1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 499 Losing Weight: Get Moving

When Ronan arrived in Lourmaran, he didn't go home or to the restaurant, but went straight to Zoe's house.

Zoe went to work in another city, Louis stayed in Aix to spend another day with Lydia, and Vieri also went out to study and was not at home. When Bobo and the other left-behind children saw Ronan arrive, their tails wagged like helicopter wings.

Ronan crouched down and enthusiastically interacted with each of the dogs, his shirt covered in drool.
"Are you feeling cooped up? I'll take you to my house after I'm done walking the sheep."

After feeding them some food, Ronan walked toward the sheep pen in the yard.

The journey took some time, and by the time Ronan arrived in Lourmaran, it was past lunchtime. Huhu didn't even get up to look at the entrance, keeping his backside facing the direction of the entrance the whole time.

The clever little guy knew that Ronan's appearance at this time had nothing to do with him.

But Ronan took the rope and walked towards it:
"I didn't walk you yesterday, so I'll make up for it today. Want to go?"

She soared into the air, turned 180 degrees, and bleated as she went to find Ronan. This cheeky demeanor usually only appeared when she saw Zoe.

Huhu cooperated with Ronan as he put on the collar, and Ronan patted its head:

“We’ll leave the village later, but you must behave today.”

When Huhu was free-range, it loved to roam around the village. Ronan often saw it near Louis's house, and the neighbors all knew that there was a sheep in the village that liked to wander around.

Later, when the tourist season started, Huhu was kept in captivity. In the later stages, when Ronan took it out to prepare for the competition, he would deliberately avoid densely populated areas and go to the uninhabited areas as quickly as possible. Calculating the time, Huhu had not wandered around the village for more than a month.

This time, Ronan didn't rush to take it out. Instead, he took it for a walk around the village, mainly in the areas where Huhu used to frequent.

Louis's house wasn't far from the food street, but it was too crowded. Ronan took Huhu to the vicinity of the Art Barn, which was also within Huhu's previous area, but there were relatively fewer tourists there compared to the food street.

Even so, the appearance of Ronan and Huhu caused a huge uproar.

Is this person walking a sheep?

Many tourists 'followed' Ronan and Huhu along the way, a scene that was truly unbelievable.

The sheep herder has changed from a sheepdog to a human.
Is this also one of Lourmaran's distinctive features?

But I've never heard anyone say that.

Ronan is used to being watched. Yesterday in Aix, there were even more people watching him than now. He doesn't mind, but he's a little worried that Huhu might be stressed because she's never seen so many people before.

It turned out he was overthinking it. He just looked left and right and sniffed around, completely ignoring people as long as they didn't get in his way.

If any clueless person blocks its path, Huhu will bark in protest, and the tourists, seeing how interesting this little creature is, will immediately make way.

Huhu is very opinionated. It has its own places to go and doesn't need Ronan's guidance at all. It is very familiar with Lourmaran Village.

From this perspective, Ronan, at the end of the rope, seems more like someone who was being led astray.

The artists from the shops on both sides also came out out of curiosity; Hu Hu was a familiar face on this street.

"Oh, it's this little lamb. It's been so long since I've seen it. I was worried about it a while ago."

"What are you worried about? These are Zoe's sheep. Would Zoe eat them?"

"That's right, that's right. Look, Ronan even took it out to play. He's so good to it."

Ronan patted Hu Hu's back with some shame:
"From now on, I'll take you around the village every day and then we'll go outside the village."

"Meow meow meow—"

Ronan wasn't sure if Huhu understood, but the sheep's hooves seemed to become even lighter.

The scene of sheep being herded quickly became a popular sight in Lourmaran, attracting many onlookers and photographers.

In order not to increase the management burden on the government, and estimating that Huhu had had enough fun, Ronan took Huhu away from the dense area in the center of the village and found a fork in the road to turn onto a small road leading to the outskirts of the village.

Throughout the journey, Huhu was incredibly compliant and rarely engaged in a tug-of-war with Ronan.

Once they reached the wasteland, Ronan followed Huhu's lead and walked forward for a while. Suddenly, Ronan pulled on Huhu and stopped him.

Hu Hu first let out a dissatisfied 'mutter'.

Where did this go?

Normally, they would continue walking forward for a long time before stopping.

But seemingly thinking that it had just taken a stroll around the village and visited places it hadn't been to in a long time, and that it had already gained something, and that this afternoon's trip was 'extra', it stared blankly ahead for a few seconds, then lowered its head and began to obediently graze.

Suddenly, Huhu felt a lightness on its neck, and when it looked up again, Ronan had easily untied the noose.

Ronan held a rope in one hand and pointed ahead with the other, in the direction Hu Hu had just been looking:

"Let's go for a run."

