1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 510 Children can be taught

"The reasons are rather complicated." Professor Fernand put his hands behind his back with satisfaction and said, "Let me explain it to you simply."

That felt so good! That felt so good!

I finally let out a sigh of relief.

Ronan, of course, wanted to know the reason, but glancing up at the sky, he temporarily cut off Professor Fernand's breath:

"Let's eat and chat, so I can go back and tell my family to tidy up your place."

It was already dark, and Professor Fernand and his students certainly wouldn't be able to leave Lourmarin today.

For the two of them, who have been engaged in outdoor experiments for a long time, sleeping in the open is commonplace. When they are working, they don't even consider the time. There are tents and basic survival tools in the trunk of their car. If they can't go any further, they will just make do for the night in the vicinity. Even if they return to Piorank, the environment will be the same.

But this is Lourmaran.
How could Ronan let his friend, who had come all the way for him, live in the wilderness?
The backyard studio was quite spacious, and Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen could also sleep upstairs in the restaurant, so they took the initiative to invite Professor Fernand and his students to come with them that night.

Professor Fernand felt a tightness in his chest, as if the words he was about to say had been forced back down. But then he thought—a better environment would allow him to elaborate more, and more detail would take more time. The longer he spent, the more relieved he felt, so there was nothing wrong with the whole thing.

"Then I'll trouble you." He said politely for a moment, then left with Ronan.

Ronan took the professor and his students back to the restaurant and treated them to a feast of fine wine, food, and meat.

The student, whose face was tanned darker than a farmer's, was almost moved to tears.

Having followed the professor for so long, when have I ever received such good treatment when going out to do experiments?
Just a few hours ago, he was upset about being alone with the professor and felt incredibly unlucky. Little did he know it would turn out to be a wonderful opportunity.

Professor Fernand was also moved by Ronan's enthusiasm, and for the first time, his attitude towards investors changed.

He used to get annoyed by investors. These fools, who had nothing but money, did they even understand rhizosphere microbiome theory? Did they understand abiotic stress response mechanisms? Could they even read a spider web model?
They don't understand anything, they just spent some money, so why should they make demands?
"Professor, I really hope you can organize students to come to Lourmaran to do new experiments soon. It's only three months until autumn, and time is very tight."

"Professor, if you come, how many people will be on your team? I know you have many projects and experiments to do, but I think the new ideas we discussed this morning are very good and worth sending more people over."

"Professor, where do you plan to set up your base? How about I take you around Lourmaran again tomorrow and show you everything you can see, so you don't have to make a second trip?"

"professor."

"professor."

"professor."

Fernand kept nodding and said:

"Alright, alright, I'll do whatever Ronan says. Elden, go and look around there first thing tomorrow morning. Find a flat spot and tell Ronan that it's not as clear after dark."

The skinny, dark-skinned student named Elden immediately agreed:

"Okay, Professor, I'll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning."

Upon hearing this, Ronan asked with delight:

"The assessment passed, right? Are you sure you can take over this forest?"

“There shouldn’t be any major problems,” Fernand said to Ronan. “You hurry up and buy the land, then submit an application report, and I’ll complete the process as soon as possible.”

"Okay, okay! I'll do it as soon as possible." Ronan finally felt relieved.

The experimental team was brought in, the forest was found, and at an extremely low price. Ronan superstitiously believed that this excellent start foreshadowed the future success of the winter truffle tourism project in Lourmaran!

Ronan's worries were over, but Fernand's were still bottled up.

Seeing that Ronan was no longer mentioning the reasons for choosing the location, he took the initiative to bring it up:

"Speaking of that forest—"

“Speaking of that forest, Professor, I’ve recalled some details of my conversation with the truffle hunter,” Ronan and Professor Fernand said simultaneously.

The professor swallowed back the words he was about to say.

What Ronan said is more important, so let's be patient a little longer!
"What do you remember?" he asked, leaning forward.

On the way, Ronan explained that he had met the truffle hunter some time ago and couldn't remember many details. Since the professor was interested in this idea, he would try to recall it carefully during this time and inform Fernand as soon as he thought of anything.

You remembered the details so quickly?
Ronan touched the wine glass on the table and said:

“I vaguely remember something about soil aeration. The truffle hunter seemed to have mentioned that someone had tried using carbon to increase soil aeration. He didn’t explain the specific principle, but he said it might be possible to simulate the substrate that is closest to the natural black truffle producing area.”

