1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 536 Who's the Boss?

Ronan would only go to the forest after he finished his weaving work each day, usually in the afternoon.

Therefore, when he rushed back to the village, the gate of the weaving courtyard was already closed. It was outside business hours, so the 'internal strife' was not seen by outsiders.

Upon hearing the news, Ronan ran back without stopping. Having been running and training continuously for more than a month, he was far faster than Cornell could catch up with him at full speed.

In a few quick strides, Ronan had left the guy far behind; the chubby boy probably hadn't even reached Lucas's house yet.

This meant that Ronan didn't know why Cafu's sales staff had started fighting; he only knew that things had gotten quite unpleasant.

Standing at the entrance of the knitting compound, Ronan didn't rush to open the door.

First, he needed to catch his breath. With Cafu not around, he had to have a 'deterrent' effect; speaking while panting heavily would be too unimpressive.

At the same time, you can also listen to what's going on inside and get a general idea of ​​the situation.

The weaving courtyard was in a chaotic state at the moment, with at least five or six people talking, including both men and women.

Ronan quickly caught Aknina's authoritative voice inside.

Hearing Aknina's voice, Ronan was even less in a hurry to go in and decided to take a good breather outside.

With her around, those salespeople definitely wouldn't dare to cause too much trouble.

“There are rules about who comes to Lourmaran each day and who takes the clients. If you’re not satisfied, go find your boss. Don’t make a scene in the yard. If you want to fight, go outside.” Aknina said in a strong voice, her tone full of authority.

The noisy sounds stopped immediately, replaced by a moment of silence.

A few seconds later, Batistuta's anxious voice came through:
“Yes, yes, Aknina is right. We can’t break the rules. There should be nine salespeople here today, but there are actually ten. Suddenly there’s one extra person, and all the rules that Cafu set are messed up.”

Boge had a loud voice, and Ronan could hear her voice most clearly:
“We should have followed the rules from the beginning! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have caused such a huge mess. There were tourists here, and they started scrambling for customers. Even I, a rural woman, remember that the Lurmaran Handicraft Cooperative serves customers one-on-one. Sales cannot be grouped together, let alone scrambled!”

Several young men with deep, resonant voices began to explain and refute.

“It’s our turn to come to Lourmarin today. Fournier stole our client; he should be resting today.”

"Can't we come to Lourmaran just because we're taking a break? Our boss encouraged us to carry business cards with us even when we're resting, and to hand them out whenever we have the chance. What's wrong with me helping out with those guests since no one else is available?"

"What happened? Today's clients were supposed to be shared among 9 of us, but now there are 10. Everyone's performance has been affected, and we've lost tens of thousands!"

"How can you be so petty? Last week you switched shifts with me, and I worked one less day than you, but I didn't even complain about your performance that day!"

"You can tell me why you're robbing me outright."

"How did I steal it? I was just helping out!"

Ronan, who was outside the door, finally understood what was going on.

The Cafu guys not only come to Lourmarin, but also to the offline stores and building materials markets in Apte. If there are any matching events in Provence, they also have to send people to set up temporary stalls at the entrances. Usually, the guys take turns going to these places and don't stay in one place for a while.

But with the booming tourism industry in Lourmaran, the opening of experiential classes at the weaving courtyard, the certification of 'Thorns and Sunshine', and the emergence of VIP clients like Charlotte, the Lourmaran weaving courtyard has become the hottest sales destination—young men all want to come to Lourmaran to make a fortune, and they would rather not rest than not come here.

This led to a conflict with other sales staff.

A sharp, middle-aged male voice suddenly joined in; it was unmistakably that old bastard, Pires.

"They're already fighting? We women of Lourmaran have been cooperating for decades and have never even argued over a deal! This is terrible, you salesmen are utterly incompetent!"

"Stop!" Ronan finally pushed open the courtyard gate, staring at the people in the yard and emitting a pressure even stronger than that of Condina.

The internal conflicts within sales haven't been resolved yet, and departmental rivalries are about to erupt again. Ronan dares not rest outside any longer.

Barty ran over as if he'd seen a savior, nervously closing the door behind Ronan, afraid that the nosy Provence might see or hear something:
"You're finally here! I have some things to tell you, there were some today—"

Ronan nodded to Batty, then walked straight into the house with a serious expression.
"I think I understand. A few salespeople came in with me. The rest of you can leave. Those who are working can continue working, and those who don't want to work can go home and rest. There's nothing serious, and nothing to see."

