1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 401 Wait, who are you?

In Lourmaran village, only artists and businessmen like Ronan, who run shops, are looking forward to the tourist season and making preparations for it.

Other villagers wished they could skip the tourist season altogether.

But this year's travel season will definitely involve more villagers, and once the art shops do well, they will certainly hire more workers.

Ronan deliberately made this suggestion in order to help the artist community and the farmer community get to know each other quickly and prepare for future integration.

And that is indeed the case.
Before Ronan came to Lourmaran, everyone renovated their own houses; who would hire workers?

“Alright then.” After hearing Ronan’s explanation, Codia quickly made a decision. “I’ll go to the government first to see if there are any suitable venues. If there are, I’ll organize everyone to raise money right away, and then you can help me find people.”

Ronan and the farmer were on good terms, and Codia planned to find help through him.

“Since everyone’s here today, I’ll go say hello first.” Ronan gestured with his chin outside. “The farmers will be busy in April, so let them know about this and set aside time in advance.”

Cotillard stopped Ronan:
"Don't go. I haven't even asked yet. What if they can't get a venue? Don't delay their important business."

Farmers and artists have no connection whatsoever.

Only Batty was relatively familiar with Theo, Cornell, and a few other farmers, because of their personalities.

Cotillard fared slightly better; he could greet a few familiar faces when they met. However, the two female artists, Vivian and Pollyte, only spoke to the farmers once after moving to Lourmaran.

That conversation took place when Ronan and Zoe were engaged—the farmers had tied them up.

Ronan said casually:

"It's okay, just let me know if the application hasn't been approved yet."

With that, he left the bathroom and walked toward Theo and Henry.

Theo and Henry remain irreconcilable enemies.

Ronan only wanted one of them to help him today, but the other one would definitely be unhappy.

He could picture Theo poking his chest and saying, "You don't treat me like a brother," and Henry asking, aggrievedly, "Mr. Ronan, did I do something wrong?"

Forced to do so, he had no choice but to call both of them over, but Ronan's heart and ears were always with them, and he would immediately step in to stop anything that went wrong.

Sure enough, while he was talking to Zoe and a few others, the two of them started arguing again before he knew it.

"You've all moved your stuff, why aren't you leaving? Are you staying to wait for Ronan to treat you to dinner?"

"I think you're the one who wants to stay and have dinner with Mr. Ronan! You asked Batty for more orders yesterday and got rejected, so now you're setting your sights on Mr. Ronan? Let me tell you, Mr. Ronan doesn't care about these things!"

"I stayed to see if there was anything else I could help with. It has nothing to do with the weaving order. You must have asked Ronan for the order, right? That's why you would think of that!"

"You son of a bitch Theo! Josephine and I got all our orders through merit, I didn't say a single word to Mr. Ronan!"

"Who are you scolding?"

"I'm cursing you!"

The two spat at each other, then quickly distanced themselves when Ronan appeared.

"Why are you arguing again?" Ronan asked, frowning.

Theo blew on his fist:
"It wasn't noisy, I was swatting flies, and the buzzing was so annoying."

Henry stomped his foot hard:

"Damn bug, how dare you sneak into Mr. Ronan's new studio! I'll stomp you to death!"

Ronan shook his head and didn't say anything more. As long as a fight didn't break out, that was fine.

He looked at Theo and said:
“The artists at Cotillard might need to set up an art market in a venue. Zoe and I will be renovating our house in the next few months, so we can’t help much. If this is settled, you can find someone to help them.”

Henry has a bad reputation in the village, making it difficult for him to organize the farmers to work; it would be more suitable to leave this task to Theo.

This talkative guy can definitely make sure all the work is done perfectly.

Theo tilted his head and said in a nonchalant manner:

"It's a small matter, I'll do it while having fun."

He called out to Cotillard in the distance:
"Set a time and come find me anytime. I'll bring people to help you right away."

Cotillard trotted over and said gratefully:

"Thank you so much. I need to find a good location before I can set a budget. I probably can't tell you the fee right now."

"Payment?" Henry grinned at Theo. "These are Mr. Ronan's friends, and Mr. Ronan is an artist too. You'd even make money off this?"

"Go to hell with Henry!" Theo glared at him, pointing his finger at his nose. "I'd rather die poor than take money from my friends, unlike you! You took several thousand francs from Ronan last year just to paint a few windows and doors for him? You'll do anything for money!"

Henry's neck turned red, and he hurriedly took off his captain's hat:

"I already returned it to Mr. Ronan! But, but, but Mr. Ronan doesn't want it!!"

"Come on, you're something else." Theo patted Ronan on the shoulder and said to Cotillard, "We friends never talk about money, and besides, it was a small job, something I did on the spur of the moment."

“That won’t do,” Gotia said, seemingly flattered. “How can we let you do so much work for nothing?”

