1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 138 Ronan must be crazy!

When Blanco arrived at Ronan's house, Ronan went to the old tavern to drink.

There are only his parents at home.

But Blanco felt that this did not affect what he was going to say next.

The last time I came to persuade Ronan to set up a stall in Lourmarin, I could see that his mother was the "head of the family".

Ronan refused Blanco's proposal many times, but as soon as her mother asked, it was done.

Ronan also said that his father had done many catering-related businesses, so these two were the more key figures behind the scenes.

If Ronan's parents could be convinced first, it would definitely be easy to convince Ronan.

Feng Zhen has gradually understood the living habits of the Provencal people. For example, she knows that when guests come, they should be poured wine instead of water.

We also know that when guests visit, there is a high possibility that they are here to see the bathroom.

"Would you like to go to the bathroom?" she invited enthusiastically.

Blanco couldn't help laughing:

"I believe Ronan must have inherited his excellence from you, but I've already visited."

The last time he came to Ronan's house, Ronan asked the same question.

What an interesting mother and son.

"Oh, so what is the purpose of your visit this time?" Feng Zhen stretched out the last syllable.

She and Luo Tianhai have been living in Provence for less than a week. What could the village chief want from them?

"I don't know if Ronan has told you about what has happened recently, but I want to thank you for raising a very outstanding son. The government and Ronan have cooperated on several 'projects', and he has helped Lourmarin attract many tourists." Blanco said in a grateful tone.

Feng Zhen glanced at Luo Tianhai.

Our son is so awesome?

Luo Tianhai is very experienced in dealing with this kind of "topic":
“Thank you to the government for its confidence in Ronan.”

The men at the party always praised Ronan in front of him, and he could now say different things to different people.

Blanco waved his hand:
"Ronan is a villager that the Lourmarin government attaches great importance to, so when there is an opportunity for further cooperation, he is still the first person we think of."

Feng Zhen sat upright:

"What kind of collaboration is this?"

Blanco pointed in the direction of the castle:

"We have built a commercial street there, and perhaps in the future it will be the place with the largest flow of tourists."

There are many similar commercial streets in Paris. Feng Zhen understood immediately:
"That's a good thing, but what does it have to do with us?"

Blanco looked at Luo Tianhai:

"We hope to have a restaurant on that street that represents the highest level of Lourmarin. I wonder if you are interested?"

Luo Tianhai refused without even thinking:

"No."

Opening a restaurant was his lifelong nightmare.

He never wants to open a restaurant again!
Luo Tianhai's reaction was within Blanco's expectations.

Opening a restaurant in Lourmarin is different from opening a restaurant in Paris.

There are guests there all year round, but in Lourmarin there is business only half of the year.

"Lourmarin's visitor flow has increased. According to our calculations, it's 1.38 times higher than before. This means that even if there are only six months of tourists, we can still reach the same level of revenue as before in a whole year. I have some current data on Lourmarin restaurants. Are you interested in listening to it?"

Luo Tianhai blurted out:

"You don't have to tell me, we are not considering opening a restaurant."

Blanco frowned slightly, but remained undeterred.

He had become accustomed to rejection during this time.

This time, he looked at Ronan's mother:

"In our plan, we will build a landmark building on this road in the future. It will be a very beautiful fountain designed by a famous designer from the Aix Design Institute. The shop behind that check-in point will have a huge flow of people. I can leave this location for you."

The Vaucluse Tourism Office said there was no memorable building in Lourmarin, so they built one.

Apt’s landmarks are modern buildings, which do not necessarily have to have historical traces.

Feng Zhen said regretfully:

"Sorry, Mr. Village Chief, it's not a problem of location."

Luo Tianhai once opened a noodle shop with his friends near the Paris train station.

The flow of people at Paris train station must be greater than that of Lourmarin, right?
It’s still yellow!

Blanco sighed imperceptibly.

