1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 370 A New Beginning Worth Looking Forward To!

Chapter 370 A New Beginning Worth Looking Forward To!
Having spent the entire winter, Ronan was more familiar with the roads and terrain near Frassiere than with Lourmarin.

He had lived in Lourmaran for over a year, but he had never walked so frequently across a piece of land, except in Frassiere, where it was his secret base.

Especially at the end of February, other truffle hunters began to appear frequently in the 'Secret Garden,' and Ronan's activity range in Frassiere expanded even further.

Previously, that dense forest belonged to Ronan himself. He could dig wherever he wanted, depending on his mood, as long as he remembered where he had been. Now, every few days, he would find footprints left not long ago in the forest.

Ronan couldn't judge how capable the person or those people were at digging for truffles, because he would change direction whenever he saw footprints ahead, to avoid making a futile effort.

But he was certain that the man or those men must have worked very hard, arriving here before Ronan every time.

It can only be said that the soaring price of truffles has attracted more and more people to the forest, all hoping to make up for the losses caused by the cold wave with these little black creatures. If they are lucky, they might even make a fortune.

In early March, the price of black truffles from Provence rose to 4750 francs per kilogram, more than double that of the same period last year.

Although prices dropped below 1500 francs in the first two months of the truffle season due to overproduction, and then experienced a significant reduction in production in the last two months, the total transaction volume of black truffles in Provence this year has broken historical records.

Of course, this record high can only be maintained for one year.

Because truffle prices will only go higher this November, the total transaction volume of black truffles next year will definitely reach a new high.

“Flasier isn’t a secret anymore. Finding truffles is becoming less and less efficient. There’s already competition this year. What are we going to do next year?” Ronan used the light from his flashlight to determine his location.

He got out of the car and walked north for more than 40 minutes, arriving at a point 1.5 kilometers deep in the dense forest. From there, he should head northeast, where he would likely encounter fellow travelers.

After walking northwest for half an hour, turn due north and walk for about 2 kilometers to reach a sparse Mediterranean pine forest. Once you see this pine forest, continue eastward through it and re-enter the dense forest to carefully search for your target tree.

Ronan used to have 5-6 hours to find truffles in the forest, but now the round trip alone takes 5-6 hours, which is driving him crazy.

But finding a new 'secret garden' would waste a lot of time, and with the truffle harvesting season coming to an end soon, Ronan planned to wait until November to find a new location.

"Next time I see Bruno, I'll ask him for some information about the forests of Provence. We should be able to pinpoint the target area based on information such as altitude, terrain, and soil." Having determined the direction, Ronan shone his flashlight on the ground and quickened his pace.

That's right, the sun has just risen at this time, and with trees blocking the view overhead, we still need to use a powerful flashlight for illumination.

Logically speaking, the quality of truffles in March is not very good, yet so many people are competing for business. The wealthy Ronan should have ended this truffle harvesting season and gone home to enjoy life.

But the reality was that Ronan worked even harder, getting up earlier and earlier each day.

There was nothing that could be done. Blanco's attitude dealt Ronan a tremendous blow.

If the government doesn't plan to establish its own brand, Ronan will have a hard time securing budget support, so he'll have to rely on himself to take over the Stellas winery.

But the problem is Ronan doesn't have enough money.
Ronan has a habit of reviewing the previous month's income at the beginning of each month.

After calculating in early March, Ronan realized that it would be too difficult to take over the Stellar wine business on his own, even though his income in February had reached a terrifying figure.

In February, Ronan still did not set up a stall at the market, so this part of his income was zero.

However, Ines increased the proportion of his stall's offerings in the "Miffal Guide," and Ronan planned to take a month's break before resuming the market in April.

The restaurant's revenue in February was quite good. In the middle of the month, Ronan talked about it with his mother, Feng Zhen, who said that the revenue might exceed 100,000 francs this month, reaching the level of the same period when the restaurant opened. As it turned out, the total profit in February was even higher than they expected, reaching nearly 110,000 francs.

As was customary, Ronan left 2 francs and the change to his parents, keeping the remaining 9 francs.

The income from the knitting orders also increased. Ronan did nothing all month and still received 37,000.

In early February, Ronan spent several days developing the 'Lovebird' product. In mid-February, he went to Gold to promote it. At the end of the month, he went to Grasse. In reality, he only spent 10 days in the mountains collecting truffles.

But those 10 days brought him an income of 130,000 francs. If it weren't for the significant decrease in truffle hunting efficiency at the end of February, making it difficult to bring back 2.5 kilograms every day like at the end of January, this number would have continued to rise.

Ronan firmly believed that truffles were the most profitable business in Provence, bar none.

Can you earn more than 1 francs a day doing other jobs?
Perhaps, but that depends on the right time and place, like the 'lovebird' that was auctioned off for a high price.

After splitting the profits with the auction house, Ronan received a check for 24 francs. A series of tax-free policies, such as the 'national treasure' designation, saved Ronan the vast majority of his taxes, leaving him with more than 21 francs. In heavily taxed France, this was practically 'tax-free'.

Based on this calculation, Ronan's income for the entire month of February reached an astonishing 460,000 francs. Living in Lourmaran, where there are few places to spend money, 460,000 francs could be deposited in the bank.

Looks like you've already made a lot of money, right?
Adding to the 29 francs that Ronan had saved before, the total was 75 francs.

But this money was only enough to buy the name 'Straska'; there was no sign of any equipment, factory, labor, or grapes!
This situation forced Ronan to seize the last days of the truffle harvesting season, working even harder every day to go into the mountains, even though many of the truffles were now showing signs of aging.