Hu Hu was stunned for several seconds, seemingly not understanding Ronan's meaning.

You're behaving very strangely today.

Don't you know that sheep brains don't have much capacity?

What exactly do you want to do?
Ronan repeated himself, but Huhu remained rooted to the spot, refusing to eat even the grass. Left with no other choice, Ronan pushed off with his back and ran off, shouting at the same time:

"Weren't you the fastest runner? Last year, you left all the other sheep behind at the start of the race. Run, run faster! There's no one here, you can run freely!"

Just because people have the right to freedom doesn't mean we should deprive sheep of their freedom—sheep are the ones who yearn for freedom the most!

Ronan's mind kept flashing back to the scene last year when he and Zoe discovered Huhu and bought it.

A short, brown figure 'whoosh' overtook Ronan, laughing wildly as it ran.

Ronan chased after him, laughing loudly.
"Whoosh! Charge towards your freedom!"

Ronan felt he had done something truly great and was incredibly happy.

But he stopped laughing after only ten minutes.
He lost track of Hu Hu!
The sheep went in pursuit of freedom, but humans couldn't keep up with its speed.

At first, Ronan could barely see a few brown and white spots, but later all he could see was green grass, green grass, and more green grass. Where was the sheep?
Ronan immediately panicked.

The original intention was to make Hu Hu happier, but if Hu Hu were lost, his fiancée wouldn't be happy for a month afterward, and Zoe would definitely be in tears.

Knowing that Huhu liked to keep moving forward, Ronan also kept chasing after her, running and running, until they were almost at the neighboring village of Goode, but still couldn't find the sheep.

He stood with his hands on his hips, his voice like a broken bellows, and despite his incredibly heavy legs, he gritted his teeth and ran while shouting:
"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Half an hour later, Ronan was too exhausted to run anymore and collapsed onto the grass, his eyes blurred with sweat.

"It's over, it's really over this time."

Ronan dared not rest for too long; Zoe would be back tomorrow, and there would still be time to 'save' the situation.

After lying down for a few minutes, he forced himself to stand up and ran back the way he came at the same speed.

He was going to the village to find help and get everyone together to find the sheep.

He ran and ran, getting closer and closer to the spire of Lourmaran Castle. Ronan's willpower was on the verge of collapse. At this point, he would definitely be sweating profusely if he took off his shoes, and his vision was also becoming blurry, probably due to overexertion.

Why do we say that things are blurry?

In the unchanging green grass that had remained unchanged for over an hour, he actually spotted two other colors—brown and white.

"Holy crap!" Ronan slammed on the brakes and swerved around, blurting out in Chinese, "Isn't that my sheep?!"

Ronan ran over, wanting to give Huhu a good slap, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Huhu is standing where he untied the rope earlier. The child did run away, but he came back on his own. What kind of situation is this?

Another reason that stopped Ronan from taking action was that when she saw Ronan return, she came running towards him with an arrogant, carefree gait, her little hooves practically bobbing in the air, as if to say:

Why are you only getting back now?

I've been waiting for you for ages!

Ronan weakly embraced the sheep's head and said feebly:

"You scared me to death!"

Huhu rubbed against Ronan's arm vigorously and nudged his chin with her head, showing no sign of blame in her words, her face full of flattery.

“Let’s go home.” Ronan finally smiled.

Ronan had been out for a while, and by the time he arrived at Zoe's house, Vieri had already returned.

He has his high school entrance exam tomorrow, so his main task today is to rest well and get in shape. He doesn't need to cook for himself; he can eat at Ronan's.

But this time Ronan wasn't just taking Vieri with him; he was also taking a sheep and three dogs.

The Vieri were dumbfounded.
No, I have a test tomorrow. Do you think so many people want to come to your house for a free meal today?
Ronan put harnesses on Bobo and the other dogs, then handed the leashes to Vieri.

"After you finish your exams, Zoe can go home and bring Bobo and the others back. They'll be so bored at home all by themselves when their owner isn't there. Come stay with me for a couple of days."

When Ronan arrived, the puppies were overjoyed.

These puppies are very clingy and need to stay with people most of the time.

Humans have many things to do, but in a dog's world, there is only its owner, and nothing else.

Leah went to Aix-en-Provence. Louis didn't want to miss the most important moment in his wife's life, so he decided to come back a day later. Zoe went back to work, and Vieri had exams to take, so he definitely wouldn't have time to spend with the children. The best solution was for Ronan to bring the dog to his house.

Seeing Ronan pick up the whooshing rope again, Vieri asked with even greater curiosity:

"Huhu is going too?"

Huhu isn't very affectionate.
It will only be arrogant and disdainful of others.

