1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 454 A few small goals

People in Provence do not welcome tourists from all over the world.

But they welcome celebrities from all over the world.

That's right, that's how they treat people differently.

Upon learning that Charlotte Virginia had come to Lourmarin to look at houses, Ronan's friends immediately organized a party.

This is something worth celebrating! How can we not have a drink to it?

The gathering was to be held at Old Carl's house.

Besides maintaining relationships, the former village chief of Lourmaran also wanted to formally inform his friends that his two sons had decided to return to Lourmaran.

A day earlier, Cison and Joey would have been the center of attention at the party.

Even Ronan wanted to ask them what their reasons were for making this decision.

Unfortunately, the news that Charlotte Virginia came to Lourmarin to look at houses was just too explosive.

This will undoubtedly be the topic of conversation for all the people of Lourmaran today.

“Many celebrities have come to Luberon to buy property. Two or three years ago, the Golden Triangle used this as a gimmick to promote their family as one important member after another joined. But this is the first time that celebrities have come to Luberon to look at houses.” Even though four or five hours had passed, Alain still felt surprised and excited when he mentioned this.

Am I going to be neighbors with a big star?

Old Karl was a man of great experience and knowledge, and one of the more composed individuals present.

“There are also famous people who have bought properties in villages outside the Golden Triangle.” He smiled and pointed to Ronan with the back of his hand. “Don’t you remember? The designer of Ronan’s toilet bought Laxter Castle. He has many property investments in Luberon. Provence is a place where hidden talents reside. There must be many people who have invested here, we just don’t know it.”

Many people present nodded silently.

Everyone knows that Pierre Cardin likes to invest in real estate in Luberon, and every few months the Provence Daily reports on the old man.

Where did you go, what did you eat, who did you meet, etc.

Luberon was the renowned designer's second home, where he spent almost the rest of his life.

In his later years, Pierre Cardin would appear at a café in Laxter every week. If recognized, he would chat with the person and some people even used this channel to apply for venture capital.

In stark contrast to old Carl's composure, Freddie was excited all afternoon, eagerly asking Louis:

"Louis, do you know which house Charlotte Virginia came to see?"

There are many vacant properties in Lourmaran, mostly concentrated in the area on the outskirts of the village.

That area is too large; to find out which building it is, we'll have to ask Louis for help.

Louis smiled and replied:
"The 19th-century estate that Charlotte Virginia came to see is 8 kilometers from the village center, almost to Goode Village. There are two separate banquet halls, a studio larger than Ronan's, two swimming pools and a private wine cellar. The previous owner took very good care of the property, and we guess it can sell for the highest price in Little Luberon this year."

"Did you or one of your colleagues take her to see it?" Freddie asked excitedly.

Charlotte Virginie is his idol!
If Louis could meet her, Freddie would do anything to persuade Louis to take him to meet the famous French artist.

Louis shrugged awkwardly.

"Of course not. Her real estate consultant must be from Avignon. We don't have the opportunity to deal with such high-end clients. Do you really think Charlotte Virginia would look for property information in The Coast?"

As Alan distributed bread to everyone, he asked:

"The house is so far away, how did the news of her coming to see the house reach the village? You didn't see the scene. My customers paid and went to see the commotion before they even had time to wait for the next batch of bread to be ready. I thought the house Charlotte Virginia wanted to see was near the village, but after more than half an hour they came back and said they had no idea where Charlotte Virginia was. Everyone was running around like headless flies."

Louis took a bite of his recently favorite honey bread and smiled, saying:
"I suspect it was some malicious individuals who deliberately leaked the information?"

"Damn it!" Three curses came from different directions around the dining table at the same time.

“With this kind of publicity, house prices in Lourmaran will go even higher,” Theossen said, unable to hide his anger.

Theoson's younger brother, Joey, also looked grim. He looked at his newlywed wife and said:

"Does this mean I have to sell my house in Roussillon to buy this place?"

House prices in Lourmaran are already very high, and they will only get more expensive due to the influence of celebrities.

It's already difficult for the two brothers to buy things now, and it will only get more difficult if things continue like this.

