1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 537 Local Villagers Subsidy Program
The last time she saw Sylvie, she reminded Ronan to sign the contract before September.

However, it was discovered that there were still instances of shops being "snatched up," so the timeframe had to be moved up.

What if some wealthy and powerful guy offers a price that Blanco can't refuse and snatches Ronan's shop away?
Since buying the forest, Ronan has suspected that there is a hidden tycoon in Lourmaran.

It could be wealthy people from out of town who only live in Lourmaran for a month or two each year and consider it their second home.

It's also possible that they are descendants of nobles whose ancestors lived in Lourmaran, but who have left their hometown in recent years and have a lot of assets in Lourmaran.

In short, Ronan was definitely not the richest person in Lourmaran.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, we need to sign the contract as soon as possible.

Previously, the deadline was before September. Ronan had not looked into the price of buying a shop because even if he did, he wouldn't be able to afford it. He could only rent first and then buy. So, whether he signed the contract in June or August made no difference.

However, after settling the accounts for June, Ronan felt it was time to check on the situation.

Ronan had a habit of settling accounts at the beginning of each month.

However, in June, he briefly considered giving up the habit.

In June, he bought a forest and improved the soil of 10 hectares of forest, spending nearly 700,000 francs. This experimental forest emptied Ronan's wallet.

The latter half of the month was incredibly difficult for Ronan. He was nowhere to be seen at events where the average cost was over 100 francs, and he wouldn't even spend money on gambling on sheep.

However, it was precisely because he placed a bet on the goat race that his financial situation improved by the end of June.

When Ronan placed his bet, the odds were already quite low, but because he was confident in himself and Huhu, he bet a large amount and ultimately made a fortune of 65,000 francs.

The performance of several businesses in June was also quite unexpected.

The market business only started in mid-June. In many villages, Chinese food and rosé wine were appearing for the first time, and it will take a considerable amount of time to develop before they can generate profits.

However, Vieri managed to control costs well. A few days ago, he and Ronan did the math and found that the market business in June only lost a little over 6 francs. But the market business in Mena and Lourmarin was stable and booming, which offset this loss, so they broke even.

Vieri was very frustrated when he did the accounting, and vowed that he would be in a profitable position when he settled accounts with Ronan at the beginning of next month.

The restaurant's revenue has also remained relatively stable.

The restaurant made a profit of 300,000 yuan in May, but due to the impact of the dessert competition, the average order value decreased in June. Even so, the final profit was still above 250,000 yuan, which is quite good.

As per usual practice, Feng Zhen kept 2 yuan, and gave the remaining 23 yuan to Luo Nan to deposit, which he could withdraw at any time.

There's not much to say about the truffle experimental forest; it's still a money-loser. This month, a large sum of money was spent on land improvement, and at the end of the month, Professor Fernand applied to Ronan for a budget of 12 francs, which will be spent on this experimental forest in Lourmarin over the next two months.

Fortunately, there won't be any large budgets coming in before the autumn planting season, giving Ronan some time to catch his breath.

Stella Winery was also running a deficit in June. They bought a brand new airbag press and added some equipment to the cellar, but all of this money came from Stella's public accounts. Otherwise, Ronan would have been in real trouble.

In terms of tourism business, the situation in June was much better than in May, with a profit of nearly 50,000 yuan. All of this money will be spent on finding villagers to buy grapes in September.

Ultimately, the reason Ronan dared to buy the shop ahead of time was the weaving business he had high hopes for.

This month, the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative can be described as a complete transformation. The "Thorns and Sunshine" certification has revitalized this part of the business, making woven furniture, which has a higher unit price, the main product sold.

Moreover, Charlotte placed a huge order this month worth 50 francs.

However, June was the first month that Cafu's sales team was integrated into the cooperative, and also the first month that the women became official employees of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative, making the accounting particularly complicated.

Fearing he might have made a mistake in his calculations, Ronan asked Zoe, the accountant and owner of Stella, who was already quite familiar with accounting, for help.

Upon seeing the final number, the young couple excitedly hugged each other and spun around in circles.

"Can you believe that this month's profit is 500,000?"

"It's surpassed restaurants to become the most profitable business!"