It’s not a matter of location, and I don’t want to look at the data, so there is only one reason - this is also the point that other Lourmarin villagers cannot accept the most.

All the shops in Lourmarin were previously privatized residences.

To explain it another way, the villagers simply use the first floor or backyard of their homes for other things, and the other places are still their homes.

If anyone really wants to open a new shop or cafe in Lourmarin, they can just use their own land.

Why do we have to go to that commercial street?

And you have to pay
The villagers who have lived in their ancestral houses for generations have never had the concept of "rent".

As soon as I heard the government say I needed to pay "a little money", I immediately started to resist.

But Blanc believes that Ronan's family are all from Paris and they will definitely understand.

"That street was built to improve tourism infrastructure, just like building a 'tourist attraction'. The purpose is to enhance Lourmarin's overall image, attract more tourists, and stimulate further investment. The government has never considered recovering costs through 'rent', only charging a small fee for management and maintenance."

Luo Tianhai's attitude remains firm:

“I hope Lourmarin will develop better and better in the future, but I’m sorry, Mr. Village Chief, we will not consider opening a store here.”

Blanco couldn't force a smile anymore.

Why are Ronan's parents more resolute than those villagers?
After hearing this, other villagers would at least think about it, or consider it for a day or two before giving an answer. However, Ronan's parents did not even need the slightest bit of time to think. They came to a conclusion directly.

Even Ronan's parents can't be convinced, how can we convince Ronan? !

Blanco left without waiting for Ronan to come home.

He decided to go back and discuss with other colleagues before contacting Ronan. Ronan, the focal point of Lourmarin, was undoubtedly their last hope. If he also disagreed, they could only look for residents from other villages to open a store in Lourmarin.

But it was a terrible situation.

It is also a huge shame for him as the village chief!

When Ronan returned home for dinner, his parents talked to him about what happened in the afternoon and said that the village chief had been there.

"Blanco really picked a good time." After listening to his parents' whole story, Ronan couldn't help laughing.

"It's not easy to have a few days of good life. We can't open a restaurant again." Feng Zhen thought of the bad memories in the past and shook her head wildly.

In Ronan's family, opening a restaurant is often associated with 'living a hard life'.

As long as Luo Tianhai opened a restaurant, their family's economic conditions and living standards would plummet.

I'm afraid I'm afraid.

Luo Tianhai sighed:
"I will definitely not do this again. Setting up a stall in the market is good. It's stable and there's no pressure. If I want to make more money, I can join more places. Zoe has the contact information of several village market management centers. I'll look for them carefully next week."

Ronan picked up the chopsticks with a smile:

"Now you think setting up a stall is a good idea? You said before that this job is unstable and it's not nice to say it out loud. You also said I was a 'vagrant'."

Feng Zhen smiled and joked:

"That's because your father has old-fashioned ideas! I've always thought that setting up stalls is great, it's so free, and the market is lively too."

Luo Tianhai's face turned red when he heard this:
“Making money is the most important thing.”

He didn't come to Provence to retire, he came to Provence to help his son make money.

Ronan took a bite of Luo Tianhai's specialty dish, 'Four Happiness Meatballs', and squinted his eyes happily.

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

"I think I can try it again." He said with oily mouth.

Ronan's words scared his parents so much that they put down their chopsticks at the same time.

He quickly waved his hand, indicating that he should finish what he said first:
"There is absolutely no problem with my father's skills. He has accumulated countless valuable experiences in the catering industry for so many years. His previous failure was due to his poor integration and failure to take advantage of the right time and place."

Ronan pointed at himself with chopsticks and said:
"But I can localize Chinese food and make it familiar to the locals in Provence. We have the right time and right place. Lourmarin is developing rapidly. Let's see what the government is focusing on now. What have they been doing in the past few months? Tourism, tourism, and tourism! Now is a good time and it can save me a lot of energy."