Ronan gripped his wine glass tightly:
"That damn guy is so short-sighted. He's putting so many of us under pressure for short-term gains. How eager is he to sell the house?"

It's understandable that Karl's two sons complain about housing prices; these two guys have no place to live in Lourmaran and are still sponging off their parents.

But what did Ronan say in response?
"You're also concerned about this?" Louis asked Ronan. "Do you want to sell the house, or buy it?"

Ronan didn't know whether the news about the second and third phases of the commercial street needed to be kept secret, so he shook his head and said nothing.

But old Carl, leaning on his cane at the end of the table, looked at Ronan and asked with a smile:
"You want to buy the shop, right?"

"A shop? What shop?" Louis, Luo Tianhai, Freddie, Alan, and the others stopped eating curiously.

There are no vacant shops left in Lourmaran. People from other villages who want to do business here are so eager that they're practically setting up street stalls.

It's not surprising that Carl knew inside information about the government, nor is it surprising that he knew Blanco had forced three shops onto Ronan.

Blanco often sought advice from this senior colleague, and would consult him on matters he was unsure about.

But Theossen disagreed, saying:
"Don't you know about the second and third phases of the commercial street? They're about to start attracting businesses, and this time they're targeting the entire Luberon region."

"Lourmaran is going to build the second and third phases of a shopping street?" Freddy was surprised that he didn't know such big news. "Where?"

Old Carl's youngest son, Joey, pointed in a direction:
"It's right near the commercial street, there's been construction going on there all this time, didn't you see?"

Louis said in surprise:

"I thought they were building some kind of event venue there."

“There are activity venues, shops, pharmacies, and schools,” Old Karl said kindly to everyone. “Lourmaran is going to be expanded by about 30%, and more convenient facilities will appear here in the future.”

Ronan asked old Carl in surprise:
"Can I say it now? I mean, is it confirmed?"

Old Karl touched his cane:

"It's confirmed. Blanco has returned to Lourmaran with 'good news'."

"This is really great news!" Ronan clapped his hands excitedly.

Blanco's quick return with good news, and his notification to old Carl, suggests that the tourism figures must be very satisfactory. Due to old Carl's age, Blanco always reported good news to him, never bad.

Theossen smiled and said to everyone:

“Blanco invited me to work as a doctor at the pharmacy in Lourmaran, and I accepted after only a slight hesitation. The first doctor in Lourmaran. Well, I think it’s a kind of recognition for me.”

Joey's expression softened, and he looked at his parents and said:
“Blanco invited me to teach at the school. Although the school was small, I was very happy to return to my hometown to work. We were forced to leave Lourmaran because there was nothing here that Sissono and I were good at. If given the chance, who would want to leave their hometown? I lived here for 18 years before leaving for university.”

Freddie excitedly raised his glass:

"Welcome back to Lourmaran, children who have been away!"

"welcome!"

"We are so happy that you are back. Our gatherings will be even more lively from now on, dears!"

Even if old Karl and his son didn't say anything, the villagers soon learned about the construction of the second and third phases of the commercial street in Lourmaran and its expansion.

Because Sylvie began its business development efforts a few days later.

This time, investors who have been struggling to find shops in Lourmaran can finally find a satisfactory place.

Every day, businessmen from all over Provence come to the government to inquire about opening shops.

Meanwhile, Ronan, who had already booked the shop in advance, had already started working on other things.

It's an inevitable fact that property prices in Lourmaran will continue to rise, and even with Ronan's limited funds, it would be difficult for him to buy a single shop.

To buy all three shops as soon as possible, you need to make money as fast as the property prices are rising.

Ronan carefully reviewed the various businesses he had on hand.

First, there's the restaurant, which should be Ronan's most stable source of income. However, the restaurant's capacity has reached its limit, and there's no way to increase it further.

The second is Stella Rosé Winery.

New Stellaris hasn't started brewing alcohol yet, so it can't make money from selling alcohol, and the tourism project is unlikely to generate much more revenue. With limited manpower, even Theo has become a tour guide.

There's no way to add any value here.

