1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 374 Someone Has Connections!
The first to react was Henry, who was sitting at the next table.

Winter passed, and the wind died down in the valley. Henry put on his captain's hat again, but this time it was a new one.

He raised his right hand, as if taking an oath:
“I’d be happy to, Mr. Ronan! Even if it doesn’t make money, I, Henry, will go if you need me!”

But Henry's tone quickly softened:
"However, I still hope to continue farming. Even if I can't farm the land I have now, I still want to continue farming!"

Henry Bitio and the others were old, already in their early forties. He had been working in the fields with his father since he was just learning to walk, farming all his life. Suddenly being asked to do something else, he was really reluctant to give it up.

Theo let out a disgruntled nasal sound, seemingly disapproving of Henry's answer:

"What Ronan has done that hasn't made more money than farming? You short-sighted fool! Ronan, I'm not farming anymore. Tell me, what are we going to do?"

Given Theo's lazy nature, it's a miracle he's been able to farm all this time.

Mainly because he has no other skills.
However, now that he and his wife have learned to weave, Theo has actually considered whether to continue farming.

Wouldn't it be better to rent it out and become a landlord?
Cornell, on the other hand, didn't have as many complicated thoughts as them. He simply didn't care about land; making money with Ronan had always been his dream.

"Anyway, I decided a long time ago that I would work with you. Whatever you do, I will do."

Unlike other farmers, Cornell had been working for Ronan for months, delivering weaving orders to Cafu in Apte and truffles to various places. It was always Cornell who did the work.

His mother, Amonina, had initially advised her son to make farming his main livelihood and that helping Ronan was just a "part-time job," but after seeing the francs Cornell brought home each month, she stopped bringing it up.

Ronan was very generous to his brothers, a fact known to all the farmers.

The seven or eight farmers present all expressed their attitudes—whether they went to do something else or farmed other land, they were all willing to follow Ronan.

"What's there to ask? My wife is pressuring me to make money with you every day. We've been waiting for you to say that, Ronan."

"Everyone knows they can make a lot of money following you, I'm willing to go!"

"Tell me, Ronan, what's your method for making money?"

Ronan jokingly changed the subject, saying it wasn't time to lay all the cards on the table yet and they needed to wait for the government's progress.

However, seeing everyone's reaction, Ronan finally felt relieved.

The farmers' mindset can not only resolve the relationship between the art community and the villagers, but also solve the "Schrödinger's cat" crisis of the grapevines in the fields.

If everyone firmly believes that following Ronan will definitely make money, then there will be no cries in the skies of Luberon in April—because everyone knows that Ronan will definitely lead them through this!
However, there was one person whose situation Ronan was still not entirely at ease with.

Pierre is the busiest farmer in the village.

During the off-season for farming, he had already begun preparing for the upcoming summer.

The cold snap in January served as a wake-up call for him: winter requires protection against the cold, and summer requires protection against drought. Recently, he has been inquiring about cheap shade nets, hoping to encourage everyone to put "hats" on their crops.

However, whenever he has free time, he still comes to Ronan's place for a few drinks.

On this day, as soon as Pierre entered the restaurant, he rolled up his trouser legs and raised his feet high.

“I didn’t forget today,” Pierre said to Feng Zhen with a smile. “I wore my 'Year of the Rat' socks!”

This Chinese New Year, Feng Zhen prepared bright red outfits for several of Ronan's friends who were celebrating their zodiac year. Pierre, being a straightforward man, refused to wear red and threw it into the closet as soon as he got home.

However, every time they met, Feng Zhen would ask him if he was wearing it, and Pierre could only make an excuse to say that he had washed it, and that he had changed into it specifically for today.

Feng Zhen said with concern:

"Yes, yes, yes, sometimes your birth year can be quite bumpy. Wearing red is a way to ward off the 'Tai Sui' (the Grand Duke Jupiter), and then everything will go smoothly."

Pierre, of course, didn't understand anything about 'birth year' or 'Tai Sui', but he knew it was Ronan's mother's way of showing concern for him, so he smiled and agreed.

"Okay, I hope wearing it will bring me good luck this year."

Of course, Pierre's wishful thinking was that everything would go smoothly; he knew that even wearing red socks this year would not help him break free from the 'Tai Sui' (a malefic calendar).

He had secretly dismantled many grapevines and had a general idea of ​​the extent of the damage caused by the cold wave.

In fact, even before the cold wave had passed, the experienced Pierre had foreseen the current outcome. He just had a sliver of wishful thinking that a miracle might happen.

But miracles don't happen so easily.

Especially those related to nature.
However, he didn't tell anyone about it, and every time he appeared in front of the farmers, he always acted like he was laughing and joking.

Because he shared the same idea as Ronan, he also hoped to find a way to make farmers smile in the face of the disaster before the beginning of April.

In the past few months, he has been asking around and has actually come up with some clues.

As soon as he sat down, he heard Theo and the others saying that Ronan had just said he would lead them to make money, but it was all for naught. This kid's 'prank' skills are now on par with Pierre's.

The farmers spoke of this with a mixture of anger and longing, as if even though they had been deceived, they did not want to leave the beautiful dream woven by Ronan.

Pierre was well aware of Ronan's influence among the villagers; his words carried even more weight than those of Pierre himself, the head of the farmers.

After chatting with the farmers for a while, he invited Ronan to a bench outside the restaurant so he could talk to him about something important.

Ronan also wanted to talk to Pierre, but it would be too conspicuous on the shopping street, so he opened the back door and took him to a quiet place where no one would bother him.

Pierre's laughter was merely a facade; he was actually a very thoughtful person. When Ronan led him to the backyard, he immediately realized that Ronan must have something important to discuss with him, something he didn't want others to overhear.

