1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 567 Ronan, the Great Philanthropist!

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary is a very large celebration in Provence. On that day, many villages in Luberon hold grand ceremonies and try to attract tourists.

Previously, Lourmaran lacked the resources to host events, but this year the situation has dramatically improved, and they have become involved, planning related activities.

But as Zoe said when she saw the poster, there are just too many events in Luberon surrounding the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, making it difficult for Lourmaran to stand out. That's why the government moved the date of the marathon forward, hoping to get off to a good start.

Even so, Blanco and his team are still trying their best to attract more tourists to Lourmaran around the time of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

To achieve this goal, they made many innovative changes to the event, such as providing three meals a day and encouraging visitors to bring their own tableware to enhance the fun. However, even so, more than a week after the posters were put up, the number of people signing up was not optimistic.

Everyone started to comfort themselves—the most important thing is to organize the marathon well, and to position the Feast of the Assumption of Mary as a festival to expand the richness of activities, and not to be too fixated on it.

But the pipe organ that Ronan brought rekindled hope for the government.

The pipe organ is the core of Western religious music. Catholicism, Christianity, and Orthodox Christianity all define it as a core instrument, and it is also known as the 'Voice of God' or the 'King of Instruments'.

From Gregorian chant to Bach's fugues and modern religious music, the organ is the most important vehicle for performing and passing on this great musical tradition.

During religious festivals and celebrations, it can play preludes, interludes, and postludes, and is an irreplaceable core instrument in hymn performances.

Whenever the sound of the organ fills the church, its powerful sound pressure and rich harmonies bring together thousands of notes, elevating the sense of collective belonging and sacredness felt by the congregation during their singing to an immeasurable degree.

The church in Luberon doesn't have a single pipe organ. If Lourmaran becomes the only village with a pipe organ, it could make many different attempts around religious music and potentially become the focus of attention.

Not only will tourists from other places be attracted by this gimmick, but local devout believers may also come to Lourmaran specifically to participate in the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in order to gain a greater sense of holiness.

Blanco shared his idea with the heads of several relevant government departments, and the conclusions were highly consistent—Lourmaran desperately needed the organ and wished he could buy it from Aix-en-Provence right now.

“Since we need this organ so much, let’s not let Ronan ‘donate’ it. The government should take the lead in running this, and the expenses can be covered by the tourism management center’s accounts.” Claude was in charge of tourism-related work in Lourmaran, and the planning for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary was done by him and his colleagues.

“The market center can also cover this cost, since the organ will eventually end up in the church, so we should pay for it,” said Sylvie, who was in charge of the construction and market development of Lourmaran village.

The strong support from the Vaucluse Tourism Board has made various departments of the Lourmaran government very generous, even though they don't have many staff.

Blanco tapped his notebook a few times with his pen and said with a smile:
"Ronan has made such a great contribution to the village, and they think they can just send him away with a few tens of thousands of francs?"

Everyone realized it was a joke, but they still racked their brains to think of a response.

Ronan did Lourmaran a big favor once again.

The pipe organ can bring a new travel experience to Lourmaran and enhance its prestige among local believers, achieving two goals at once.

The benefits and value brought about by these two events are indeed incomparable to those tens of thousands of francs.

But how can we give more?

Seeing the others looking thoughtful, Blanco began his self-answering mode, speaking again:
“I believe that Ronan doesn’t care how much money was spent on this matter. If he really cared, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to find an organ for his mother. Perhaps this matter can also bring him a ‘win-win’ result.”

Claude pondered for a while, then frowned and said:
"I can't think of any other benefit he could gain from it besides fulfilling his mother's dream."

Blanco smiled and spread his hands:

"How could there be nothing else? Alright, don't interrupt my train of thought. I have some ideas I'd like to discuss with you, which might make the Assumption of Mary celebrations even more unique. We'll talk about Ronan later."

Ronan would take Huhu and Marseille out for a run every morning, sometimes 5 kilometers, sometimes 10 kilometers.

This distance is within his 'comfort zone', and running it won't affect his condition for the day; he'll even feel refreshed after sweating a bit.

Training sessions exceeding 10 kilometers will only be run once a week to avoid excessive physical exertion.

After several 10-kilometer "training runs", Huhu has completely lost its temper. Before, it looked forward to Ronan picking it up, but now it sometimes runs away when it sees Ronan.

Although they still act like they're about to kill the dog when they see Marseille, after each morning run, the sheep and the dog are so exhausted that they can only pant heavily, and the house can be quiet for several hours, and this "quiet" time is getting longer every day.

