1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 444 The Wolf Met the Sheep

After Easter, Zoe continued to oversee the construction of the swimming pool, which was the part of this renovation that she valued most.

At the same time, she would also add some accessories to the swimming pool, such as ceramics, to decorate her and Ronan's home in her own style.

What Zoe was going to do was something Ronan wasn't good at, so he used that time to do something else.

The venue provided for Michelin magazine's interviews is still not ready; we need to get things moving quickly.

The day after Easter.

Having arranged a time in advance with Sandrine, Ronan, Sandrine, and Barty sat down together to seriously plan how to proceed.

Sandrine and Barty were delighted to learn of Michelin's stance; although the woven furniture was rather 'soft,' it was free.

If the decorations are rich and varied enough, they might attract the attention of many magazines under the Michelin Magazine Group.

However, the problems are also significant.
“We don’t have a venue,” Batty said, looking very troubled. “My house is completely full for interviews, even though I really want to.”

The headquarters of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative is in the Bati family.

This was Barty's own suggestion, and he was incredibly happy that so many women came to his house every day.

In addition, the weaving experience also took place in Bati's yard.

The houses in Lourmaran are generally quite large and come with a yard, but they are occupied by women, tourists, and Bati, leaving no room for interviews.

"I asked Louis to help me find some vacant houses. What do you think?" Ronan had already thought it was inappropriate to have Barty handle everything two weeks ago.

The women are used to working together and can be left alone, but the 'tourism projects' still need to be divided up.

Although the Lourmaran handicraft cooperative is not particularly booming, it can afford the rent for a house.

But nearly a month has passed and neither Batty nor Louis has mentioned it, as if they haven't found a suitable house?

Batistuta smiled shyly:
"Louis found me two rental houses, but I didn't follow up. I think it's fine as it is now. There's no need to move the tour items out. Why don't you wait a bit while I think about it and see if we can set up a larger space?"

Batty believes that staying in Lourmaran was an absolutely correct decision.

Wasn't his previous life of wandering the world and traveling all over the country all for the sake of seeing the beauty of women in different places?

Now things are great; beautiful women from all over the world come to his house every day.

All Batistuta needs to do is sit back and watch.

Seeing any lady in trouble, I would enthusiastically go over to help, and afterwards we would naturally have a couple of drinks. Then I would become their tour guide in Lourmaran. This life was wonderful!

If the interview also takes place at his home.

After that, even more girls will definitely come to his house!
Sandrine sat up straight, shook her head, and said:

"One empty space is not enough. We need to set up several backdrops with different styles, and each one should be independent. This will attract more editors to hold their interviews here."

Ronan and Sandrine shared the same view: if you're going to do something, you should do it properly and not settle for less.

"I'll go see Louis in a bit and rent a house specifically for this purpose."

Batistuta's dream was shattered, but his attitude remained positive:
"Okay, then you plan how to design it, and I'll do it with you."

If they were to rent an entire house and furnish it, the amount of work required would be enormous. Ronan and Batty might find it difficult to manage on their own. He looked up and asked:

"How are the women's weaving skills now?"

Barty said with immense pride:

"Now everyone makes wreaths and lamps as easily as eating, and can also make most of the simpler furniture on their own. The more skilled ones, such as Pires, Josephine, and Akmona, are very proficient at making furniture."

Since we were just talking about this topic, Sandrine added:
"This month's order volume has increased by 30% compared to last month, and furniture sales have also been relatively good. We've sold more than 40 chairs in total. We've never experienced a shortage of manpower. I estimate that even if our order volume doubles, everyone can still handle it."

“That’s great,” Ronan said happily. “This way, once we open a flagship store, we can expand our product range even further.”

Currently, woven furniture only covers one area: chairs, and only sells the dozen or so styles that Ronan made in the first batch. In addition to the impact of the small store size, Ronan is also worried that there are too many categories and not enough manpower.

Now he can rest assured; these women who have spent their lives doing handicrafts are all very skillful.

When the topic turned to the flagship store, Sandrine pressed for details:

"When will that furniture store you mentioned in Lourmaran be completed?"