Ronan continued to explain:
"My understanding is this: the current way to improve soil permeability is to add coarse sand or fine rock fragments to increase the pores. However, the diameter and size of these sands and gravels are irregular and the structure is not strong enough. When exposed to rain or external forces, the pores can easily collapse. Perhaps using other elements can make the structure more stable?"

The 'Yellow Pages' provided by the system contained an enormous amount of information.

Ronan spent a whole day searching before he finally found a way to improve soil aeration.

The content of this entry is quite interesting.
As early as 1980, Claude, a soil physicist at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), began conducting experiments on soil permeability and applied for a patent for a 'soil distribution disclosure' in 1985, which can effectively increase the oxygen content in the soil by nearly 100%.

However, until the 90s, this technology was only used in Burgundy vineyards (to improve the vitality of Pinot Noir roots), and it was not until 2015 that it began to be officially used in the artificial cultivation of truffles.

"Another instance of information isolation causing delays," Ronan thought to himself, filled with mixed emotions.

Let's leave aside the technologies from other countries; even the results of the French research are largely unknown. Moreover, there are so many experimental fields across the country conducting experiments on improving soil permeability. It just goes to show that science and technology are not something that everyone can understand.

This further solidified Ronan's determination that he could not be a 'scientist'. His future strategy was to provide Fernand with 'ideas' so that the professor could lead his team to find data and conduct experiments.

However, even if Ronan were to film the results and apply them to actual projects, it would take a very long time.

“Alden, write this down.” Professor Fernand looked at Ronan after seeing his student take out paper and pen to write it down. “Do you remember anything else?”

Ronan spread his hands out:

"That's all, there aren't any others for now."

Time was limited, so that's all I could find.

Ronan's new discovery brought the topic back to the artificial cultivation of truffles. Professor Fernand told Ronan that he currently has seven 'experimental forests' where more than twenty different experiments are being conducted simultaneously, which is quite a lot of pressure.

Ronan encouraged him, saying:

"My experiments here are sure to be the most groundbreaking, because I've always been very lucky."

Fernand said with a bitter smile:
"You are good in every way, except that you are too ambitious."

However, Ronan certainly had the credentials, and the professor recalled the scenes he had witnessed in Lourmaran during the day.

His pride kicked in again, and Fernand looked at Elden, whose mouth was greasy from eating and who was practically 'gnawing' on the roast duck:
"Elden, let me test you."

Alden was so frightened that he immediately put down his knife and fork.

Professor, I've been focusing solely on my food, not saying a word, and being incredibly honest. Why won't you let me go?
I'm just a pitiful and helpless graduate student.
Professor Fernand looked at Ronan and asked his student:
“You tell Ronan why we determined that area was the best fit for our black truffle cultivation experiment last night.” “Because—” Startled, Elden’s mind went blank for a moment, perhaps from too much carbon monoxide poisoning, “Because it’s a gentle slope?”

"Bang—" Professor Fernand slammed his hand on the table, making a loud clanging sound. "Did I teach you any of this?!"

Ronan quickly stepped in to mediate:

"Elden just arrived at the research institute, so please don't worry."

The Carpentra Truffle Technology Center was newly established at the beginning of this year, and quite suddenly. Apart from Fernand and two other academic luminaries, almost everyone else is a student, and some are even studying agricultural auxiliary disciplines rather than agronomy.

These professors are nearly fifty years old, and they still have to build a team from scratch.

Six months have passed, and the research has yielded no results, but my blood pressure has spiked.

Fernand had only wanted to vent his anger, but now his internal injuries were even worse.

What a bunch of incompetent fools!
Don't mention my name when you go out!!

He took a couple of breaths before explaining to Ronan:
"Actually, the terrain there—"

“Actually, the terrain there is a gentle slope, just with a relatively small gradient.” Ronan and Professor Fernand spoke at the same time, as if on cue. “But I guess the professor deliberately chose a gentle slope for his experiment.”

Look at them! Look at them!
These are the students I, Fernand, have taught.
Fernand took a sip of his drink with satisfaction, then suddenly realized, wait a minute, Ronan wasn't his student.

"Why did I specifically choose a gentle slope for my experiment?" Fernand asked, staring into Ronan's eyes.

Ronan tilted his head slightly:
“I heard you tell Elden that the outer ecological buffer zone should be made into terraced grass mounds. I guess you wanted to reduce the erosion caused by the flow.”