Marseille has better endurance than Huhu. After running 10 kilometers, he can eat a big meal and then sleep soundly, and his condition will recover immediately.

To increase his training intensity and find his limits in Marseille, Ronan ran 20 kilometers for the first time.

Huhu definitely couldn't keep up for such a long distance; he'd fall behind halfway through. So Ronan called Vieri over and had him drive his pickup truck as a 'support' vehicle.

20 kilometers is enough to run from Lourmarin to Apte, which Ronan certainly couldn't do. His long-distance running route involved circling Lourmarin.

As a 'football prodigy,' Vieri naturally wouldn't obediently follow in his car. He parked his car on the roadside and joined the long-distance running group of one person, one sheep, and one dog.

"You're pretty good. You've already covered 5 kilometers, and you're still keeping up. I remember you haven't exercised in a long time." Ronan has been running for two or three months straight and is already an amateur long-distance running champion.

Although Vieri loves football, he didn't have time to study before the exams, and he immediately entered the workforce after the exams, so he still didn't have time. He hasn't played football in a long time.

“Actually, I play football for a while every night, so it’s not like I don’t exercise at all.” Vieri followed behind Ronan, his breathing sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and his steps unsteady, clearly struggling to keep going.

"Will Isabel accompany you?" Ronan asked with a smile.

If Vieri didn't make an appointment with me, then he must have made an appointment with someone else, and it's obvious who that someone else is.

“Yes, every day after she gets off work, we go for a night stroll, and I bring a football.” Vieri probably didn’t even realize that he had a smile on his lips as he answered.

Ronan's smile was much wider than Vieri's.

“That’s great, that’s great. You used to only have one hobby, football, but now you have two. Oh, by the way, how have you two been getting along lately? If you want to take Isabel out, just let me know in advance, and I’ll take over for her.”

Vieri started working right after graduation and didn't enjoy a long vacation like other graduates, so he naturally didn't have the chance to take his girlfriend out for fun.

Of course, after Luo Tianhai 'retired,' Isabel's importance in the restaurant increased dramatically, and she was quite busy.

However, for the sake of his brother-in-law's happiness, Ronan was willing to give them both a break.

Ideally, these two kids could step up their game and speed things up, so that he and Zoe's kids would have playmates.

Vieri is young, shy, and suffers from intimacy phobia. He can only talk about Isabel a couple of times before feeling embarrassed to say anything more.

He proactively steered the conversation in another direction:
"The second batch of markets has been completed."

At the beginning of last month, Vieri took over the market business, and together with his classmates and the staff previously hired by Ronan, they introduced rosé wine and Chinese food to more specialty markets.

At the end of this month, shortly after Ronan and Zoe's wedding, the second batch of market stalls will be completed, this time staffed entirely by Vieri's classmates.

Ronan tilted his head slightly, glancing at Vieri out of the corner of his eye, and asked:

"This time it seems to have gone much more smoothly? How did you convince your classmates to help?" Last month, Vieri's invitation to his classmates didn't go well; many people refused.

Ronan thought the second batch of move-in would be a long time from now, but he didn't expect that this kid would actually complete the goal within the agreed time.

Vieri's voice came from behind Ronan:
“We just finished our exams last month, and nobody wanted to start working so soon. We played around for a month. Many of the people who had previously turned me down contacted me again. Some people turned me down because they didn’t like the job and wanted to find something better, but after looking around, they found that nothing was as promising as setting up a stall with me.”

"Setting up a street stall has a future?" Ronan asked, half-laughing and half-crying. "Are you trying to fool them?"

In many people's eyes, setting up a street stall is an unstable job, and parents don't want their children to do it.

Vieri said with a smile:
“I didn’t lie to them; they figured it out themselves.”

"What do you want to figure out?" Ronan asked, puzzled.

"Think about why I was able to manage dozens of people right after graduation, figure out who makes the most money in Lourmarin, and figure out who has the best future to follow." Vieri suddenly accelerated past Ronan, adopting a sprinting stance. "I can't go on anymore, I can't keep up with you."

Ronan didn't rush to speed up, continuing at his own pace:
"I don't have that kind of ability. You need to find a chance to explain things clearly to your classmates. Following me might not be a good thing!"

At the 6-kilometer mark, Vieri left the team.

At 9 kilometers, Huhu started to act spoiled, refusing to move forward even while holding onto the ram's horns.

Vieri had no choice but to drive it back to his sister's house, thus completing his mission for the day.

