1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 500 The Last Tails of Adolescence

Ronan was overjoyed that night because he had found a way to lose weight quickly.

Controlling what you eat does have some effect, but time is just too tight.

But by controlling your diet and exercising, losing ten pounds within the specified timeframe will not be a dream, but something easily achievable.

The next morning, Ronan was the first in the family to open his eyes.

He first walked five dogs, then walked a sheep alone.

When I was walking Huhu today, Ronan didn't loosen the rope; even when it sped up, it held on tightly.

This month, he and Hu Hu will participate in a goat race, and the real preparations begin on this day!
However, he took a bit too big a step in preparing for the fight. He ran so fast that he didn't care whether anyone was following behind him or not. Ronan was pulled along and almost flew away. In less than half an hour, he ate mud four or five times.

"You're back?" Luo Tianhai asked, facing the door as he heard it open. "Have you had breakfast?"

He's gotten into the habit of asking Ronan, who's on a diet, before cooking.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—" Ronan spat out several mouthfuls of mud before replying, "No need for mine, I'm full."

Hearing from upstairs that her son wasn't eating again, Feng Zhen stormed downstairs, shouting as she went:
"You really want to become an immortal, don't you?"

When she got downstairs and saw Ronan's appearance, she froze for several seconds, then suddenly burst into deafening laughter, the kind that made her double over:

"Have you eaten your fill of dirt?"

Ronan was covered in dirt from head to toe, with mud and grime even in his mouth and on his teeth, making him look even more disheveled than when he went to the forest to collect truffles in winter.

"How could that be!" Ronan went upstairs to take a shower. "I ate breakfast before I went out this morning. Don't forget to make Vieri's portion. Vieri—get up!"

Lourmarin has fewer than 1000 residents. According to the 1985 edition of the French Education Code, municipalities with a permanent population of less than 5000 must enroll their children in schools outside their designated district.

The Petit Luberon region has only one academic public high school, located in Bonnillo.

If you don't choose to attend this high school, you'll have to travel more than an hour each way to Kawayon or Apte every day.

No normal person wants to waste time on a three-hour commute twice a day. Children from several villages around Lourmarin choose to study in Bonnillo, and Vieri is naturally one of them.

However, the exam location was in Apte, which was quite far away, so to avoid traffic congestion, Ronan took Vieri out at 6:15 a.m.

“Actually, you don’t need to see me off at all; there’s a school bus to pick me up.” Even though the car had already started moving, Vieri still wanted to convince Ronan to let him go to the exam venue.

“But the school bus will arrive in Lourmaran before 6 a.m. today, and the extra 15 minutes will be enough for you to finish breakfast.” Ronan opened the convertible’s roof. At this time, the temperature and sunshine outside were quite comfortable, and it would gradually warm up after 8 a.m.

The Education Law stipulates that students who commute more than 3 kilometers are entitled to school bus service, and Vieri commuted to and from school by school bus every day.

The Ministry of Education also arranged for examination vehicles to pick up the children living in Luberon, but this vehicle had to pick up and drop off several villages, and it departed from Lourmaran quite early.

Vieri said with a worried expression:
“I heard from older students that when the exams were approaching, they weren’t thinking about the knowledge points in the books, but complaining about why there was only one academic high school in Luberon. The commute these two days is really a headache.”

It's no wonder students complain about having to endure the longest commute of the three years on such an important day as the high school entrance exam.

"It'll only be a few days, just bear with it," Ronan comforted Vieri. "Go to bed early tonight, don't study."

Vieri, thinking of something, asked Ronan:
"I heard that Lourmaran is going to set up a high school?"

The expansion plans for Lourmaran indicate that a high school will be built there in the future.

Ronan wasn't particularly familiar with this information either; he'd only heard a few brief mentions from Blanco and Sylvie.

"It's not an academic high school, it seems to be a technical high school."

In France, high schools are generally divided into three types: academic, technical, and arts-focused. There may be other names for high schools, but their core educational philosophy and logic still revolve around these three types.

Academic high schools are like the ones at Vieri High School. They are three-year programs, divided into three major directions: humanities, sciences, and economics. Philosophy is a compulsory course. Students who score above 10 on the high school graduation exam can get a diploma and apply to university. Those who score above 13 can aim for elite universities.

