1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 406 Let's see who has a tougher tongue!

Blanco had already made all the preparations and was just waiting for news from Ronan.

Seeing that Ronan had brought several more pieces of good news, he decided to hold a general meeting of Lourmaran on the last day of March so that the whole village would know what had happened in Lourmaran in the past and what earth-shattering changes would take place in the future.

After delivering the message, Ronan suddenly remembered someone on the road.

Time flies, it's almost the end of March, that person probably isn't prepared yet?

With a few days left until the end of the month, Ronan returned to his routine of renovating the house with Zoe.

However, two other things were done in between.

One thing he did was call Bruno to ask if his family had arrived in Provence and invite his wife to visit Apte's physical store.

Bruno said his family had arrived and were settling in. Once settled, he would immediately arrange for his wife to meet with Ronan in Apte, as her job situation would affect where they decided to buy a house.

"Doesn't he buy a house in Marseille?"

Ronan shares his daily life with Zoe, and Zoe does the same. Today, when the topic of Bruno came up, Zoe was very surprised by Bruno's choice.

Ronan explained with a smile:

"Bruno said he doesn't spend much time in the office, but mostly deals with local governments near the forest. He also said that the scenery in Provence is so beautiful that a slightly longer journey is fine and he won't get bored. It mainly depends on where his wife works. You know, the couple often don't see each other often. Bruno cares a lot about his wife and children and puts their needs first in everything."

“How wonderful,” Zoe said with emotion. “Even though they’re often apart, their relationship is still so strong. Bruno never considered working in Provence last year, but his wife said she liked it here, so he came.”

Ronan shook his head and said:
"Some people are separated for long periods of time, but that doesn't affect their happiness and fulfillment; others see each other every day but don't cherish it at all."

Zoe put down her tools:

"You went to remind Vieri again?"

Ronan certainly wasn't referring to them.

All of Lourmaran knows that Ronan and Zoe are the most loving couple!
Ronan said with a smirk:

"I reminded him twice that Isabel's birthday was coming up soon, but he seemed to have no idea what I meant."

Vieri is a constant topic of conversation between Ronan and Zoe, and they talk about it every two days.

They strongly suspected that Vieri and Isabelle were in a relationship, but there was no substantial evidence.

These two are so stubborn!
You can't get any useful information out of them at all!

Zoe let out a long sigh and picked up her tools again:
"Let's not count on Vieri. I'm going to buy Isabelle a gift to thank her for taking care of Vieri all this time."

Regardless of the relationship between the two children.

It is a fact that Isabelle took care of Vieri and constantly introduced clients to Louis.

Knowing that Isabel really wanted to go to Exx, Zoe offered to take her several times, but Isabel refused each time.

Whether it was because they weren't familiar enough or for some other reason, the usually lively Isabel always got nervous whenever she saw Zoe, making it impossible for her to relax and have fun with her.

“Okay.” Ronan went to move the new timber. “I’ll help you choose a birthday present for Isabel. She’s done a lot for the restaurant these past six months.”

With more than two months to go before the high school graduation exams, 12th-grade Vieri is getting out of school earlier than usual.

French high school education tends to give students a lot of autonomy, allowing them to prepare for exams actively according to their own circumstances.

Vieri was quite diligent in preparing for his exams. Although he finished school early, he didn't stay at the restaurant to help out for longer periods. He still stayed for a little over an hour each day before going home.

That evening, Ronan and Zoe finished their day's renovation work and went to a restaurant for dinner, where they ran into Vieri, who was about to go home.

His concerned brother-in-law reminded him for the third time:
"Isabel's birthday is this Sunday, have you prepared a gift?"

Vieri shook his head without even thinking:

"No."

Seeing that Zoe's expression wasn't good and she was on the verge of saying something but holding back, Ronan was worried that the hard-won relationship between the siblings would crumble, so he quickly pulled Vieri away.

"I'll take you out."

As Ronan passed Isabel, who was greeting guests at the entrance, he remembered something important:

"You don't need to go to the market this weekend. I'll take some people to participate later."

In winter, Ronan entrusted the two markets in Mena village and Lourmaran to Isabel and the women in the restaurant.

But as temperatures rise and tourists arrive in Provence, Ronan decides to return to the market to attract customers for his restaurant.

In this year’s Mifal Guide, Ines has increased the description of Ronan’s stall, and this distinctive yellow-skinned stall owner must be included.

Fearing he might lose his skills, Ronan gave himself a two-week "adjustment period" before "resuming work" at the end of March.

However, Ronan plans that this 'reopening' will not last long. Once the restaurant's business stabilizes, he will hand over the market stall to others and focus his energy on other things.

Ronan's status is different now than it was last year. He'll have to hand over the stall to someone else sooner or later, and it's enough for him to show up occasionally.

“Okay!” Isabelle said cheerfully, and as she passed Vieri, she said in a provocative tone, “Oh, high school student going home to do homework?”

Vieri retorted, not to be outdone:
"If I were you, I would think about myself first. Without a stall, you would lose a lot of income every month. I really don't know where you get the nerve to criticize others."

Ronan would share the profits from the winter market with those who attended, which gave Isabelle a considerable extra income.

“I have plenty of ways to make money, I don’t need this one. I can make flower wreaths and lamps, why would you need to worry about me?”

"Ha, making a flower wreath every two days, what's so great about that?"

"That's still better than someone who can't do it at all! I don't know who it was, but they made such an ugly little wreath that Barty kept returning it to them!"