Ronan, recalling what Blanco had previously mentioned about the Lourmaran development plan, replied:

"The second and third phases of the commercial street will be completed by the end of this year or early next year at the earliest, and will be available for use in the next tourist season."

Sandrine sighed:

“I was thinking that since we’ve rented the house, besides covering the background with woven furniture, we’ll definitely need to do some renovations, and quite complex ones at that, because it will be hosting not only magazine staff, but also guests from various fields. You should know how troublesome renovations are; two major renovations in a year are both time-consuming and laborious. It would be great if we could move the interview area to that flagship store.”

Sandrine is currently suffering from renovations and doesn't want to go through the same ordeal twice.

Ronan crossed his arms and thought about it for a moment, then realized there was some truth to it:

"How about this, I'll ask Louis if there's any well-furnished apartment in his rented place that we can furnish directly. That way we can save time and effort on decorating. It'll just cost a little more money, and we can take the furniture and accessories with us when we move out."

Sandrine and Barty exchanged a glance:
"Okay, then we'll wait for your news."

Ronan's restaurant is incredibly popular.

Louis, who used to use that place as his office, is now too embarrassed to occupy a desk all day long.

Whether customers will buy a house is uncertain, as there are too many variables, but a table of guests can bring in real francs.

He has now returned to his previous work pattern, inviting clients to his office.

But this meant he was away from home for even longer periods.

I leave early and return late every day, arriving home with the moon at night.

After leaving Barty's yard, Ronan planned to go see Louis later, so he went back to the restaurant to help out first.

Here, he met Vieri, who was helping out at the restaurant.

"Hey, didn't you rush out to hand out numbers today?" Ronan asked jokingly as soon as he saw Vieri.

Vieri made a 'disdainful' expression:

“I can manage a market stall on my own now, but she’s still a greeter. Let’s give her more opportunities to learn and grow.”

While Ronan and the others went to participate in the bread competition, Vieri successfully completed the task at the Mena village market.

Ronan went to check on it that morning, feeling uneasy. He found a long queue in front of the stall, with cashiers, order takers, and people maintaining order all doing their jobs perfectly. There was no chaos at all. Vieri and Isabelle behind the stall had stopped bickering and were working together in perfect harmony, like an old married couple.

Ronan teased him, saying:
"But Isabelle earns more than 6000 francs a month with her salary and knitting at home. I heard from your sister that your living expenses only increased to 500 francs this month?"

Vieri was definitely considered a 'rich kid'; the living expenses for other children his age in the village were generally between 200 and 300 francs, with some frugal children receiving only 100 francs. Vieri declared righteously:
“But I didn’t take the living expenses my mother gave me. The salary you gave me is enough to live on, and I can support myself in the future.”

Every time Vieri went to the market to help out, Ronan would give him 80 francs as payment, and the restaurant would also give him several hundred francs every month.

Vieri, who hadn't even graduated yet, had already started earning a 'salary'.

But what Ronan didn't know was that this kid was already trying to become financially independent at such a young age?
Ronan rubbed his head:
"Just focus on your exam in a little over a month. Don't think about anything else. Don't come to help in May either. There's plenty of time in the future."

Vieri stubbornly shook his head:
"I also need to clear my head."

French families are relatively open-minded about their children's academic performance. Louis and Lia even agreed to let Vieri continue to help, so Ronan didn't try to dissuade them further, only giving them some instructions:
"Okay, but next month you'll have to do something easy."

Vieri said cheerfully:
"The work here isn't tiring at all, not even as strenuous as half a game. After the exams, I'll ask you to play soccer."

Ronan readily agreed:
"Okay, I'll take you around to have some fun after the exam."

Vieri seemed unwilling to continue the conversation and left with his plate.

"I've made plans to go out with my classmates, you go ahead and get busy, I'm going to the kitchen too."

Ronan called out to him from behind:

What time does Louis usually get home?

Vieri blurted out without thinking:

“Dad has three clients to meet today, and he’s also taking a couple to Bonnieux to look at houses. He won’t be home until around 7:3.”

Ronan smiled at Vieri's back and then left.

The father and son seem to have a close relationship; Vieri even knows what Louis is busy with every day.