"Should you speak first or should I?" Pierre moved two chairs from the wall, wiped them clean, and handed them to Ronan.

Ronan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly, smiling as he said:
"I suspect we might be talking about the same thing."

Ronan knew all too well how deep Pierre's feelings were for the land and the farmers; he had witnessed the tough man shed tears firsthand.

After that heart-to-heart talk in the vineyard, they didn't discuss the topic further, but Ronan was convinced that the responsible Pierre wouldn't let the matter go unaddressed.

Pierre sat down next to Ronan and lazily stretched.

"I tore down the grapevines."

Ronan said, without much emotional fluctuation:
"I tore it down too."

Seeing Ronan's composure, Pierre's tone relaxed as he lit a cigarette:

"Then you should know how tough this year will be, right? I plan to encourage everyone to switch to growing vegetables with shorter harvest cycles, such as lettuce, spinach, radishes, and arugula. You can grow 3-4 crops a year, and the income is very stable. Re-cultivating grapes takes too long and the risks are too great."

I'm not just talking about natural risks, but also market risks. The price of grapes depends on the wineries; if they lower the price, we have no way to fight back. We'll keep the surviving vines, and after pulling up the dead ones, we'll plant some crops that can break even. That way, if something goes wrong next year or the year after, we won't starve.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Ronan expectantly:

"what do you think?"

Pierre's plan needs Ronan's support to be successfully implemented.

Ronan sighed silently:
"But land isn't worth anything anymore."

In fact, growing vegetables on the same area in Provence is more profitable than growing grapes on the same area, with annual profits being two to three times higher, because vegetables can be grown several times a year and are a daily necessity for residents.

However, vineyards and olive groves have legal inheritance rights and can be mortgaged, which are things that vegetable plots do not have.

Take Ronan's house as an example. His stone house plus 8 acres of vineyards can sell for 450,000 francs, but if those 8 acres were vegetable gardens, they might only be worth 360,000 to 370,000 francs.

Many elderly farmers in Lourmaran often say this:

"Strawberries and apricots can only fill your stomach, but grapes and olives are a lifetime pension."

Are the people of Provence stupid?
Why not plant more profitable vegetables and fruits instead of rushing to plant riskier crops like grapes and olives?

It's all because of its hidden value!
Putting aside whether Ronan would agree or not, would the landowners who leased their land to tenant farmers agree to you turning their vineyards into vegetable gardens?!

Just for an extra 1 to 2 francs each year?
Even before the 21st century, given the current housing price trend in Provence, those land plots could lose enough to buy several houses within five years.

Pierre chuckled and said:
"That's why I've come to you for help. If you help me persuade them, I'm sure someone will agree."

Pierre knew, of course, that this would affect land prices and that it would be met with a great deal of opposition.

But farmers like him and Ronan who own their own land are a minority; most farmers in the village are tenant farmers.

By protecting the value of the land, these brothers will suffer income losses for several years in a row.
There is no other way.

Despite the significant problems, Pierre felt it was worth a try.

Ronan thought about it more and more and felt it was impossible, waving his hands repeatedly:
“Your method is not good, and it will affect Lourmarin’s status as an AOC appellation.”

Ronan has done a lot of research on wineries over the past two months. He knows that crossbreeding will affect future applications for AOC appellation, and French wines must apply for AOC to fetch a good price.

AOC has very strict planting regulations. Only the declared grape varieties can be planted within a certain area of ​​the production area. Other crops are not allowed, and even grape varieties not within the declared scope cannot be planted.

If the land's ownership is changed now, changing it back would require an even longer sunk cost. Ronan absolutely does not support Pierre's proposal.

“Lourmarin doesn’t even have its own wineries, how can it become an AOC appellation?” Pierre thought Ronan was joking and asked helplessly, “Then what do you suggest?”

Ronan considered Pierre a trustworthy partner, at least when it came to matters concerning the farmers' livelihoods, he would never take things lightly.

After much deliberation, he told Pierre all about the government's disaster relief plan, the relocation plan, and the fact that Lourmarin's future tourism development would create many more job opportunities. He only concealed the details about the winery, but this information was enough for Pierre to reassess the current situation.

After finishing his statement, Ronan said in a clearly exploratory tone:

“Provence will not increase the vineyard area of ​​the original varieties for a long time to come, but the removal of so many old ones will inevitably lead to the development of new grape varieties to replace them. If the subsidies provided by the Lourmarin government and the Vaucluse Department of Agriculture can help our brothers get through the quiet period of the past few years and wait for the new grapes to appear.
That way, not only will land prices be preserved, but the new grapes will also fetch a good price. As you should know, when a newly cultivated grape variety appears, the price always stays high for a while, because all wineries want to see what they can develop from the new grapes.

Ronan had discussed with Juliet the topic of new grape varieties in Provence.

Juliet said that almost all new varieties go through a development process from sky-high prices to reasonable prices, which can take up to 10 years.

The humorous Juliet even likened the process to 'marriage':
"Developing a new variety is like getting married; it takes 10 years to know if it's worth it."

Ronan believed that Pierre must also know this principle.

Pierre believed Ronan's words without a doubt, and after thinking carefully for a long time, he finally spoke:
"If the government really insists on pushing this plan through, then new grape substitutes will inevitably emerge in Provence; that's a given. However—"

He said with a wry smile:
"Do you know how difficult it is to develop new varieties, buddy? It's simply not something that ordinary people like us can do. Let's not even talk about how much money we need to invest. You can't even buy grape seedlings, buddy. I admit that this idea is very good, but it can't be implemented. If we want to plant new grapes, we will definitely miss the first batch."

Ronan laughed and slapped the table.

What a coincidence, isn't it?
I'm not just an ordinary citizen; we have connections in higher places!
(End of this chapter)