"The Provence Art Guide won't be published until the end of June, which means next month's profits will definitely be higher than this month's."

“I always said that the potential of the Lourmaran craft collaboration is far from being realized.”

"I hope that once Stellar is up and running, it can also generate such good returns!"

So after a tumultuous June filled with ups and downs in his finances, Ronan's savings had returned to over 600,000 francs.

On the way to the government, Ronan straightened his back a bit more.

Last year, I spent 19 francs to buy a shop in the first phase of the shopping street.

Over the past year, housing prices have indeed risen significantly, almost doubling.

But if you can't buy three, can't you at least buy two?

If you can't buy two, just buy one for now.

In short, his strategy was to buy as many as he could.

Anyway, by next month, he'll be able to conjure up a lot more savings.

When Ronan arrived at the Lourmaran government, he was naturally received by Blanco himself, as was an unchanging rule.

Blanco was a bit busy today, and Ronan had to wait quite a while to see him.

As soon as Blanco saw Ronan, he started clamoring to go to his office for some rosé wine. Ronan, who was following behind him, said with a mix of amusement and exasperation:

"Those rosé wines have been open for at least six months, are they still drinkable?"

Ronan once demonstrated his "god tongue" in front of Blanc and Quincy, saying that no matter how many bottles of wine were opened or what kind of wine they were, Ronan could tell them the grape recipe in one breath.

After that, whenever he came over, Blanco would pour him two glasses of wine, saying it would be a waste not to drink those experimental products.

Blanco took out his treasured crystal wine glass from the drawer and said with great enthusiasm:

"Of course we can't drink those anymore, let's open a new one this time."

He opened a cabinet door, inside which were neatly arranged bottles of the highest-end rosé wine currently sold by Stella.

Sylvie had told Ronan that Blanco strictly forbade government employees from drinking alcohol at work, unless some 'distinguished guest' came, like Ronan.

Ronan only visits the government once a month, so the presence of so much alcohol here is most likely for entertaining guests.

Lourmaran is now a model for many government agencies and neighboring villages to study and learn from. Blanco opened one of the bottles, poured some for Ronan and himself, and proudly said:
"As the future rosé wine capital, we should of course use the best rosé wine to entertain our guests."

During Jerome's tenure, Stellar focused on affordability, with several of its wines being the best-selling and most distinctive. This so-called "high-end wine" was actually rather crudely made, and sometimes at parties, Ines and others would drink cheaper wines.

“When the harvest season comes this year, I will try my best to make a good rosé under the current conditions.” Ronan downed the rosé that Blanco poured for him in one gulp. “A truly high-end rosé.”

When the topic of winemaking came up, Blanco asked with concern:

"I heard that Stella has not yet found a brewery manager?"

There are three very important positions in the winery, which can directly affect the success or failure of the winery's operations.

Stella's own vineyard is small: 5 hectares of experimental land on the north slope, 4 hectares of the south slope that Zoe bought, and a small plot in front of Ronan's house. This scale does not require a person in charge of planting for the time being, but Pierre will help Ronan plant Merlot, so he has someone to help him.

With Lucas, the senior figure, in charge of marketing, he is probably the most suitable candidate for Lourmaran, and Blanco has no worries about it.

But the most important person in charge of brewing seems to have never heard any news.
Ronan poured wine for Blanco:

"I'll hurry up and find a candidate as soon as possible."

Ronan could brew the wine himself, but the position definitely needed someone to oversee it.

He plans to keep an eye out for suitable people when he attends the wine auction later.

After chatting for a while about the situation in St. Scott and future development plans, Blanco smiled and flattened his hands:

"Alright, tell me the purpose of your visit. I don't think you just want to have a drink with me."

Ronan rested his elbows on the table:

"I've come to check on my 'shops'."

Blanco seemed to have been prepared, smiling as he bent down and took out several thick stacks of documents from the cabinet under his desk:
"Would you like to hear about the first three-story building at the entrance, or the amazing street-front shops across the street from the activity center in the core area? Or perhaps we could start with the largest, four-story landmark building in both phases? How about we begin with the last one? I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative will look like after it moves in—"

The shops at the entrance must have a very high flow of people; many tourists are already taking photos at the entrance of the first phase of the commercial street.