The third is the market.

Ronan originally wanted to ignore this part, because the monthly market income of 1 to 2 francs was too 'negligible' for him.

However, at this moment, Ronan remembered the suggestion that Toll had given him before he left—to participate in more markets to give the winery and restaurant exposure.

A market may not earn much, but the sheer volume of transactions makes up for it.

The problem here is that Ronan needs to assemble a small team specifically for this task, and can no longer rely on the women at the restaurant. If they all go to the market, the restaurant will have to hire new staff.

At the same time, it is also necessary to find someone familiar with the market business to be in charge and manage this part of the business for Ronan.

Next up is the truffle business.

With the next truffle harvesting season still far off, the experimental truffle forest is currently in the 'investment' phase and cannot generate profits in the short term.

The good news is that Ronan's investment this time can be described as 'minor', requiring only 25 francs before the host tree is buried in the fall.

Just as Ronan was about to categorize this mess as a "money-losing proposition," a person popped into his mind.

Juliet once told Ronan that they could create a small experimental truffle forest near Lourmarin, just to package it as a tourist attraction.

Ronan did the math carefully. If he only needed a small area, the cost of buying the land wouldn't be too high. The host trees and seedlings would be provided by the Forestry Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau. He would only need to pay for land improvement and future annual maintenance costs.

Since the land area is not large, these maintenance costs should not be too expensive.

Compared to vineyards, black truffles are more mysterious, and artificially cultivated black truffle forests are even rarer.

Ronan guessed that this tourism project might be more popular than the vineyards.

Because the black truffle harvesting season is in winter.

There's not much to do in Provence during the winter, and the food is also scarce.

This experimental forest might just open up a market for winter tourism in Lourmaran.

However, there is a thorny issue: it is uncertain whether Professor Fermín would be willing to send people over to conduct experiments for commercial purposes, since their 'experimental field' collaboration is located on another piece of land.

If Professor Fermín doesn't take care of things here, Ronan might have to manage it himself.

But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Getting hands-on experience helps you understand things more clearly, and you can just ask questions whenever you encounter problems. The entire research institute is Ronan's support.

A small investment can yield a niche, high-potential tourism project, making it a worthwhile investment.

His last source of income was the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative.

This was the business that Ronan had the highest hopes for at this stage.

Unlike restaurants, which have a fixed upper limit, the upper limit for the weaving business is still far from being reached.

When women stop 'fighting openly and secretly' for jobs and start complaining that Barty gives them too many orders and they can't keep up, then they've probably reached their limit.

However, since the women of Lourmaran couldn't finish all the orders, Ronan went to other villages to find people and teach them weaving. It seems that there is no limit to this business.

Ronan's development of it was too superficial!

The simplest way to boost sales is for Ronan to design more styles, which will definitely increase orders.

After considering all of the above and making sure nothing was overlooked, Ronan began to summarize his next few small goals.

"Before going to Monaco, I'll update a batch of knitting patterns. It's been a while since the last 'new release,' so it's time to show some new things to the 'gods.' I'll also find some time to talk to Sandrine, Barty, and Cafu to see if there are any other ways to improve in a short time. We still don't get together enough."

"Who can arrange to participate in the market? Ines? Juliet? Or Llorente? Hmm, let's ask Ines first when we get to Monaco, see if she has any connections, and at the same time organize a team in Lourmaran specifically for going to the market."

"I'll have to go to Bruno about buying and selling the forest land. It seems like they're moving here? I think it'll be after the Monaco Grand Prix? I'll have Bruno find me a piece of land that's close to the center of Lourmarin village and reasonably priced. Once I find the land, I'll work on the soil. At the same time, I'll ask Professor Fernand's opinion, and then inform Blanco and Quincy to see if they're willing to offer some 'help.' Oh, and don't forget to contact Juliet before doing all this; she can definitely help me get 'help'!"

After outlining his goals, Ronan let out a heavy sigh.

"Finally, hiring, hiring, and more hiring! We're short-staffed for everything. The villagers of Lourmaran had no work before; will we be unable to find workers in the future?"

(End of this chapter)