Corentin once said that if you want to do something successfully in Provence, you cannot do without the support of the government. If you can "ride the wind" of the government, you will be half successful.

Luo Tianhai frowned and said:
“But Lourmarin is so dependent on tourists that half the year there are no tourists, which is dangerous.”

Ronan said nonchalantly:

"The absence of tourists does not mean that no one will eat. It depends on how we promote and operate the business."

Mr. Jacques' Michelin restaurant has no obvious off-season or peak season and is always crowded every day.

Even in winter, people will drive an hour or two from other parts of Provence to go there.

"How do you plan to promote and operate it?" Luo Tianhai asked his son.

"I don't understand operations, which is what you are good at, but we definitely have no shortage of publicity methods—" Ronan picked up the bowl, "The markets in Mena Village and Lourmarin are the best publicity channels. We meet so many people every week, and even more people pass by us. The flow of people is very large."

Ines said that this is the 'information' age, and Ronan couldn't agree more.

But he felt that magazines and TV dramas were too far apart.

Promoting my restaurant and letting you taste my cooking right on the spot, isn't this a more efficient means of promotion?

The market in Mena Village has nearly one million visitors every year, and this number will continue to increase in the future. Add to that the market in Lourmarin. Isn't this more than the exposure in magazines?

What magazine can sell 100 million copies?

Maybe, but Ronan doesn't have that much money.

"But opening a restaurant is a huge investment, son. Rent, decoration, and furniture all cost money!" Feng Zhen is quite concerned about this.

It was these bottomless pits that devoured their family savings time and time again.

"Don't worry about the money. I have it." Ronan ate in silence. "And it won't cost too much. I can make the furniture myself, or buy stone ones. It's not expensive. I also plan to do the decoration myself."

He said with great anticipation:
“I want to decorate it into the most distinctive place in Lourmarin!”

You are not allowed to visit my bathroom anymore, come and visit my restaurant!

Now the pillar of the family is Ronan. Luo Tianhai knows that it is useless for him to say anything, but he still reminds him:

"Don't rush to make a decision. Think about it again. Are you so sure that opening a restaurant in Lourmarin will make money?"

Ronan blurted out:

“Even if we don’t make money in the next two years, we will definitely make money in the future.”

In the future, Lourmarin will be known as the "most beautiful village in France" along with the village of Meine.

You tell me it's not profitable to open a restaurant on the most important commercial street and behind the most important landmark building in the "most beautiful village in France"?

It’s a question of how much you earn!

Ronan hesitated before his parents repeated Blanco's description.

After hearing those details, he was absolutely sure to take on this "cooperation".

Luo Tianhai stopped talking, but his expression remained serious.

Feng Zhen looked at Luo Tianhai and advised:
"Every decision my son makes is incomprehensible to us, but he proves time and again that his choices are right. Lao Luo, listen to your son and open the car again."

Take out a loan to buy a house, move to Provence, give up your previous job to become a farmer, and set up a stall at the market
Ronan has done so many "unbelievable" things this year, but look, we have now moved to Provence to live.

Just believe him!

After thinking for a long time, Luo Tianhai smiled and shook his head, then took the initiative to pick up the wine glass:
"Okay, let's listen to you and my son. Let's do it again."

"Let's cheer together!" The three of them clinked their glasses as if in a ritual.

Seeing that the matter had come to a conclusion, Feng Zhen asked Ronan:
"Then go find the village chief and tell him we've changed our minds."

Ronan wiped his mouth:

"Don't worry, wait until I'm done with these few days."

Ronan's parents didn't understand why he wanted to open a restaurant, but they chose to believe him.

But Pires was a big mouth, and as the cost of the modification increased from 7000, to 8000, and then to 9000 francs,
The whole village of Lourmarin was in an uproar.

It's not the truffle picking season now, but is that kid Ronan still so rich?

But no matter how rich you are, you shouldn't spend so much on car repairs.
Is he crazy?

(End of this chapter)