The remaining 11 kilometers were completed by Ronan and Marseille.

Ronan was in good condition, maintaining his pace without much physical reaction or shortness of breath.

As he neared the finish line, he confidently believed that he could try to extend the distance to 30 kilometers next week.

Marseille is in better form than Ronan.

The last part is about running home from Lourmaran.

It probably recognized this as the way home, leaving Ronan far behind, and ran back alone.

Ronan ran home and saw it snuggling in Zoe's arms, wiggling its bottom and making a coquettish nasal sound.

"Did you really run 20 kilometers?" Zoe asked Ronan as he slowly came to a stop, massaging Marseille.

Ronan proudly raised his chin:
"Of course, if I say I'll run 20 kilometers, then I'll run 20 kilometers."

“Baby Marseille is amazing, she actually came back.” Zoe didn’t hold back her praise at all.

"How did you get down here?" Ronan was stretching earnestly, paying great attention to the scientific aspects of exercise.

“I saw Vieri bring Huhu back, and I stayed with it for a while to make sure it was okay before going back. But just as I was about to leave, Contina came looking for you again. I had just seen her off.” After giving Marseille emotional value, Zoe started praising Ronan, “You’re amazing! Contina asked me where you were, and I told her you were running 20 kilometers today and hadn’t come back yet. I really wanted to take a picture of her expression and show it to you. Apparently, they never thought you could run 20 kilometers, let alone complete a marathon.”

"Then why are they forcing me to participate?" Ronan asked, extremely surprised.

When Sylvie "forced" him to agree, she practically raved about him – saying Ronan was a once-in-a-century long-distance running genius in Lourmaran, that she had never seen anyone run so fast, and that Ronan's absence from the competition was a regret for the entire Lourmaran community.

how?

Were you all lying to me?

Zoe, hands on her hips, said:

"Yeah, I'm curious too. If they don't think you have much faith in your abilities, why force you to participate? Condina is still too inexperienced; I actually managed to find out the reason."

Ronan set off early, before the temperature became too hot.

After running 20 kilometers, the sun was already directly overhead.

As soon as I stopped, I sweated even more, feeling like I had been soaked in water.

If there were a glass of rosé wine in front of him at that moment, Ronan would drink it without hesitation.

The thought of this scene made him stop 'complaining' about Sylvie for tricking him into willingly preparing for the marathon.

However, he still wanted to know the reason.

"What's the reason?" Ronan wiped his sweat.

Seeing Ronan covered in sweat, Zoe gave up the urge to kiss him.
"Contina said that you are the 'spiritual symbol' of Lourmaran and are well-known in several nearby villages. Your participation will help with the registration for the competition. She also said that in Petit Luberon, only you can play such a role in attracting people."

First it was Vieri, now it's Zoe.

No, did you two siblings plan this out to make me happy today?

Ronan humbly said:

"That's an exaggeration, really an exaggeration. I don't have that much influence. At most, I can influence the villagers in Lourmaran. Who would know who I am in other villages?"

"How could I not know?" Zoe pointed out seriously, "Wasn't your stall the most popular in Mena Village?"

Ronan thought for a moment and nodded:
"Yes, people who frequently go grocery shopping should all know me."

The Mena Village Market is not only the top choice for tourists, but also the top shopping destination for locals in Petit Luberon.

Those who regularly shop at the Mena Village market all know about Ronan.

This is why Ronan was so determined to open rosé wine shops and Chinese restaurants in every market in Provence—market culture is just too important in Provence.

Zoe's eyes crinkled into a smile, as if she were proud of Ronan:

"Soon more locals will get to know you."

"Why?" Ronan asked, rubbing his engorged thigh. "By the way, what did Contina want with me?"

Zoe proudly raised her head, even happier than when she had achieved her own success:
"Contina said that the government accepted your proposal and agreed to your donation of the pipe organ. You will not have to pay for the transportation, repair and reinforcement of the church, because they are planning to renovate Lourmaran Church, and this renovation will be credited to you."

"What do you mean?" Ronan didn't understand for a moment.

Zoe couldn't resist kissing Ronan on the cheek:
"That means you can get a 9th-century pipe organ for just 5 francs. Don't worry about whether it can be repaired or how to move it; the government will take care of everything. And they'll not only take care of the gift you give to your mother, but also your 'reputation'—the credit for the pipe organ and the church renovation will be attributed to you, and they'll appear on the new Assumption of Mary brochures in every village in Luberon!"

(End of this chapter)