Zoe knew none of this.

After dinner, Ronan took Zoe home and then stayed there to wait for Louis.

Sure enough, at 7:40, the sound of a car engine came from the yard.

Louis, beaming, pushed open the door and, somewhat surprised to see Ronan and Zoe sitting on the sofa, asked:
"You're back so early today?"

Although Zoe is not married yet, this house is just a place for her to sleep.

Her studio moved to Ronan's house.

The moment he opened his eyes, he ran to Ronan's house.

Louis began to adapt to his daughter's life away from home early on and gradually accepted it.

He was still a little unaccustomed to seeing his daughter so early.

“I’ve come to find you,” Ronan said with a smile.

Zoe got up and went to the kitchen:
“We bought pies and cherry pies on the way. Mom will be home late today, so I’ll heat them up for you.”

Louis sat down in Zoe's original seat and asked Ronan:
"what's up?"

Ronan got straight to the point:
"I want to rent a house in Lourmaran, a house with decent facilities and furnishings."

This was Louis's area of ​​expertise, but he looked troubled:
“You can buy this kind of house, but it’s too difficult to rent it. I’ll keep an eye out for you and let you know as soon as I find one.”

"Is it that hard to find?" Ronan asked, quite surprised. In his memory, Lourmaran had many houses with their doors tightly closed and no one ever seemed to be going in or out; they should all be for rent or sale.

Louis poured himself a glass of chilled rosé and downed it in one gulp; clearly, he had talked quite a bit during the day.
"The housing market in Lourmaran is hotter than you think. As soon as a good property comes on the market, it's snapped up for other things. Once it comes on the market, it's gone."

Ronan asked curiously:

"What did you sign off on?"

The restaurant serves as an 'information hub' for artists, and Ronan hadn't heard of any new galleries, pottery workshops, or other art shops opening in the village.

Louis counted on his fingers and said:

“The month before last, someone rented a hardware and general store and opened it. Didn’t you see it? It’s right next to Henry’s house. Last month, a pretty well-equipped store opened. I heard they’re going to open a hair salon. This week, someone rented an old house around the old square to sell jam.”

Ronan exclaimed excitedly, "Ah!"
"Lourmaran finally has its own hardware store and hair salon?"

God, this is amazing!
In the past, you had to go all the way to Mena Village to buy hardware and get a haircut.

Louis shrugs:

"The owners of record stores and cheese shops are also looking for houses with the same needs as you, but don't worry, I will contact you as soon as I find a house."

Ronan stroked his chin and muttered to himself:
"There are so many people who want to open shops in Lourmaran that there is no room for them, and it is no longer limited to the arts."

Louis poured himself a second glass of rosé wine:

“In the past, Lourmaran only had residential shops related to daily life, and the commercial level was very low. In the future, more and more ‘first’ shops will appear on both sides of the street here.”

Louis happily muttered to himself:

“House prices and land prices will definitely continue to rise, and Leah and I will also consider acquiring more land.”

Louis has been very busy lately, and Ronan didn't want to take up his rest time, especially since he hadn't had dinner yet. After chatting for a while, he left.

Zoe saw Ronan to the door. The two turned around at the sound of a noise and saw Louis knocking on Vieri's door, carrying pies and cherry pies he had prepared for him. He asked in a 'sweet' tone:
"Dear Vieri, remember to balance work and rest. Are you tired from studying? Would you like some pie or cherry pie?"

Ronan pointed inside and asked Zoe with a complicated expression:
"When did they become like this?"

Zoe rolled her eyes dramatically:

“It’s him, not them, only Dad is like that. Vieri doesn’t want to talk to him at all.”

Ronan laughed heartily and said:

"Perhaps it will be them soon."

Early the next morning.

After breakfast, Ronan went directly to the Lourmaran government.

He wanted to ask the government if they had any spare barns they could lend him, like they would for artists to set up special markets.

But Sylvie and Claude looked at him very differently, like wolves meeting sheep.

They practically pushed Ronan upstairs:

"Ronan, why haven't you come to see us for so long? Come on upstairs and have a good chat with Blanco!"

(End of this chapter)