“You—” Vieri pointed his index finger at Isabel, his face flushed with anger.

The angrier Vieri got, the happier Isabelle became.

She gave Vieri a funny face and then twisted her neck with a smug look.

Ronan, watching from the side, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The way these two young people get along is truly amazing.

Upon arriving at the restaurant entrance, Ronan asked Vieri:
"You've also made flower wreaths?"

Neither he nor Zoe knew that Vieri had made the wreath.

Vieri got even angrier and kicked a stone by the roadside: "I made a few and had Isabel help me sell them, but... but Batty didn't want them."

Ronan said with a smile:
"If you want to learn, I'll teach you properly after your exam. It's not that difficult."

Vieri suddenly tensed up:
"Please don't tell Zoe about me making the flower wreath, okay? If she knows, then Dad and Mom will find out. I don't want them to know about it."

Ronan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement:

"Sure, but you should really focus your energy on studying now. You've already spent more than an hour every day 'experiencing life' at the restaurant, so don't waste your energy on other things."

“I know,” Vieri kicked another stone, “I just want to save some money.”

Louis's family was very well-off, and he and Leah were never stingy with their two children.

Moreover, Vieri went home for lunch and dinner every day, so his expenses shouldn't have been high. Thinking of something, Ronan said bluntly:

"Just tell me what you want to buy, and I'll buy it for you."

Vieri may not talk about football anymore, but Ronan knows that his passion for the sport remains.

Whenever Zoe brought him something related to football from Apte or Ax, Vieri would revert to his innocent and carefree self.

Ronan guessed that Vieri might have his eye on something related to football.

Vieri whispered:

"It's not about buying things."

Ronan suddenly tensed up.

If it's not about buying football-related items, does it mean you want to go to Marseille to watch a match?
At this time last year, Vieri also saved money to prepare for his trip to Marseille.

“I still won’t agree if you want to go to Marseille to watch the game,” Ronan said seriously. “It’s too dangerous there.”

Vieri left with his schoolbag on his back:

"I'm not going to Marseille. I'm leaving. You can go back now."

Isabelle is a lively girl.

She gets along very well with every employee in the restaurant.

Ronan knew her birthday was coming up because he overheard some waiters saying they were pooling their money to buy Isabel a nice cake, and they even asked Ronan what kind they should get.

The owner, Ronan, said that the cake restaurant will provide the cake, and from now on, the restaurant will make a large and high-end birthday cake for each of the employees on their birthdays.

The employees liked Isabelle even more because she meant they could eat 'real' cakes more often.

Children from ordinary families in the Luberon region also eat cake on their birthdays.

But it's a kind of 'pound cake', made with flour, eggs, butter and sugar in a 1:1:1:1 ratio. It's simple and affordable, and it doesn't even have cream on top. It's all homemade.

"Isabel, what are your plans for your birthday?" A waiter asked Isabel two days before her birthday.

Isabel said cheerfully:

"I brought my family here for a big meal, and then we'll share the cake!"

"Is there anything else?" the girl asked.

Isabel, with her hands on her hips like a little adult, said:

"In the past, birthdays only came with pound cakes, but now we have beautiful cakes with cream and fresh fruit, as well as delicious food. Isn't that enough? I think you guys are too greedy!"

"I was just asking, Zoe invited you to visit Exx. You've refused time and time again! We thought you had other plans."

"Ugh, I don't like X anymore. Okay, let's all go home and get back to work. I'm going out too."

As her birthday approached, Isabelle's mood improved.

Upon stepping outside and seeing the 'annoying' Vieri again trying to take his work, he didn't directly ridicule him, but instead said in a tone of 'I'll let you off the hook':
"Then you can greet them here, I'll go tidy up the backyard."

“Wait a minute—” Vieri suddenly called out to her.

Isabelle turned around and found that Vieri was looking straight ahead, not at all looking at her.

She clicked her tongue and continued back to the restaurant.

"Do we work on Sundays?" Vieri asked, his tone flat and emotionless.

Isabelle really wanted to give Vieri a good whack on the head.

Didn't you know it's my birthday on Sunday?!

She said impatiently:

"You can skip work and greet the guests; no one will be competing with you for their business."

Vieri would also pay special attention to Isabelle's days off, because he also enjoyed doing the welcoming work.

“I heard there’s a football-related market in Aix on Sunday.” Vieri’s head almost turned to the other side of his body.

Isabelle thought she had misheard and turned around sharply to make sure she was all alone.

While enveloped in immense joy, he pretended not to understand and said:

"Oh, a football market, that's nice."

Vieri's ears turned red, and he said, both anxious and angry:
"If you're not interested, that's fine. I heard you've never been to Exeter, and I was kind enough to take you there."

Isabel gave a soft hum:
"I don't need your kindness, I'll go by myself if I want to!"

After saying that, she turned to leave.

"Ronan recommended a restaurant in Aix-en-Provence, where the Caesarson is especially excellent. It's a shame you're going to miss out on your favorite dish."

"I don't care, I have a fancy cake!"

"Sure. We can go earlier and come back earlier, then we can eat both." Vieri said exasperatedly, "Are you going or not? If not, I'll go by myself!"

Isabelle, with her back to Vieri, finally couldn't help but burst out laughing:
What time should we meet?

Vieri bit his lip hard, trying not to laugh.
"Meet at the village entrance at 6:30. I've already arranged a car."

(End of this chapter)