The courtyard was finally completely quiet.

The door leading to the interior is closed.

Although the wooden door blocked out the sound and made it quiet, completely different from the noise just now, everyone knew that an even more tense conversation must be taking place inside.

Barty, the women, and Pires stared at the tightly closed door with fascinating expressions.

"It's rare to see Ronan so serious. I'm not used to it," Barty muttered, touching his curly hair.

Aknina stood ramrod straight:

"It's precisely because we rarely take things seriously, and only when we do take them seriously can we scare people into silence. The problem should be solved soon."

Pires, always eager for drama:
"If you ask me, Ronan should fire those salespeople! Anyone can sell things, right? Why should they get the commission? Wouldn't it be better to give it to us? We're all from Lourmaran, we should help each other out."

Aknina stared coldly at Pires:
"Have you finished your work for today? If not, hurry up and finish it. Once you're done, go home. Don't stand here making sarcastic remarks. With your mouth, which customer wants to listen to you?"

After saying that, she turned to the women who were watching the commotion and said:
"Everyone, disperse. No one is allowed to talk about what happened today. Ronan said it's just a small matter, nothing to be interested in or ask about. Did you all hear that?"

"heard it!"

“Especially you, Pires, if you dare to publicize this like it’s a megaphone, I’ll have Batty cancel your contract tomorrow.”

"Me—humph, I'm busy processing orders, who has time to talk about this?"

The conflict between sales staff still needs to be resolved by Cafu. Even if Ronan wants to get involved, he should at least consult with Cafu first.

The reason I called these people in today was simply to serve as a deterrent and warning, to tell them – your boss isn’t in Lourmaran, but I, Ronan, am here, so you’d better behave yourselves!
After warning the sales staff, Ronan stepped out of the house and found that the yard had returned to its former order, just like usual.

Ronan said to Batty, who was sitting with the women working hard:
"Come to my house tonight."

"Okay!" Barty raised his chin.

As Ronan walked out of the knitting compound, he ran into Cornell, who was out of breath.

"Ronan, Ronan, wait for me to tell you what's going on." The chubby boy's face and neck were flushed red, fully demonstrating his tendency to blush easily.

Ronan walked up to Cornell, his earlier seriousness not yet completely gone:
"You came really fast! I had already finished dealing with everything when you arrived. It's such a short distance, and you ran like this?"

Cornell blushed even more:
“You ran too fast! And was that a short distance? It was at least 5 kilometers! How can I compare to someone who races sheep and dogs every day?” Ronan wanted to laugh when he saw his face, and his tone finally softened:
"Something happened at the knitting compound, why did you come to find me? You came here this afternoon?"

Ronan could tell that Batty and Aknina didn't want this embarrassing incident to get out and were very protective of the reputation of the Lourmaran handicraft cooperative.

As soon as he arrived, Barty hurriedly closed the door, and Ronan overheard Aknina's instructions to the women inside the house.

So how did Cornell know this?

Cornell awkwardly scratched his head:
"Your wedding hasn't started planning yet, and Stellar hasn't started brewing wine. I've already sorted out the orders. I had nothing to do this afternoon, so I wandered around to ask my mother what she wanted for dinner, and that's how we bumped into each other."

Last month, Ronan recalled Cornell to Stella, no longer serving as a guide at the Rosé Museum, but since it wasn't time to make wine yet, he entrusted him with the task of setting up the wedding venue at the castle.

But you can't go inside the castle yet.

Ronan patted Cornell on the shoulder:

"You should contact Contina and accompany her when she goes to the forest. It's not safe for a girl to go to the forest every day."

Cornell, one of Lourmaran's most enthusiastic friends, especially since he had nothing else to do, readily accepted this new assignment:
"Okay, I'll go see her first thing tomorrow morning."

After calling Barty, Ronan went to find Sandrine.

That evening, after the three of them finished dinner, they gathered together and called Cafu to tell him what had happened that afternoon.

Cafu told them that recently many young men had expressed to him, privately or at work, their desire to work permanently in Lourmarin as salespeople, but business in Lourmarin was so good that anyone assigned there would be unhappy.

Cafu is currently having a headache over this.

Surprisingly, it wasn't just young men looking to make money who wanted to settle in Lourmaran permanently.

