1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 50 Provence Speed
That night, Ronan received a strange phone call.

The person on the other end of the phone was called Cafu. He said he only had six days of work left for Ronan, and then he would go to renovate a holiday villa. He asked Ronan what the specific workload was, and he could select some important ones to help Ronan solve them.

Ronan relayed his needs, and Cafu was stunned for a moment:
"That's it? Four days is enough."

Ronan designed at least forty-nine houses in Paris, if not fifty.

It would take a whole day just to tear down an entire wall, reinforce the restaurant and kitchen, and clean them up.

Is this person drunk?

Ronan repeated his request again and explained it in more detail. The answer he got was one day shorter:
"I think your cabinets can still be used. Just refurbish them. Three days will be enough."

Ronan kept his mouth open for a long time, and asked after a long pause:
"What about building another road?"

"how long?"

"About thirty meters."

Cafu let out a loud burp:

"Three and a half days."

Given their belief in Miss Elena's strength, Ronan and Cafu reached a verbal agreement.

Once Cafu finishes the work at hand, he will bring his men over, and Ronan will pay them 7000 francs for this.

Ronan didn't know whether it was a premium or how much. He only knew:

“No money again.”

One morning.

No, it should be said one day at midnight.

Ronan was awakened from his sleep by a deafening mechanical sound.

In the chaos, he realized that it was not yet 5:30 in the morning.

He often gets up at 5:30 to go into the mountains. He wakes up once at this time every day, but today is not the time for his biological clock to wake up.

He quickly put on a coat and wanted to go out to see if the street light or road surface was broken and the government was organizing emergency repairs.

But with sleepy eyes, he saw three trucks, and the construction materials and paving tools loaded in the back of them, and then a strong man as tall as a German jumped out of the truck:

"Ronan?"

"It's me, are you Cafu?" Ronan asked in a daze.

Cafu nodded and immediately entered work mode:

"Which road are you repairing?"

Ronan gestured to him:
"You can dig up two rows of vines and put them on both sides. I'll deal with them later."

"How can this be thirty meters? Twenty-five meters is about right, but the money won't be refunded." Cafu patted the truck door, "Boys, get to work."

The doors of the last three trucks opened one after another, and a dozen strong men like bulls surrounded Ronan with the smell of their hormones.

If it weren't for the different background, Ronan would have thought that a professional rugby team had come to the village of Lourmarin.

"Who put the table in the middle of the road? Even trucks can't drive through." Cafu muttered a few words and walked towards Ronan's house.

Ronan caught up with him:
"Since the road is a few meters short, why not add some more work?"

Cafu narrowed his eyes at Ronan.

Ronan smiled awkwardly and said:
"Table, help me move that table into the house."

Professional matters should be done by professionals.

Ronan had never seen such hard-working decorators; everything was done at high speed.

As the dawn broke, the kitchen counter and sink disappeared.

Another half an hour and minutes later, the first layer of the road in the middle of the vineyard was paved.

Along with the kitchen and exterior work, the wall demolition work was also carried out.

Yes, it happens at the same time.

Two craftsmen were carrying heavy hammers weighing dozens of kilograms and brutally hitting the wall. A few meters away, a group of people were telling dirty jokes, singing, and listening to the radio.
Ronan felt that the decoration knowledge and common sense he had accumulated in Paris were useless in Provence.

These people were like emotionless working machines, and they only stopped reluctantly at lunch time. Ronan prepared two baskets of country bread, three kilograms of cheese, enough pepper sausages for him and Xiao Hei to eat for half a month, and pickled olives in barrels.

In order to show good hospitality, Ronan tentatively asked them if they wanted to drink.

You know, in Provence, it is standard to drive a tractor with a bottle of wine, but thank God, none of them wanted to drink.

It's scary to think about a hammer weighing dozens of kilograms in the hands of a drunk craftsman. They look dangerous enough even when they are not drunk.

Lunch only lasted half an hour, and after finishing all the food, we started working right away.

They didn't take a break until 6 o'clock. No one even went to the vineyard to pee.

After 6 o'clock, these people started to fertilize the grapes.

"You can actually work thirteen hours?" Ronan asked the relaxed Cafu, his tone full of shock.

Cafu shrugged:

"It's only like this in the winter. In the summer we have to work fourteen hours."

Ronan: "."

"In Paris, workers start work late and leave before the sun goes down. They even stop several times to drink tea, eat snacks and chat." Ronan didn't dare to finish his words.

Even so, there are still strikes and marches.

Cafu smiled:

"Kid, this is Provence. You have to get used to the speed of Provence."

Ronan shrugged and said nothing.

Well, he understood why it was hard to find construction workers here.

After seeing Cafu off, Ronan came to his vineyard.

The price of the asphalt road was the sacrifice of two rows of grape vines. Fortunately, Cafu's men did not do too much damage, and they can still survive if they are moved to other places.

After working for a while, I suddenly heard the sound of a car shutting down behind me.

Ronan bent down and turned his head, saw a Ford pickup truck, and his heart skipped a beat.

In the village of Lourmarin, not many people can afford an American pickup truck.

not.
Lucas stepped down from the driver's seat and immediately raised his hands, signaling Ronan not to be nervous. He then smiled and pointed behind him:
"I was on my way to Teo's house, and I passed by and noticed that your house had paved the road, so I came to take a look."

Ronan straightened up and said in a complicated tone:

“I have to thank you for that.”

Elena's "omnipotence" all depends on Lucas. Ronan is not naive enough to think that the workers who came to his house today were brought by Elena and the ladies for afternoon tea.

But he was afraid that Lucas would bring up the topic of truffles again.
Lucas stepped on the ground twice and asked in a relaxed tone:

"Are you not scared by Kafu and the others?"

"No, no." Ronan shook his head, "They are very professional."

Lucas put his hands behind his back and looked towards Ronan's house:
"A bunch of crazy guys."

As the day wore on, Ronan thought it was impolite to leave his guests outside to chat, and he guessed that Lucas was about to start that topic:
"Come in and chat, have a couple of drinks."

Unexpectedly, Lucas turned around and waved at him:
"No, Theo is still waiting for me."

Ronan was stunned.

Are you really just passing by?
Lucas took a few steps back and suddenly turned his head, his tone as relaxed as if he was discussing tomorrow's weather:
"We have already started that plan. If you are interested, you can join us at any time in the future."

Ronan wanted to say something, but Lucas opened the car door and said sincerely:
"It doesn't matter if you don't join. You can still ask me for help. This is the 'agreement' between farmers."

The car made a loud roar and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Ronan stared at the darkness for a long time.

The 'all-powerful' brother of Miss Elena, a wealthy man who shines in the crowd, a proud truffle hunter, and a successful man with great ambitions.
Lucas has many labels, but Ronan thinks he can add one more - a man worthy of respect.

　Thanks to [书友161103202011623], [fachang], [本墨] for their monthly tickets. Thank you for your support~

　　
　
(End of this chapter)