Ronan affectionately helped Huhu remove the weeds stuck to his body:
“Living in the sheep pen is torture for Huhu. I want it to get used to my home first. My place is big and it can roam freely. Even if it doesn’t go now, it will have to go in a little over a month. Let’s give it a try.”

In terms of living conditions, Ronan's house is definitely much better than Zoe's.

Zoe's house is in the center of Lourmaran village, and the yard isn't very big.

The reason it was placed here is because Huhu couldn't get along with Ronan.

However, after spending time together recently, especially after today's incident, Ronan felt that there shouldn't be any major problems in his relationship with Huhu.

His backyard is large, with vineyards outside and forests further away where there aren't many tourists, so Huhu can roam freely.

The only problem now is the relationship between Marseille and Huhu.

However, Marseille usually spends more time indoors, so if Hu Hu were outside, it wouldn't be impossible to resolve the issue.

He decided to go back and observe first.

These are the kinds of problems he will have to face sooner or later.

Vieri looked back at his house and said hesitantly:
"So I'll be staying by myself tonight?"

He wasn't scared, he was just a little bored.

Ronan patted Vieri's head:
"No, you'll stay at my place tonight too. I'll take you to the high school entrance exam tomorrow. Go pack your things and your schoolbag."

“I don’t need you to take me, I can manage on my own—” Vieri tried to retort.

Louis consulted Vieri's opinion.

On one side was his wife, who had never gone out alone before, and on the other side was his son, who was about to take the college entrance exam. He didn't want to miss either of them, and he only regretted that he couldn't be in two separate places.

It was Vieri who strongly urged his father to stay with his mother in Aix-en-Provence, because this was the most important experience in his mother's life, while he would have many more important experiences. After weighing the pros and cons, Louis decided to stay in Aix-en-Provence for one more day.

Vieri believed that the exam was just an ordinary day and told his family not to treat it differently.

Ronan shut him up with just one sentence:

“This is what Isabel asked for before I came back. If you don’t agree, just call her directly. I’m not responsible for relaying messages. If Isabel agrees, I’ll let you come back and live here on your own.”

Vieri muttered a couple of things to himself, his head bowed, and then went to pack his things. It was unclear what he was saying.

Ronan settled Vieri and the little ones in and then started making dinner.

He was on a diet and didn't eat, but Vieri had to eat, and the meal before the exam was very important.

Worried that Marseille and Huhu had just experienced a clash of titans, Ronan didn't take Vieri to a restaurant. Instead, he decided to cook something at home so he could keep an eye on them.

Knowing that Ronan was coming back from Aix-en-Provence today, Feng Zhen started calling home at noon and didn't get a response until dinner time.

Luo Nan was in a hurry to cook, so he hung up the phone after only a few words. He didn't go into details about what had happened that day. He was worried that something might have happened to his son on the way, which had caused such a long delay. Feng Zhen hung up the phone and went home immediately.

Despite her sharp tongue, she actually dotes on Ronan.

It's just that the way a mother expresses her love is rather unconventional.

But all the maternal love she had saved up for that afternoon vanished when she got home and saw Huhu and Ma Sai fighting like madmen, with a sheep and a dog flying around in a 'battle'.

As soon as she entered the house, she roared at Ronan, who was cooking in the kitchen:

"Why did you bring the sheep back? You should have told me beforehand! Even if you didn't, you should have done something about it. Those two were fighting so fiercely they were leaving afterimages!"

Ronan glanced back:
"It's nothing, it's nothing, this isn't hitting, it's just teasing."

This is just the beginning.
The ram's horn just got stuck in the dog's tooth.

Feng Zhen shoved her son away impatiently, her maternal love turning to the shape of steel once more.

"Go away, go rest! What are you doing?"

"Have you eaten?" Ronan waved his hand. "If you've finished, just make some for Vieri."

Feng Zhen picked up the frying pan and was about to smash it on Ronan's head:
"You're not eating again? I think you should give up on dieting and go cultivate immortality. It would be so much better if you just ascended to heaven. This mortal world can't tolerate you anymore!"

Ronan covered his head and dodged around, pleading:

"Ouch, stop hitting me! My arms and legs hurt so much, they really hurt!"

His body feels like it's falling apart; there's not a single part of him that doesn't hurt.

Feng Zhen first looked her son up and down with concern, then hit him even harder:

"Your face is already so thin, and you still want to lose more? If you lose any more, you'll just become a skeleton!"

Ronan grabbed the frying pan and asked in surprise:
"Is my face too sharp?"

One minute later.

A joyful voice burst out from inside the house, so loud that both Huhu and Masai stopped fighting for a second.

"Haha, I lost 3 pounds today! 3 pounds!!"

(End of this chapter)