Elden couldn't save face.

Even the big spender can say something, how could he be 'disgraced'? It was just a misunderstanding!
"The professor chose that site because it was far from villages and people, so the experiment would not be disturbed."

Fernand shook his head in disappointment.

Children cannot be taught.

“It’s not for—” he corrected in a low voice.

“It’s not to get away from villages and people, it’s to get away from farmland.” Ronan raised his glass to Fernand. “The professor was probably worried that the crops planted on that farmland would be sprayed with pesticides in the future, so he took precautions in advance. That’s such a detail.”

You admire me?

I admire you!

"How do you know the reason again?" Professor Fernand asked with a complicated expression.

Ronan chuckled and said:

"I suddenly realized it on the way."

why?
I stumbled upon it while looking for 'soil permeability'.

Ronan then gave several more reasons, each one hitting Fernand's "Achilles' heel".

It's no exaggeration to say that although the professor only exhaled briefly and then inhaled the rest, he felt completely relieved.

Professor Fernand was overjoyed.

A true 'right-hand man' has appeared by his side!
This kid is finally teachable!
Forget about soil permeability and sterilization experiments; after a few rounds of drinks, he confidently believed that—with Ronan's collaboration, this artificial truffle cultivation experiment was definitely a success!
“I’ve always admired truffle hunters, and now you’ve made me admire these partners who work with nature even more,” Fernand said excitedly. “Ronan, I hope this collaboration will be a success, and that abundant black ‘gold’ will bloom in the lands of Lourmaran and Pioranque!”

“It definitely will!” Ronan said with a smile.

After eating for a while, Bruno, who had just returned from get off work, appeared in the restaurant.

Ronan had called him at noon, and he knew that Ronan had brought researchers from the truffle research center to conduct a field investigation today. Bruno was worried, so after having dinner with his wife and children, he came over to ask about the details and see if things were going smoothly.

Ronan introduced the professor and his students to Bruno.

Upon learning that the bald man was actually a leader in the Provence Forestry Bureau, Professor Fernand's confidence grew even stronger.

The Lourmaran government dared not touch Ronan's land, and there were people in the Forestry Department who were willing to spare no effort and devote all their energy to conducting experiments in this 'experimental field'.

Upon learning that the Capontra Truffle Technical Center had agreed to provide Ronan with technical support, meaning the 'experimental field' project was established, Bruno asked:
"Have you decided how much area you want to buy?"

Time waits for no one, and the seller is in a great hurry.

Bruno needs to go and 'steal' land for Ronan as soon as possible.

Ronan focused his attention on terms related to 'ecological buffer zone'.

The above records indicate that in limestone soil areas, the area of ​​the ecological buffer zone needs to be at least 25%-30% of the experimental area to stabilize the mycorrhizal microclimate.

If the area has poor drainage, the expansion should be increased to 50%.

The forest the professor had designated was not a poorly drained area, but they would be planting host tree seedlings in the future. Since the seedlings' root systems had not yet developed, they needed a larger buffer zone to compensate for the ecological function.

"Two hectares, please," Ronan replied through gritted teeth.

Three-quarters of the work was done in experiments, and one-quarter was used as a buffer zone.

Bruno knew that Ronan only wanted a small portion of the area, so he didn't say anything and just nodded silently.

But Fernand, sitting opposite Ronan, spoke up:

"Two hectares? That's too little. I'm very confident in this experiment. If we can overcome the challenges of soil aeration and sterilization, the mycelial survival rate can be nearly doubled. That's all money. Do the math, how much money would you lose if you only bought two hectares?"

The professor was extremely anxious.

With such unfathomable strength, buying 2 hectares is hardly befitting Ronan's status!

Ronan was getting really anxious.

This professor is such a master of psychological warfare! He started by saying I'd lost out, how am I supposed to choose?
To be honest, Ronan really wanted to buy more.

Even if you don't conduct experiments, buying and stockpiling land is a sure-fire way to make money because land prices are so cheap.

Not everyone has the opportunity to know about the private sale of forest land, and even if there are any opportunities to snag a bargain in the future, it won't be his turn.

After a brief hesitation, he said to Bruno:

"I'll think about it some more and let you know first thing tomorrow morning."

Ronan hasn't settled the accounts for last month's weaving business yet, and he plans to go check out the situation there before making a decision.

(End of this chapter)