1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 487 The Temperamental Older Brother Henry
In the preceding month, the newly purchased northern slope in Ronan had undergone soil improvement, and the installation of drip irrigation and drainage systems had been completed.

Recently, stability and safety tests of the drainage and drip irrigation systems were completed, and everything went very smoothly, which is naturally inseparable from Henry's hard work and dedication.

After completing these tasks, Henry had little else to do but wait for the soil to settle naturally over the next few months before planting the Merlot seedlings in the fall.

Everyone in Stries was incredibly busy, some focused on winery construction, others on tourism. Henry also wanted to contribute more to Stries.

He once tried to take tourists to visit vineyards, but his smile was so frightening that customers asked him to find someone else to serve them.

He went to the mountaintop to supervise the construction, but because he spoke so harshly, Sylvie ordered him never to appear there again.

The recent series of setbacks had left Henry extremely irritable. He felt like cursing all the time, or else he would be so angry he wanted to eat someone alive!
Henry's bad mood was most affected by the emergence of the old tavern owner, Como.

Early in the morning, when Como saw Henry appear at the door again, he wished he could kick Henry out.

“Can’t you go drink at Ronan’s restaurant? Don’t come here anymore.” Como raised his arm, shooing Henry towards the door. “Didn’t you drive away two tables of customers yesterday?”

“You think I wanted to come here? Mr. Ronan’s restaurant already had a queue at 9 a.m..” Henry bypassed Como’s outstretched arms, sat at the bar, and pounded the table. “And it wasn’t me who drove them away; it was those out-of-towners who were incredibly stupid! They actually said that the air in Provence is the cleanest, that every breath is like withdrawing 10 francs from a health bank! What a ridiculous analogy! Provence is one of the most polluted areas in Europe!”

“I don’t care about air quality, but I expect you to control your temper and your mouth today and not cause trouble here,” Cuomo warned sternly.

Henry may have a foul mouth, but his customers are all farmers and villagers, so who doesn't know who he is?

But during the tourist season, the pubs are mostly filled with tourists who are tired from sightseeing and want to rest. If Henry continues to speak his mind and comment on anything he doesn't like, Como won't tolerate it anymore.

Ronan's restaurant is unusable as a place for farmers to drink during the tourist season.

There were quite a few people drinking in the morning. There were five or six people sitting in the old tavern, almost all of them farmers, because soon they would have nowhere to drink, as every place to rest in Lourmaran would be occupied by tourists.

Fabian planned to have a drink before going to work, but when he heard Henry and Como arguing early in the morning, he quickly changed the subject.

He tapped on the table and asked Henry:

"Is Provence really one of the most polluted areas in Europe? But the air here is pretty good, with blue skies and white clouds every day."

Henry slapped a 10-franc note on the table, signaling Como to stop talking nonsense and quickly pour him a drink, all the while his mouth was still running:

"It's absolutely true! Provence, Genoa, Barcelona, ​​and Athens are the four most polluted regions in Europe!"

This was quite an interesting topic, and several other villagers also came to the bar with their glasses and asked Henry:

Where did the news come from? On television? Or in a magazine or newspaper?

Why haven't they heard of this claim?

Henry took the rosé, took a big gulp, and scoffed:
"Do I even need to read the news? I can figure it out with my toes. The exhaust fumes from all those pipes blocking the national highways and expressways have turned Provence into an 'industrial zone'!"

"What the hell is that!" Everyone scattered.

Henry was the most hostile person to tourists in the village, bar none.

It had subsided a while ago, but it seems to have relapsed recently.

They thought Henry had heard something they didn't know.

"I'm telling the truth!" Henry roared furiously. "These raiders from out of town have not only taken away our living space, but also our fresh air!"

"You're making it sound so real—"

Everyone turned their heads and found that there was another person at the entrance of the old tavern.

Ronan walked over to Henry, propped himself up on the bar, and watched him:

"Your voice is so loud, I could hear you on the street."

Ronan had already eaten breakfast, but suddenly craved Alan's honey bread, so he went to the food street.

After buying the bread, I quickly devoured the two loaves on the way back to the restaurant. Passing by the old tavern, I overheard Henry spouting nonsense inside.

