1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 4 Visit

Chapter 4 Visit
The spring cleaning was more difficult than Ronan had expected.

He worked from 10:30 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon and only cleaned two areas on the first floor: the kitchen and the dining room. And that was under the premise that the house was bare.

It’s hard to imagine how long it would take him to clean the entire house if there were more furniture.

After cleaning the house, there was still a weed-covered backyard and a donkey shed that had not been opened waiting for him to "cultivate".

"Everything will work out in time." The optimistic Ronan took his lunch to the open space in the backyard, where he sat down and admired the beautiful scenery of Luberon.

At this moment the sky is clear and blue, the sun is warm, and there is not a single cloud in the sky. If you ignore the temperature, January and May in Provence seem to be no different. It is truly a magical land.

With the blue sky and white clouds, Ronan opened the tightly wrapped country bread.

He took out a piece, and some of the burnt yellow skin fell off, and the aroma of wheat immediately overflowed.

Ronan used handmade cherry jam, butter and caviar to make several combinations, and magically found that even if he only ate bread with butter, his happiness level would increase. However, he ate this combination every day in Paris but never felt happy.

[Taste delicious butter bread and increase happiness by 1 point]

[Taste delicious butter cherry jam bread and increase happiness by 1 point]

[Enhance happiness by 1 point by tasting delicious caviar bread]

"Mom is right. The elements of food include color, aroma and taste. Obviously, the natural scenery of Luberon is included in the 'color'." Although he no longer felt hungry, Ronan still stubbornly picked up another piece of bread and spread butter and jam on it.

He decided to arrange dining outdoors until the indoor environment was improved.

Eating too much bread can make people feel monotonous.

Ronan was born in Paris, but his parents came to France after they got married, so Ronan has a Chinese stomach.

After cleaning the house and the yard, he would definitely cook for himself, but the prerequisite was that he had to have more money because there were no kitchen utensils in the kitchen.

"We also want to let Louis and the others taste authentic Chinese food." Ronan stuffed the last half piece of bread into his mouth.

Eat well and you will have more energy to work.

Perhaps he had mastered the trick or was full of confidence in his future life, but this time Ronan finished cleaning the living room in just one hour. Next, he would tackle the biggest challenge - the storage room that was so dark that he couldn't even step into it.

But just as Ronan entered, there was a knock on the door.

He twisted his hips and backed out the same way, tilting his head in confusion.

Louis invited him to dinner again?

Or other neighbors who came to say hello?
Carl said that the villagers of Lourmarin are known for their hospitality, and when they know that the farmhouse has a new owner, they will definitely come to visit and ask if they need any help.

I opened the door and saw a man and a dog outside.

Having never seen either people or dogs before, Ronan thought that they were indeed the enthusiastic villagers who came to welcome him to stay.

The black hound urinated in the flowers at the door to express its welcome.

The stranger was wearing an old jacket that had become bleached, and washed cloth pants that were hard to tell whether they were black or blue. His hair was spread out on top of his head in a messy pattern, and he had a large, scraggly beard. It was impossible to even guess where his mouth was.

As if he had heard Ronan's ventriloquy, he suddenly laughed, revealing a set of teeth that could make the most optimistic dentist despair.

This man's appearance was enough to make Ronan want to shake his head, and the way he spoke made Ronan feel embarrassed. He was the fastest-talking Provencal person he had ever seen. As soon as he opened his mouth, words came out as if he was sprinting a 100-meter race, rushing towards the end of the sentence.

"Hello, stranger. My name is Henry, and I'm the best farmer in Lourmarin Village." Henry smiled with a hint of horror.

Ronan politely stepped aside and thankfully the living room was cleaned up:

"Hello, Mr. Henry, please come in."

The farmer who Louis temporarily replaced as the best farmer in Lourmarin was not called Henri.

The word "foreigner" naturally distanced the two of them, and Ronan was more inclined to the answer from Louis.

Henry rejected Ronan's invitation and pointed behind him and said:
"When you come to Provence, you must get in touch with nature as much as possible. This is not Paris where you have to pay for parking."

Ronan laughed awkwardly and silently put Henry's name on the list of villagers he didn't want to establish diplomatic relations with. Although some people made jokes about Paris at the party yesterday, they didn't make Ronan feel uncomfortable. He even joined in the complaints.

But Parisians don’t approve of charging for parking, okay?
Parisians would rather walk 2 kilometers more to park their cars in free parking spaces. This is a principle!

Henry commented on the several "seriously ill" trees in Ronan's backyard in a tone that was almost like that of an agricultural scientist. He also bluntly stated that Ronan's family had the most sloppily designed flower beds in front of their door that he had ever seen. Finally, before the sun set, he stated the purpose of his visit.

"If you leave it to me, I will turn the front and back yards and these eight acres of vineyards into the best land in Lourmarin village." He waved his hand casually, as if he was introducing his own yard.

"Oh, it's eight acres." Ronan nodded.

As an incompetent householder, he didn't pay any attention to the number of acres when buying the house, but now he finally understands it.

In ancient times when there were no mechanical equipment, a strong man could take care of 10 acres of land purely by hand. Now it is 1986. It is impossible that we have regressed with the help of machines, right?

This further strengthened Ronan's confidence in taking care of it himself.

No one can take a penny from me!

Don’t even think about it!!
"Sorry, Henry, I probably won't outsource this land." Ronan also waved his hand, announcing to him who was the owner of the land.

"Have you found a partner?" Henry asked gloomily.

Ronan shook his head:
"I don't plan to find a partner. I want to manage it myself."

Henry seemed to have heard a great joke and laughed so hard that he fell backwards:
"Do you know when to weed? Do you know when to fertilize? Do you understand how grapevines are grafted? Don't be ridiculous, strangers. You who live in the city don't understand crops at all. Believing what you see on agricultural programs will only hurt you."

Ronan shrugged his shoulders.

"Scientists tell us that life depends on movement. When you stop exercising, your muscles will atrophy and your organs will age prematurely. In the city, the solution is in the gymnasium, but in the Luberon, working in the fields is the best gymnastic activity for a better survival."

At this moment, the 35 points of [Happiness] in the system are his strongest support.

I ate another 5 points!
Eat! Eat!
Even if you only eat bread, you have to upgrade your crops!
Henry whistled at his dog, signaling it to leave, and said with obvious sarcasm:
“He is indeed a Parisian.”

Humph, Parisians are full of lies.

Ronan shook his head and waved at Henry's back:
"Goodbye Mr. Henry."

Henry must be an unhappy man, otherwise why would he be angry about eight acres of farmland?

This is Provence, does it still need his eight pieces of farmland?
However, Ronan quickly overturned this speculation.

His spring-cleaning plan was extended from the original two days to three and a half days, because during these few days, ten villagers came to his house under the pretext of visiting and wanted to sign a land contract with him!

Obviously, his eight acres of land has become an absolute hot commodity in the village.

Ronan was very confused by this.

But what puzzled him even more was that when he went out to buy food for the second time, several unfamiliar villagers gave him strange looks.

This did not happen during his first shopping trip.

On the same afternoon, Louis' youngest son Vieri came to see Ronan.

"Tonight is Carl's dog's 13th birthday. Carl asked you to save your stomach and come to his house at 5pm."

Ronan slapped his forehead in anguish:

"If you had come half an hour earlier, I would never have eaten that baguette."

In order to quickly gain enough experience points, Ronan eats four meals a day and has now accumulated 83 points.

The last 'simple and plain' dinner increased Ronan's [Happiness] by 16 points, and this dinner will most likely allow him to level up!

This baguette is too time-consuming.

"See you later." Vieri smiled and waved goodbye.