1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 80 Warm Home
"The friend who made furniture with me is a girl. She also came to help me decorate the bedroom." Ronan sat on the bed and touched the sheets.

Zoe was fully involved in decorating her parents' bedroom.

"How old are you? What job do you do? What country are you from?" Feng Zhen sat upright, as if he was interrogating a prisoner.

She had several nightmares in which Ronan married a black man and gave birth to a pair of Middle Eastern twins.

Ronan's fingers tapped rhythmically on the bed sheet:
"I'll have dinner with my friends tomorrow night, and you'll see then."

"You're tired after a day's work. You must be hungry. I'll go make something to eat." After saying that, he got up and went downstairs.

Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen looked at each other and said in unison:

"There is a situation."

Feng Zhen brought a lot of food in her suitcase, most of which could not be bought in Provence.

It was not Ronan’s turn to cook dinner, so Luo Tianhai made noodles that the family of three loved.

"Dumplings on the bus, noodles when you get off." Feng Zhen has another explanation for this.

The three of them sat at the table to eat, and Xiao Hei squatted at Feng Zhen's feet to eat.

Feng Zhen is the type of person who is addicted to being a good person. She is afraid of dogs but still feeds them, under the euphemism of "having fun together".

Ronan tried to stop her, saying that it would make her greedy, but she still fed her secretly.

[Increase happiness by 8 points by tasting dishes made by parents]

Ronan thought that the most delicious thing in the world is the taste of home.

He only gets 4 points of [Happiness] for eating truffles in a Michelin two-star restaurant, and 8 points for eating a bowl of ordinary noodles.
Although this sound only occurred once when taking the first bite, Mr. Jacques knew that he would probably faint in the toilet crying.

My parents were also very happy, and they talked about travel plans for the next three days while eating.

In order to keep "happiness" by his side, Ronan deliberately created many difficulties:

"During Easter, the roads are full of tourists. One of these days, I have to set up a stall at the market. I have to prepare the food before that, so I may not be able to take you to many places. It would be great if you could stay a few more days."

"Let's come again on Labor Day." Feng Zhen picked up a piece of Cantonese sausage bought from a Chinese supermarket in Paris and gave her son.

Luo Tianhai did not blame his wife for promising the Labor Day trip without informing him, and said seriously:
"We'll come here often."

He has already identified with Ronan as a family.

It’s just a five or six hour train ride, it’s no big deal.

Ronan said in a relaxed tone, similar to what to eat tomorrow morning:
"Provence has good air, a good environment, and nice people. Would you consider moving here?"

Feng Zhen poked the noodles a few times with her chopsticks.

Didn't she want her son to be by her side?

Especially here there is such a nice big house.

But... there is no such condition.

"We'll go back and save the money for you." She replied in a relaxed tone, as if talking about tomorrow's weather.

"You don't have to worry about my loan. I have already paid back a lot of it. If I'm lucky, I can pay it all off by the beginning of next spring." Ronan put down his chopsticks.

Luo Tianhai lowered his head and asked:

“Did you make a lot of money digging truffles this year?”

The price of truffles in Paris is more than twice that in Provence. While cooking just now, Luo Tianhai was thinking seriously, how could Ronan live so well in Provence?

The only possibility is that this guy made his fortune from truffles.

Ronan did not hide:

“Yes, I made a lot of money.”

"Truffle digging relies too much on luck. Making money this year doesn't mean you can make money next year." Luo Tianhai smiled at Luo Tian for the first time, "While your mother and I are still young, we can still make more money for you."

"You still have to get married." Feng Zhen echoed.

She hoped to hurry until tomorrow night so that she could see the girl!
"I don't just make money by digging truffles," Ronan argued. "I'm making money now, too."

Luo Tianhai tapped the bowl lightly with his chopsticks. There was no sound, but this meant he was about to get to the point:

"Chinese food doesn't sell that well in France. If it was more acceptable, I would have made money a long time ago. Don't have too high expectations for that business." Luo Tianhai and his friends have opened Chinese restaurants several times.

At best, I could just make a living, but I lost money several times.

He always naively thought that rare things would be liked by foreigners, but he was defeated again and again by the differences in diet and culture.

That's why he was so angry when he knew Ronan was going to invest so much to sell sweet and sour pork at the market.

"I know, that's why we also sell the local specialty pink wine." Ronan said, pointing to the pink liquid in their glasses.

Luo Tianhai waved his hand:
“The income is not stable.”

This time Ronan did not refute:

"Indeed, I used to make 2500 a week, but maybe I can make 3500 this week."

"Huh?" Feng Zhen and Luo Tianhai looked up at the same time.

Ronan picked up his chopsticks and started eating, not continuing the topic:
"The day after tomorrow you will come with me to the market, and we will also take a look around Mena Village."

There is no use in talking more.

Jules said he was going to be "rich" and hoped that his parents' attitude would change if they saw it with their own eyes.

After dinner, the three of them huddled in the living room to watch the TV, which Ronan had only turned on once or twice.

Ronan didn't pay for the TV stations, so he could only watch a few boring state-run radio stations.

Luo Tianhai couldn't watch his favorite France 1 sports channel, and Feng Zhen couldn't watch the French Cultural Channel TV series she followed every day, but all three of them had happy smiles on their faces.

The table was covered with melon seeds, candied fruits and fruit candies brought from Paris, which gave Ronan a feeling of "Chinese New Year".

He looked at his father and then at his mother.

It’s so good. It feels so good.

The early morning sunlight shone through the off-white curtains onto Ronan's face. He turned over and planned to sleep for a while. He could vaguely hear the sound of a kitchen knife hitting a chopping board.

[Waking up in a cozy home increases happiness by 5 points]

Ronan slowly opened his eyes and gradually regained consciousness.

Is there an adjective before the word "home"?

[Happiness] also increased?
"What's so good about Paris?" Ronan imitated the Provencal accent and climbed out of bed.

After having breakfast with his parents at home, Ronan took them around the village of Lourmarin.

Lourmarin is not very big and I can finish visiting it in less than a morning.

There is a market tomorrow, Saturday. Ronan takes them to Freddy's slaughterhouse to buy pork, and then goes to a winery 10 kilometers away to buy 30 bottles of rosé wine. They go home in the afternoon to prepare for the market together.

Ronan prepared a lot more goods today than usual, but fortunately with the help of his parents, he finished it by around four in the afternoon.

After following Ronan for a while, Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen experienced firsthand the difficulties and growth of their son.

The way Ronan picks pork is more serious and professional than Luo Tianhai, who has been working in the catering industry for decades.

He would even try to curry favor with his boss in order to get 5 francs off the price of a bottle of wine.

These were aspects of Ronan they had never seen in Paris.

"The child has grown up," Feng Zhen said with emotion as she looked at the busy Ronan.

"No matter how old he is, he is still a child." Luo Tianhai took out some pork from the pork prepared for tomorrow.

"What are you doing?" Ronan asked, turning back.

Luo Tianhai put them in the bag, together with the pink wine and Chinese snacks that he was going to take to Karl's house:
"With so many people going to someone else's house for dinner, it's not enough to just bring wine and snacks. I'm going to show them my skills."

Ronan said that his friends loved to eat sweet and sour pork, so Luo Tianhai planned to make a authentic sweet and sour pork for them to try.

Can the brat’s food taste better than his?

Ronan smiled strangely:
"it is good."

　Thanks to [book friend 20200917012114445] for the reward, and also thanks to the friends who voted for the monthly ticket and recommendation ticket recently, thank you~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)