"Save as much as you can, and the rest will have to be financed through loans," Ronan kept encouraging himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Ronan had arrived at an important landmark—the sparse Mediterranean pine forest.

He took out his compass, found due east, and continued on his way.

By this time, the dazzling sun had fully risen, and there was no longer any need to rely on flashlights for illumination.

Ronan had already searched most of the woods beforehand and should have missed nothing, so he focused all his attention on the ground, hoping to get through as quickly as possible.

As Ronan stepped over a huge tree root blocking his path, he unexpectedly discovered a clear footprint on the ground, next to which was a distinct handprint.

Ronan immediately pictured a scene in his mind—in the darkness, a poor fellow, not paying attention to his footing, tripped and fell, struggling to brace himself with his hands before hitting the ground.

“Someone’s here too.” Ronan crouched down, carefully searching for other footprints.

Soon, he discovered that the other person was heading in the same direction as him, due east!

"Damn it, I've gotten up so early, how come there's someone who's up earlier than me?"

Ronan vowed that when looking for a truffle-picking site for the next season, he would add one essential condition—the closer to Lourmarin, the better!
He couldn't believe that anyone could have arrived earlier than him!

However, that will be more than half a year from now. What's important right now is what to do today.

Lucas had warned Ronan more than once that the greatest danger in the forest was the hunters whose eyes gleamed with a golden light. If you saw any other hunters, the wisest choice was to go somewhere else. Don't gamble that they were as friendly as you, or that you could still find truffles by following them.

Since going due east was definitely out of the question, Ronan had no choice but to change direction and head north, to an area he had never been to before.

The roots of Mediterranean pines can also potentially coexist with truffles, but the probability is low.

Normally, Ronan wouldn't waste time in the Mediterranean pine forest, but the situation is different now. What if he comes out of the forest and finds someone else vying for his territory?
So while looking for footprints on the ground, he would also look up to find traces of the target tree.

Songlin was indeed unreliable.

Ronan searched for a long time before spotting the first target tree—the tree's top leaves were clearly missing, not forming a complete 'triangle'.

Ronan is now extremely skilled at the steps of truffle digging; it's ingrained in his very being.

The first reaction upon spotting the target tree is to hold onto your backpack, which helps maintain balance when crouching down to smell it.

Walk over, squat down, stick your butt out, and take a deep breath.
The moment the smell appeared, Ronan had already taken out tools from the side of his backpack and started digging.

About a minute later, a pine tree with an uneven surface, a pale color, and covered with a lot of soil appeared in Ronan's hand.

Ronan can now clearly distinguish the smell of a dead truffle. Although this truffle is not dead, its quality is no longer worth much.

He couldn't bear to throw them away and put them back into his truffle bag.

Ronan found a total of four truffles in the entire Mediterranean pine forest, three of which were inedible.

After finally escaping the pine forest, we found a host tree family that was more likely to coexist with truffles, but we still didn't have much of a harvest.

I searched for several, but almost all of them were no longer edible.

After half an hour, the result was only 3 good truffles and 2 very poor-quality truffles that might be bought by villagers who can't afford fresh truffles and can only eat truffle sauce.

"Today was just too awful," Ronan said, shaking his head repeatedly.

Things got worse and worse after that, so bad that Ronan took out the food he had brought ahead of time.

While eating, Ronan looked up at the dense forest and the sunlight overhead, lost in thought for a long time.

With such low efficiency, there's no need to stay in the mountains anymore.

The truffle harvest, which had been fraught with twists and turns, was now coming to an end.

The truffle harvesting season is over this year, but Ronan's story with truffles is not over. He will definitely go back to the mountains again in six months.

However, his story with Frasier is coming to an end.

"Goodbye, Frassiere." Ronan picked up his water glass and formally bid farewell to the forest.

The end of the truffle harvesting season marks the beginning of spring and a vibrant new life.

In winter, there are fewer places to visit, fewer experiences to have, and fewer things to do in Luberon. In short, there are far fewer interesting things to do.

But the arrival of spring means that the vibrant life of Provence is about to begin again!
To celebrate the start of a vibrant new year, Ronan returned to the restaurant and, under some pretext, joined the farmers for a celebration.

Drinking wine, eating meat, and having friends with him gave Ronan a sense of happiness reminiscent of that rainy night last year.

The only regret is that Zoe isn't by my side.

She was still working on Miss Patricia's order and couldn't get away.

Throughout the entire winter, Ronan had little opportunity to properly 'date' Zoe.

Either he was busy or Zoe was busy, and when they did spend time together, it was always for work. However, their busy winter brought them great success in their careers—they became the most famous couple in Provence.

Just as Ronan was struggling with his inner conflict, the voice that haunted his dreams rang out behind him.

"Let's celebrate properly today!" Zoe picked up Ronan's glass and gulped down her drink.

Ronan looked up, puzzled, and asked:

"What are you celebrating?"

Zoe suddenly hugged Ronan's neck:
"I finally finished the order, isn't that something to celebrate?"

"My truffle picking season is over!" Ronan said excitedly.

He and Zoe have such great chemistry, in every way!

Is it possible for all of these to happen on the same day?

Zoe happily patted Ronan's arm a few times:
"Eat quickly, then we'll go out."

"Where to?" Ronan asked, looking rather clueless.

Zoe winked playfully, leaned on Ronan's shoulder, and said:

"The weather isn't so cold now, so 'night tours' can resume. Heaven knows how long I've been waiting for this day. I miss last year so much!"