Henry lowered his head nervously, gripping the glass tightly with both hands.

He knew Mr. Ronan didn't like hearing the 'tourist bandit' theory, but he had just lost his temper.

Will Mr. Ronan be angry?
Cuomo very reasonably complained to Ronan:

“Henry drove away two of my tourists yesterday, and almost got into a fight with one of them the day before yesterday. If he causes another scene, Blanco will have to talk to me.”

Henry glared back at Como through gritted teeth, as if he wanted to devour him.

With Ronan around, Cuomo had the confidence to back up his game.

Compared to Ronan, Henry was just a little kitten, nothing to be afraid of.

He glared back at Henry without flinching:
"What? You came out drinking during work hours and got caught by your boss? Are you going to kill me to cover it up?"

“Henry finished his work ahead of schedule and hasn’t had anything to do lately,” Ronan explained on Henry’s behalf.

Ronan heard about Henry's constant setbacks.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise, and Henry's area of ​​expertise was farming.

Since there's nothing else to do, let's just consider it a short, relaxing vacation for Henry.

But it seems that leaving Henry idle isn't a good thing either—this guy has absolutely no sense of propriety when it comes to his mouth.

Just like Theo's stubbornness and boastfulness, Henry's tendency to find fault with everyone is not something that can be easily changed, as it is a habit formed over decades.

Ronan also guessed that Henry was in this state because he was frustrated and angry because he wanted to contribute to St. Scottish National Park but kept running into obstacles. In fact, Henry's personality was much better when he was doing soil improvement recently, and he ignored Theo's provocations.

Since that's the case, let's keep him with us.

Ronan slapped the table and beckoned to Henry:
"Are you done drinking? If you are, come with me."

Henry downed the rosé in one gulp, stood up, and put on his hat.
"Mr. Ronan, where are we going?"

Ronan turned and left:

"A friend of mine is moving today, can you come with me to help?"

Henry stands at attention and salutes:

"Okay, Mr. Luo!"

The people in the old tavern watched Ronan and Henry leave.

Cuomo grimaced as he wiped the table.
“What? I thought Ronan would give Henry a good scolding. Not only did he not scold him, but he also took him to help his friend move. Didn’t that make Henry ‘happy’? I can already picture the old man’s face the next time I see him. He’ll be grinning from ear to ear, saying that Ronan treats him completely differently from everyone else, and so on.” Fabian finished his wine, put down the money, and left.
Sometimes I really envy Henry.

Ronan's treatment of Henry was indeed different from his treatment of others.

You say Ronan has all sorts of 'talented people' around him, so why does he value Henry so much?
"Mr. Ronan, where are we going? Do we need a car? Give me the keys, and I'll go get the car!"

"Do you need me to go home and get some tools? They'll definitely find all sorts of problems with the house when they move. I can help them fix it; I can do everything!"

"Moving will take a long time, right? Should I go and prepare some food? I'll run there and be right back."

Henry never stopped talking while he was with Ronan.

Upon hearing that I was going to help with the move, I mentioned every possible scenario.

“No need to drive or bring food. It’s in Lourmarin. Bruno moved here.” Ronan led Henry back to the restaurant. “He has all the tools he needs. We just need to help out. I’ve prepared a gift in advance. We’ll pick it up at the restaurant and then go over.”

Today is the day Bruno's family moves to Lourmarin.

Ronan had promised Bruno and his wife long ago that he would help them.

It's hard to find people to help during the travel season, as most people are busy with other things and can't get away. If you happen to run into Henry on the way, you can just take him along.

The gift Ronan prepared for Bruno was a stone sculpture ordered from Thomas. It had been sitting in the restaurant's warehouse for a long time.

Henry followed Luo Tianhai to get the gift, while Ronan picked up the telephone receiver behind the cashier.

If you meet Bruno today, he will ask about buying a small piece of forest near Lourmarin in preparation for a winter trip to Lourmarin to harvest truffles.

This idea was first proposed by Juliet, who talked a lot that day and even instructed Ronan to go to the tourism bureau to ask for some 'resources'.

Ronan wanted to ask Juliet for details before consulting with Bruno, so that nothing was overlooked before proceeding.

He had been calling Juliet's house ever since he returned from Monaco, but no one answered.