Technical high schools are schools where students begin to specialize in certain skills during their high school years. They advance to higher education through exams, and upon successful graduation, students can choose to enter the workforce directly or apply to engineering colleges for further studies.

In Luberon, a larger proportion of children choose technical high schools, which is the first choice for the vast majority of ordinary families. Their goal is usually to enter the workforce directly after the exams, while only a minority choose to pursue further studies.

The Provence Arts Specialized High School specializes in music, dance, visual arts, and drama. Students who score more than 12 out of 20 in their chosen art subject can enter regional art schools without taking an entrance exam, while those who score more than 14 can directly enter national art schools, such as the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

However, the entrance requirements are high, the number of places is limited, and the tuition is expensive. Students must pass an extremely rigorous provincial art exam, and only the top students are admitted after a large ranking. Only children who have received professional training since childhood or children from artistic families dare to apply here.

Upon hearing that Lourmarin was going to build a technical high school, Vieri asked curiously:

What is your major?

Every technical high school has its 'core strength'. For example, the technical high school in Cawayon focuses on agriculture because it is famous for its melons.

Ronan shook his head:

"That's not clear."

When Ronan and Blanco were talking, the expansion plan had only just been finalized, and these details certainly hadn't been finalized yet.

Vieri said in a sour tone:
"If I had the choice, I would definitely stay in Lourmaran to attend a technical high school instead of an academic high school."

Ronan turned to look at Vieri, encouraging him:
"Don't think about these things. Get some rest and prepare for the exam. I'll pick you up this afternoon."

At the school gate, other parents held their children's hands and talked for almost ten minutes, as if they had endless things to tell them. Ronan simply said "Good luck" and watched Vieri go inside.

This was exactly what Vieri intended—the presence of his family would put him under immense pressure, which would negatively impact his mood.

If his father had come to see him off, Louis would have been constantly rambling on about his high school life, his exams, and his youth. But today, Vieri had no interest in listening to his father, who was overly enthusiastic whenever they were alone, trying to build a closer father-son relationship.

Vieri was even more worried if his mother came to take him.

From last night to this morning, Leah called more than a dozen times from Exxon, asking many questions repeatedly, but she was still worried.

Vieri guessed that his mother, Lia, would likely be in tears as she said goodbye at the school gate, sobbing and lamenting how quickly her son had grown up.

It was the last thing Vieri wanted to see if his sister Zoe came to see him off. If his sister came, Ronan would come too, and whenever the two of them were together, the air would be filled with a 'disgusting' atmosphere.

"I don't need my parents to take me; I can manage on my own."

The first day we had two exams: French in the morning and math in the afternoon. We ate lunch near the school.

French was Vieri's weaker subject in the morning; he was better at subjects related to numbers than analyzing poems that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

After handing in his paper, Vieri was quite depressed.

His French score this time might be lower than the mock exam. His mind went blank when he wrote the essay.

"Did you learn about the differences between the 'flowers of evil' imagery in Baudelaire and Rimbaud's poetry in high school?" Vieri had lost all appetite for lunch.

However, remembering that he had an exam in the afternoon, he forced himself to go out and get something to eat.

Because some persuasion had been done, when Vieri came out, there were hardly any people left at the school gate, and he immediately spotted the tall, solitary figure at the gate.

"dad?"

Louis's large hand waved rapidly in the air, his face beaming with delight:
"Vieri, here! Here!!"

Vieri was very surprised.

Louis said on the phone that he would be back in the afternoon, and that he and his son should not see each other until the evening.

"Why did you come back early?" Vieri asked Louis.

Louis said with a beaming smile:

"How could I miss your high school entrance exam? Your mother will understand! How did it go this morning?"

Vieri immediately lowered his head and started walking aimlessly in one direction, kicking pebbles under his feet.

The answer is obvious, isn't it?
If I did well on the test, why would I be the last one here?

The expected sigh of disappointment or resentful complaint from his father did not materialize; Louis's tone was as fervent as the sun overhead:
"Hey, let's not talk about that anymore. I've booked the best restaurant in Apte. Let's go celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Vieri looked up. "Celebrate what?"

