1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 76: Get up where you fell

“Don’t forget why you’re doing this.”

Ronan forced himself to pull himself away from the 'aftertaste' of what had just happened.

[Construction] can be upgraded to level 3.

How much can the ability be improved?
As his skills upgraded, the unfamiliar professional vocabulary that originally existed in his mind were connected together like a thread.

Many structural designs that I couldn't understand before now have clear understandings.

At this point, he had mastered the structure and manufacturing principles of most commonly used furniture.

At the same time, some knowledge about house construction has also been added, and Ronan plans to try it out sometime in the future.

While Zoe was eating, he lowered his head and began to draw the blueprint seriously.

Zoe ate a little quickly and came back.

She couldn't let go of the work and the people in the workshop.

But when he reached the door, his originally swift pace gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

A noticeable blush crept up Zoe's cheeks again.

She shook her head vigorously a few times, throwing away all the erotic images in her imagination:
"Now is not the time to think about this. You have more important things to do."

"Just pretend nothing happened. You don't know Ronan bit the pencil, and Ronan doesn't know you bit the pencil. Don't let this affect the progress."

After preparing herself mentally, Zoe took a few deep breaths and walked in as usual.

Ronan saw Zoe coming back and stood up in panic:
"Have you eaten?"

The pencil in my hand felt slightly hot.

Certain memories began to attack him.

Zoe sat down naturally and picked up another pencil:
"Ah."

Suddenly she said "Hmm?" again and looked carefully at the drawing Ronan had drawn.

She unexpectedly discovered that Ronan's drawings were clean and clear, as if he had a certain foundation in art.

What surprised her even more was that Ronan actually drew a detailed structure that had troubled her for several hours.

"Have you studied art?" Zoe asked, looking up.

Seeing that Zoe was doing fine, Ronan's tension eased a little:
"I studied interior design, have you forgotten?"

Artistic skills are not brought by the system. Ronan can indeed draw, and he draws quite well.

Zoe nodded and looked at the drawings again.

Ten seconds later, she squatted on the ground, picked up a piece of wood that she had processed before, looked at the blueprint, and looked at the cross section of the wood:
"I should have thought of it earlier"

She asked Ronan excitedly:
"How did you come up with the idea?"

Ronan picked up a picture Zoe had drawn earlier and said:
"You thought about changing the structure before, and I was inspired by this. Then I tried all the treatment methods you taught me one by one, and I drew this."

He asked doubtfully:
“Is it drawn correctly?”

"It's drawn correctly." Zoe picked up a few other boards and checked them. "You can keep these materials. You don't have to redo them."

"Great!" Ronan smiled happily.

Thankfully, the acting was much more natural this time around.

Zoe put down the wood, sat next to Ronan, and took the initiative to put the blueprint between the two of them:
"You have a better talent for drawing than me, take a look at the others."

There is not just one difficulty point, there are several.

Ronan said righteously:
"I don't have any talent. You taught me well. I told you that you are a very good teacher."

Zoe bit her lip hard to hold back her laughter, but she still managed to laugh out loud.

She looked at the pencil in Ronan's hand that was full of holes from being bitten by her.

Did I teach you to bite a pen?

Ronan naturally noticed where Zoe was looking at:

"actually."

Zoe patted Ronan's arm gently and said in a coaxing tone:
"Okay, let's get down to business first. Let's get it done quickly."

Seeing Ronan shut up and look down at the picture, Zoe's smile shifted to her heart. He's quite obedient.

About half a minute passed.

"Actually, there's no need to be so anxious." Ronan suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

Zoe's heart skipped a beat and she turned to look at Ronan beside her.

At this moment, the distance between her and Ronan was less than half a fist. This glance made her heart beat violently again, as if it was about to burst out of her chest.

Ronan also slowly turned his head and looked directly into Zoe's beautiful light blue eyes:

"It's good to take it slow, isn't it?"

Zoe's gaze began to move downwards uncontrollably again, looking at the part that was opening and closing, but the sound of "galloping war horses" coming from far away pulled her out of her emotions.

She clenched her fists silently and turned her head back.

Mom knew to let Ronan stay, so why didn’t she know to stop Vieri?

This damn guy comes here every day after finishing his homework. Does he want to die?

Ronan's acting skills are not superb, but he is good enough to deal with Zoe.

He cleverly designed scenarios one by one, creating the 'illusion' that all difficulties were solved by him and Zoe together.

Zoe also devoted some of her energy to "punishing" Vieri that night. When she calmed down and concentrated on studying the drawings, she found that all the problems had been solved and she could proceed directly to the next step.

After that, Ronan and Zoe worked overtime and finally completed this beautiful two-player campaign three days before Easter.

Mrs. Leah prepared a small 'celebration dinner' that evening.

It should have been a happy occasion, but everyone at the table had a sad face.

Ronan felt that the way everyone looked at him was even stranger, and this time even Zoe was no exception.

Ronan finished his meal with fear and trepidation, and walked to the old tavern, intending to have a real celebration.

"Long time no see!" The boss took the initiative to pour Ronan a glass of pink wine when he saw him, "How are the preparations for welcoming your parents?"

The old tavern was a gathering place for farmers. When Ronan went to help in other people's fields in the morning, he often mentioned what he had been doing recently. As a result, the news that his parents were coming spread in Lourmarin.

"Everything is ready." Ronan took the pink wine and saw a group of people gathered in the corner, shouting excitedly, but there were too many people and Ronan couldn't see clearly what was inside.

"What's going on over there?" he asked his boss.

"Oh, over there..." The boss put the unlit cigarette to his nose and sniffed it, "Lucas is arm wrestling with Cornell."

"Lucas and Cornell arm wrestling?" Ronan thought he had misheard.

When the farmers have nothing else to do, they do like to play rough games that require physical effort, but they only choose opponents who are of similar age.

Lucas and Cornell are almost twenty years apart in age. What is there to compare between them?

"It's amazing, isn't it?" The boss lit up a cigarette and squinted his eyes to blow out a smoke ring. "Lucas has been picking on young people lately. This lunatic."

Lucas didn't come to the old tavern often, and Ronan had only seen him here once.

But from what the boss said, he comes here often recently?
Suddenly, deafening clapping, stamping and whistling broke out from the direction of the crowd.

This was followed by the sound of Cornell swearing.

The crowd automatically parted, and Lucas walked out laughing, holding a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Lucas won again." The boss laughed twice and went to work somewhere else.

Ronan withdrew his gaze and drank the wine in front of him silently.

A few seconds later, I saw a dark figure sitting next to me out of the corner of my eye.

Lucas took a sip of wine from the bottle and asked generously:
"how are things?"

Ronan wanted to lightly mock him:

Not bad, you look good too, and you even have the energy to arm wrestle with young people.

But when he turned and saw Lucas' face, any teasing mood disappeared.

Lucas had lost a lot of weight and looked much more haggard. When he smiled, wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth that had never been seen before.

"What's wrong with you?" Ronan asked worriedly.

(End of this chapter)