Theo took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and said in a cheeky tone:

"I wouldn't do it if you paid me. I'm not like some other people."

“Theo, you filthy bastard!” Henry raised his fist. “You’re the filthy one!” Theo glared, “You even eat donkeys! Your heart is as filthy as your body!”

"I'll eat you first!!" Henry charged forward.

Ronan, with one hand supporting Theo's chin and the other gripping Henry's fist, awkwardly said to Cotillard:

"How about we stop here for today?"

Ronan was outside trying to break up the fight, while Cotillard went back to meet up with the girls.

Vivian asked in horror:
"Why are they fighting? That's terrifying!"

The studio was large, and they couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they did see the fists being swung.

God, these farmers are so rough!
Recalling her experience of being 'kidnapped,' Pollyt said with lingering fear:

“If all else fails, let’s hire professional workers, the kind who build houses for Zoe. I always feel that these farmers are not very reliable.”

Gotia glanced back at the farmers wrestling together, stroking his afro, and said:

"I think these people are quite reliable."

The two farmers' personalities were completely at odds with their appearances.
Codia thought Theo was like his arrogant behavior, only superficial in his actions, but he didn't expect him to be so honest.

Henry is a perfect example of the opposite of judging a book by its cover; Cotillard even thought that the hideous fellow was somewhat kind.
She decided that she would pay closer attention to them when she made contact with them again in the future.

Zoe silently observed the reactions of her close friends, smiling without saying a word.

She once told Ronan that she was better suited to help the villagers and artists live in harmony.

Because she is both a villager and an artist.

Ronan has now found a good breakthrough; the rest is up to her.

Over the next few days, Ronan and Zoe spent their time in the studio making furniture and decorating the house.

With more efficient mechanical tools, Ronan and Zoe, both experienced furniture makers with excellent teamwork, worked much faster than expected.

In just three days, all the decorations on the interior ceiling and walls were completed. The next step was to install the cabinets and beds.

This kind of life continued until Ronan and Lucas went to Carpenter.

Ronan only visited Capontra once, to attend the special winter truffle market.

That trip to Carpenter was truly a fruitful one.

Not only did they sell a top-grade truffle, but they also learned about the important profession of truffle broker and gained a concrete understanding of the scale of the Provençal truffle market.

This also strengthened our resolve to remain steadfast in our truffle business.

Ronan is confident that this trip to Capontra will be just as fruitful as the last one!

Lucas, who was driving, didn't have the same confidence as Ronan.

Having experienced a near-fatal failure, he was unsure how to approach so-called 'academic institutions' when he came into contact with them again.

Will we blindly believe it again, just like last year?

Or should we always remain 'alert' and identify their potential traps?
The drive to Capontra was long, and Ronan only occasionally spoke a few words along the way, while Lucas mostly drove silently and taciturnly.

Ronan keenly sensed Lucas's unease and comforted him:

"Just treat it as meeting up with some friends and having a casual chat. The real key is in the subsequent experimental phase, not today. Relax, buddy."

Lucas patted the steering wheel:

"I'm just thinking about whether I should speak up and how I should speak if there are disagreements later. You haven't dealt with those academic institutions before. They always talk about things with the attitude of 'We can listen to your opinion, but you will have to bear the consequences if there are problems.' This is actually silencing you."

Ronan shifted his gaze from the window to the road ahead:
"Of course we should raise questions. Although they provided assistance, we are the ones who paid for it. We spent so much money, can't we even say a few words?"

Lucas rolled down the car window and lit a cigarette with a grim expression.

“Go and see for yourself. Last year I dealt with more than one academic institution, and they all had the same attitude.”

Ronan curled his lip in disapproval:
"Don't worry, we have another helper this time. They don't care about us, don't they care about the Ministry of Agriculture?"

Ronan was certain that with his "good sister" Juliet around, those organizations wouldn't dare to cause trouble!

Juliet departed from Avignon and arranged to meet Ronan at the entrance of the newly established Provence Truffle Research Center.

Ronan had already introduced Juliet's identity to Lucas beforehand, and also talked about her personality—Juliet was serious, didn't like to smile, and didn't like to appear too familiar with Ronan in front of others.

If they meet later, she and Ronan will pretend to be 'strangers' and tell Lucas not to mind.

Lucas kept all this information in mind. After all, it's normal for women to have quirky personalities and behaviors.

He could never understand what women were really thinking.

Unexpectedly, before his car had even come to a complete stop, he saw the smile on the face of the serious, unsmiling Ministry of Agriculture official that Ronan had described, even from ten meters away.

The moment the car stopped, Juliet eagerly opened the car door for Ronan, smiling brightly as she said:
"You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for so long!"

Ronan was too scared to get out of the car.

what's the situation?
Is this still Juliet?
(End of this chapter)