Louis laughed and said:
“Let’s celebrate the start of our family activities in Apt! I know a lot of great restaurants in Apt, and I’ll take you there every day at noon during the exam period.”

Vieri caught up with the fast-paced Louis:

"You come every day at noon?"

“Of course!” Louis laughed and put his arm around his son’s neck. “You have many important moments in your life, and this isn’t the only one, but I don’t want to miss any of them. How about we order fried chicken for lunch? Doesn’t your mother not let you eat that junk food? We’ll eat it secretly and not tell her.”

Vieri felt that the gloom above his head had instantly dissipated by more than half.

Having parents around seems pretty good, doesn't it?
Ronan learned from Zoe that he didn't need to go to Apte to pick up Vieri that afternoon.

This afternoon, Zoe also returned to Lourmaran.

"You mean, Louis didn't leave after having lunch with Vieri, and spent the whole afternoon in Apte waiting for his son to finish his exams?" Ronan asked, utterly shocked.

Louis was very busy, extremely busy.

Since the real estate boom in Provence began, he has been showing houses to countless groups of customers every day.

You mean Louis, who is so busy, has been 'absent from work' for three days in a row?

He gave two days to his beloved wife and one day to his precious son.

Having been out of work for a while, Zoe was quite tired when she returned. Of course, there was another reason why she was holding her head:
“Dad said that for the next few days he will not leave Apte after dropping Vieri off in the morning, have lunch with Vieri at noon, and pick him up in the evening. I think this will continue for several more days.”

Ronan quickly drank some cold water to calm his nerves:

"Louis was not only a good husband, but also a good father."

Zoe shook her head and said:
"Remember not to tell Vieri that Dad will be waiting for him in Apte for a day."

"Why?" Ronan asked curiously.

Zoe held the chilled rosé wine glass to Ronan's lips. After Ronan shook his head, she reluctantly took a sip.
“Dad said Vieri would think it was pretentious and didn’t want him to know.”

Vieri couldn't stand seeing Ronan and Zoe being close, couldn't stand seeing his parents being close, couldn't stand seeing his family being close to him, and probably couldn't stand seeing himself being close to others—this was the most typical characteristic of his adolescence.

Ronan shrugged and said in a complicated tone:
"Perhaps Vieri's adolescence is coming to an end?"

Zoe pouted:

"I don't think it's that easy."

Ronan smiled and shook his head:

"I think it'll be soon."

Ronan was Vieri's most trusted confidant, and hearing him say this, Zoe asked curiously:
"why?"

Did you observe some detail that I'm unaware of?

Ronan pointed to the gift bags scattered on the ground, and said with a wry smile:
"Because he has a father who cares about him so much, a mother who calls him more than a dozen times a day to ask how he is doing, and an older sister who is so willing to spend money on him, how could he not get through this period?"

In the past, Zoe would go out to buy things for herself or for the family. This time, however, she brought back things for Vieri, saying that she would give him a reward after his exams, regardless of how well or poorly he did.

Vieri had such a loving family, such a happy home; his teenage rebellion should have ended.

Ronan believed that the sensible Vieri must have understood this principle.

That evening, Vieri came to the restaurant for dinner and noticed that Ronan kept looking at him with a hesitant expression, so he went over to ask him what was wrong.

Ronan certainly had a lot to say, but now was not the time to say it; everything would have to wait until after the exams.

He dared not mention Louis's fatherly love to Vieri, nor his worry about Leah who was not by his side, nor his sister's domineering nature. He gave a perfunctory answer and quickly fled.

“It’s nothing. I just think Louis is definitely a professional when it comes to creating surprises. He just finished making one for Leah and now he’s making one for you. You should learn from your father.”

Vieri scratched his head as he watched Ronan's retreating figure.

surprise?

Time flies.

Soon it arrived that Ronan and Zoe's big day arrived—they were going to Aix to take their wedding photos.

Thanks to Ronan's self-discipline and Huhu's tireless running, the weight loss plan was successfully completed.

After taking their wedding photos in Aix-en-Provence, the young couple immediately had to do something even more important—get their marriage certificate.

Although the wedding is scheduled for July, Ronan and Zoe's relationship will officially change in early June.

The term "young couple" will permanently become "young married couple" after that moment.

(End of this chapter)