“I will deal seriously with those people who had the conflict today. These kids have gone too far, daring to steal customers!” Cafu’s voice was even colder than Aknina’s that afternoon. “I will move to Lourmaran as soon as possible. Currently, they have the most sales staff and the highest sales volume there. I need to shift my focus from Apt to Lourmaran. With me in charge, let’s see who dares to break the rules!”

Previously, the weaving business was headquartered in Apt.

That's where the art of garland weaving began in Provence, and that's where we found our physical shop.

But in recent months Lourmaran has surpassed Apte in every respect.

When weaving is mentioned now, the first place that comes to mind for many Provençal people is Lourmarin, after all, the Lourmarin Crafts Cooperative has made a name for itself.

Batistuta was pleasantly surprised:
When are you coming to Lourmaran to look at houses?

Only three of the four main characters live in Lourmaran. If Cafu also moves to Lourmaran, they will finally be all together, and their communication will be much more frequent and efficient.

Ronan was also very happy, but still reminded him:
"Houses in Lourmaran are very expensive now, and the conditions aren't very good either."

Ronan has a relatively good understanding of the Lourmaran housing market because Louis is the best real estate agent in all of Lourmaran.

Cafu considered this matter for a long time and did some research on it:
"Yes, so I'm planning to see if there are any suitable shops on the commercial street, like Ronan's restaurant, where you can do some small business on the ground floor and live upstairs."

Cafu made some money this year with Ronan and still has an old house in Apte.

His wife had just quit her job at the optician's shop last month, and he plans to let her run a small business here if a suitable shop becomes available.

"Weren't they all rented out?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

If I remember correctly, Sylvie said last week that all the shops on the high street were rented out in just one month.

Cafu said with a smile:
“Some people see that this place is very popular for leasing and pay a deposit to reserve a spot, but it’s not certain whether they will actually use it. But everything has to be based on the contract. I’ll sign the contract first, and then the shop will be mine.”

Ronan nodded slightly. So many people hadn't signed contracts?

“That’s a good idea.” Sandrine had wanted to suggest that Cafu move to Lourmaran for a while, but as the last person to join, she was too embarrassed to say it.

Only when all four members of the F4 are assembled can the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative fully take off.

She thought for a moment, then looked at Ronan, asking as if seeking confirmation:
“But in that case, Cafu won’t be able to move in until October at the earliest, right? I heard from Ronan that the new shopping street won’t be completed until August. It’s a new building, and it will take at least two months to finish decorating.”

Sandrine hopes that the day when F4 reunites will come as soon as possible.

“It won’t take that long.” Kafu’s voice came through the phone. “I consulted before. The second and third phases of the commercial street also have a sequential completion order. In addition, the time for road construction and infrastructure construction has been taken into account in August. If you have requirements for the opening time or move-in time, you can apply to start the renovation in advance. As long as the contract is signed, it will be fine.”

Ronan sat up straight immediately:

"Really?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before Cafu spoke:
"I'm definitely going to Lourmaran tomorrow to keep an eye on those little brats, and I'll also check things out on the way."

The next day, Cafu personally came to Lourmaran to take charge of the town.

The sales staff didn't dare to breathe loudly. Seeing their boss, whose suit was almost bursting at the seams, not one of them dared to break the rules.

Cafu, the thug in a suit, showed Ronan great respect, which made the young men afraid of him.

In short, regardless of whether Cafu stays in Lourmaran or when he moves there, Ronan's presence has already become a deterrent.

After lunch, Cafu found Ronan sitting on a small stool, working.

“I’ve asked around, and it’s true that shops on the commercial street can be renovated in advance, but the opening date will have to wait until the supporting facilities and infrastructure are completed. I’ll bring my wife here tomorrow to find a shop that is completed early and for which we haven’t signed a contract yet, and buy it as soon as possible.”

Having learned from past mistakes, when the Lourmaran government builds new shopping streets, it specifically encourages people to buy directly, and the example used to persuade people is Ronan's restaurant.

Ronan straightened up and nodded:

"Okay, when you're decorating your own house, why don't you also decorate our flagship store at the same time? I'll discuss the ideas with you later."

Cafu had just left the investment promotion office when he learned that Ronan hadn't signed the contract yet, and he reminded him:

"The prerequisite for renovating in advance is that the contract must be signed first."

Ronan wiped the sweat from his forehead:

"I'll go to the government office as soon as I finish my work. If I don't sign it soon, I'm afraid my shop will be taken away. Also, the sooner I start the renovations, the sooner I can open the flagship store."

(End of this chapter)