Blanco envisioned the event center as a large, professional venue capable of hosting events like the Bread Contest or the Gold Series of art activities, so opening a shop opposite it would also attract many tourists.

Not to mention the landmark building with the largest floor area and four stories high. In Lourmaran, Ronan has never seen a building with more than three stories.

As expected, Blanco left him with the three best spots on the new shopping street!

However, Ronan interrupted Blanco's reverie for the time being and asked a more practical question:

What are the policies this year?

“As people get older, they tend to become more talkative,” Blanco said with a laugh, waving his hand in front of his nose. “Just like last year.”

Ronan relaxed and leaned back in his chair.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten what the previous policies were. Could you please tell me about them from the beginning?"

Blanco put down the documents and patiently explained:
"Similar to Phase 1, the new commercial street offers two cooperation options to shop owners: direct purchase and rent-to-own. During the lease term, the 'purchase right' can be activated at any time. The purchase price for a 3-year lease is 8.5% of the market price in the month the activation clause is signed, the purchase price for a 5-year lease is 90% of the market price in the month the activation clause is signed, and the purchase price for a 10-year lease is 9.5% of the market price in the month the activation clause is signed. During the lease term, all payments except for management fees, maintenance fees, and insurance fees can be offset against the purchase price."

After saying that, he winked mischievously at Ronan:

"Of course, I will waive the management fee for our great hero of Lurmaran, and the maintenance fee is also at cost price, so you have no part that can be used to offset the house price."

Ronan gradually recalled the details of last year.

Last summer, he first signed a lease agreement, then activated the 'purchase right' clause before winter arrived and bought the shop.

"Will there be a bigger discount if I buy directly?" Ronan pressed.

“Good question.” Blanco poured Ronan another glass of wine. “With the successful experience of operating the first phase of the commercial street, we will encourage shop owners to buy directly. The current official statement is that we can offer 8.5% off the current market price. However, depending on the shop owner’s situation and the type of shop, we may offer additional discounts.”

"For example?" Ronan asked expectantly.

Blanco flashed a bright, sunny smile:

"We can offer you a 8% discount."

Ronan quickly calculated in his mind that the market price was about double that of last year, with the land price per square meter around 3500 francs.

"How big is the largest shop?"

Blanca found the corresponding shop information and flipped through two pages:

“The new commercial streets are generally larger than the first phase. As for that shop, I think it's about 550 square meters.”

Ronan nearly jumped out of his chair.

Such a large area?

That will cost
"After the 20% discount, it will cost 1.5 million francs," Ronan said, trying to appear calm.

At this moment, he began to have doubts, wondering if the 60 francs wouldn't even be enough to buy a shop.
Blanco smiled and looked back at Ronan, saying in a teasing tone:

"You're so young and you have such a bad memory. It seems you've really forgotten everything that happened last year. Have you forgotten the 'subsidy program' that the government introduced for local residents?"

A flash of inspiration struck Ronan:
"Free space is available!"

His restaurant only had its indoor area calculated; the entire backyard was a free gift.

Blanco once again laid his hands flat and gave Ronan a kind smile:

“Although I said something similar to you last year, I want to say it again this year: the government has never thought of recovering costs through buying, selling or leasing land. Our goal is to drive economic growth in Lourmaran as much as possible in the future, especially to boost the income of the villagers.”

Ronan quickly added:
“I remember now, I remember now, I am a villager of this village, and I can enjoy those preferential policies.”

Ronan also recalled that when he last met Sylvie, she said that this year's policies were even better than last year's!
Blanco humorously made the sign of the cross on his chest:
"Thank goodness, I thought I had to explain to you again why 'no one is more Lourmaran than you,' but that's for the best, so we can get straight to the point."

Blanco's desk seemed to be a treasure trove.

He casually reached out and another notebook appeared on the table.

Blanco placed the notebook on top of a thick stack of contracts, and said eagerly:
“Then let’s hear about this year’s ‘subsidy plan’ for the villagers. Almost all the buyers this time are from out of town, so our more favorable policies than last year are completely useless. We’ve finally got you, Ronan.”

(End of this chapter)