Juliet had previously mentioned that her husband also worked in the government, in a department that required frequent business trips, and he was rarely home more than a few days a month.

Have the couple both become business travel addicts?
Ronan was about to see Bruno, so he decided to try one more time. To his surprise, the call finally went through, and it was Juliet herself who answered.

“Do you know how lucky you are? If you had called ten minutes later, I would have packed my bags and continued my business trip.” There was a clear smile in Juliet’s voice.

More than a month apart did not cause any estrangement between her and Ronan.

"Why are you suddenly so busy?" Ronan switched hands to start the conversation, his back to the customer. "Because of a promotion?"

A few days ago, Ellian told Ronan that Juliet's promotion had been announced and was a done deal.

It's unclear which part of the Ministry of Agriculture she will be responsible for in the future.

Juliet first let out a surprised "Huh?", then softly hummed in agreement.
"I went away for training a while ago, and today I'm going to a meeting in the Haute-Alpes department."

Juliet was well aware of how formidable Ronan's connections were in Provence. Both President Ines and Astrid were close to him, so it wasn't surprising that she knew about his promotion.

Ronan pretended to be angry and said:

"I understand that you left without saying goodbye last time because you had something important to take care of, but you didn't even tell me about such a big thing as your promotion. I had to hear it from someone else. You don't treat me like one of your own."

Juliet's posting in Lourmaran can be described as 'coming to an abrupt end,' at least from Ronan's perspective.

The last time the two met, they were discussing whether there was any room for improvement in the eradication program and the implementation of agricultural insurance, and which direction they could try.

A few days later, Ronan suddenly received a call from Juliet. It turned out that she had been gone for several days. She informed Ronan that she had returned to Avignon and would not be returning to Lourmarin afterward, and that her posting had ended.

Tell me, wouldn't this be a case of leaving without saying goodbye?
After being comrades-in-arms for several months, you should at least meet up and have a meal before you leave.

More than a month has passed, and Juliet is still the same person who strives for high efficiency:

"Let's talk about the specifics when we meet. You have 8 minutes left, so get down to business."

She didn't believe that Ronan was calling so early in the morning to vent his emotions.

Ronan instantly switches states:
“I want to buy a forest near Lourmaran to conduct experiments on artificially cultivating truffles and develop some tourism projects around it in the winter. I’m about to move forward with this plan, but before that, I’d like to hear your opinion. Do you have any ‘secret tips’ to share with me?”

Juliet laughed when she heard that.

My dear brother doesn't treat her like an outsider at all.

Of course, she didn't treat Ronan like an outsider when she brought up the project to him a few months earlier in Capontra.

Because truffle cultivation not only falls within the Forestry Bureau's scope of business and can be linked to the Tourism Bureau, but it is also an important task of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"Time is limited, so don't interrupt me. You can speak after I've finished."

Juliet didn't need to think at all; as if she had an entire article in her head, she began to impart her 'experience' to Ronan in a long, rambling manner.

Ronan became more and more excited as he listened, his eyes widening as he listened, and he felt that this matter was very promising!

After Juliet finished speaking, Ronan immediately offered his objective commentary:

"If you don't get promoted, who will? Juliet, you're a genius."

"Write down what I said quickly, don't forget the details." Juliet hung up the phone. "I have to go now. I'll come to Lourmarin to see you after I'm done with this."

Bruno also bought a new home on the outskirts of Lourmaran, a 15-minute walk from the dense village center.

However, the advantage of living on the outskirts is that you can have a huge yard, something that residents living in the center cannot have.

Seeing a large truck parked in front of Bruno's house in the distance, Ronan knew that the move had begun and hurried over with Henry to help.

"We're here!" Ronan placed the gifts at the door and took two chairs from Sandrine. "Henry, help us move these things."

“Yes, Mr. Ronan!” Henry immediately climbed onto the truck.

Hearing the noise, a bald head ran out of the house.

Bruno excitedly stretched out his arms, wanting to hug Ronan who had come to help.

It's only when you move that you realize how wonderful it is to have brothers.

But he suddenly stopped two steps away from Ronan, tilted his head back, and asked uncertainly:
"Hey, Ronan, have you gained weight?"

(End of this chapter)