them.

Everyone exclaimed – "A handicraft cooperative initiated by a national treasure-level artist makes lamps that only sell for three or four hundred francs each, isn't that too cheap?"
In particular, Cafu and his team advertised that everything here was personally designed by Chairman Ronan.

“I told you when we were setting up our stall in Gold that we should raise the prices, but you and Barty both stopped me, saying it wouldn’t be fair to the customers who bought at a cheaper price before,” Cafu said regretfully. “The furniture prices have to be raised, raised to match your status as a national treasure artist!”

Customers thought it was cheap in Gold, and they still thought it was cheap in Aix-en-Provence. Cafu felt he had lost a lot of francs!
Ronan said in a comforting tone:
“Consider these small decorative items as a way to open up the market. Like you said, we can raise the price of the furniture. I made a woven chair today and took some photos. I'll print them out and send them to you so you can see how much you think is appropriate to sell it for.” Ronan also believes that woven furniture should have a higher price.

Cafu's emotions have calmed down somewhat:
"No need to show me, just give me a price quote. What you're making now are works of art, and works of art have no price."

Ronan said, both amused and exasperated:

“I advise you to calm down, my friend. The future belongs to women making furniture. In the long run, we should focus on building the reputation of the ‘Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative’.”

In the knitting business, Ronan's role was similar to that of a 'consultant'. Apart from designing some new items each time the business was upgraded, he didn't need to do anything, and the money just flew into his pocket.

In February, Ronan did nothing but earn more than 30,000 francs from his weaving business.

Ronan and Cafu then had a long discussion on the phone.

"5000 francs? You haven't even seen the photos yet. Give me 5000 francs, how much are you going to sell it for? Isn't that too expensive?"

"No, 4000 is a bit expensive. To be honest, the cost of the chair I made today is not high; it's just that the design is quite unique."

"10000? You're making it sound more and more expensive. It's not as complicated as the 'Lovebird'. It's just a flower-shaped ornament."

“Yes, a chair that’s been blooming.” Ronan rubbed his forehead, then suddenly raised his voice, “20000? Cafu, you’re insane, you’re insane!!”

"Calm down. I'll send you the photos first, and then we can discuss it after you see them."

At Ronan's doorstep, Pires, who had returned, nearly crushed his fists.

After leaving, all he could think about were the symbols for $1000 and $2000. He couldn't eat or drink anymore.

In fact, the profits of the knitting business are very transparent. Ronan has never hidden it from everyone. Cafu even set up a stall in Gold, and everyone knows how much profit he made.

I won't comment on Cafu; they have plenty of manpower there, and they're constantly running around earning a meager living.

But no matter what he sold, Ronan always kept only about 25% of the profit, leaving the rest to the women.

Although Pires doesn't take weaving orders, he is very familiar with the prices here.

A wreath can only earn 75 francs, and an elaborate lamp or ornament costs only a little over 200 francs.

"What? $2000? It can't even sell for 2000 francs!"

Once he came to his senses, Pires became increasingly convinced that the conversation he had just had was a scheme by that brat Ronan, who wanted to "turn" him, the last remaining embroiderer, so that Lourmaran would then belong to their weaving craft!
But can old Pires just surrender?
He's coming back to expose this kid's schemes!
Unexpectedly, before even entering the house, I overheard Ronan and Cafu's entire conversation.

"Damn it, can we really make that much?" Pires growled under his breath.

He could still persevere for a hundred or two francs to embroider a quilt.

But now it's worth ten or twenty thousand francs!

The next day, a big news story broke in Lourmaran.

This is bigger news than the news that various departments of the Vaucluse province are coming to Lourmaran for an inspection.

Those government officials were too far removed from the villagers, but Pires was a figure in the 'focus' just like Henry.

Before dawn, old Pires appeared at the door of the Batti family's house, his loudspeaker working harder than the sun.

"What time is it? Are young people these days so lazy?"

"It's just selling cheap things like flower wreaths and lamps. I can be a little lazy, but if it affects my learning to make woven furniture later, you just wait and see, you tall, skinny guy!"

"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize me? If you don't, come and take a look. That's right, I, Old Pire, have come to learn knitting!"

"Why? Because weaving makes money! A single piece of woven furniture can earn tens of thousands of francs. Why wouldn't I do it? Do you think all the benefits will go to you ungrateful bastards? Let me tell you, if anyone dares to compete with me for orders in the future, I'll come to their doorstep every day and curse them out!!"

Pire's mouth is more active than the goddess of echo in mythology, even repeating punctuation marks three times.

The loudspeaker blared and cursed in front of Bati's house for an hour, and soon many small loudspeakers appeared throughout the village of Lourmaran.

"Have you heard? If Ronan's woven furniture designs sell, he can give each of us a thousand francs!"

"Really? They can give that much for one person? Can we really trust what Pires says?"

"Ronan is now one of the most famous artists in Provence. His designs are very valuable. And Pires said 1 to 2 francs. You can only believe one-tenth or even less of what he says. 1000 francs is still possible."

"My God, 1000 francs? Ronan isn't lying to us, he really is going to lead us to riches!!"

After that, the whole village of Lourmaran was as lively as if it were a festival.

The villagers sitting at the doorway chatting would bring out their best wine and dream about the wonderful future that might come.

The women and children drawing water by the river were also chatting about what they would buy for their homes if they earned money.

Every corner of Lurmaran—in houses, courtyards, streets, and shops—was enveloped in a positive emotion called happiness and hope.

It was in this wonderful and positive atmosphere that the leaders of the Vaucluse Provincial Tourism Bureau arrived.

(End of this chapter)