1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 15 It's About Me Now

Mrs. Chelsea's restaurant.

At the same location, Zoe ordered the same food as last week.

After three rounds of meals, seeing that Zoe had slowed down, Ronan asked the question that he had not delved into just now.

"How do you know my age?"

In order to make people around him completely ignore his "Parisian" identity, Ronan would deliberately avoid talking about personal information.

Zoe drank the dessert wine calmly:
"I saw it in my dad's contract."

It is a reasonable explanation that the real estate agent responsible for the transfer of ownership knows the basic information of the client.

But Zoe was worried that Ronan would ask, "Do you have the habit of looking at your father's client information?", so she didn't give him time to respond and changed the subject:
"Alan has the tables, chairs, and parasols. Choose a tablecloth that coordinates with the truffles."

The market management center arranged a stall for Ronan on the other side, and he can set up his stall there next week.

Ronan's thoughts were distracted by Zoe. After a moment's hesitation, he asked tentatively:
"Can I share a booth with you?"

Zoe was briefly stunned, and her first reaction was, "Is he deliberately creating an intersection with me?", but she quickly overturned this guess.

They met each other at family gatherings every week, but Ronan never showed any enthusiasm for her.

Moreover, Ronan's way of passing the time is to go to the old bar to drink. If he is interested in her, he should find opportunities to go to her house more often.

"Why?" Zoe asked without any fluctuation in her voice. In fact, she was shocked that she could produce so many psychological activities in just a few seconds.

Ronan said sincerely:

“As you can see, I can make money from truffles, but I don’t have a car.”

The truffles sold so well that they were more sought-after and popular than he had expected.

Some customers only look but do not buy not because they do not like the products but because the size is not suitable. Maybe they just want to buy a small piece to satisfy their craving, but the ones sold by Ronan are too big.

He was sure that no matter how much he dug out, he could sell it easily.

Now it is almost February and the truffle picking season is only about to end. Ronan will try to dig out more during this time to install heating, replace windows and buy his own car.

All of these require the help of Louis's car.

Sharing a stall with Zoe can increase Zoe's income. Ronan hopes to use this method to exchange for certain usage rights of the car.

Many people at the market did this, and he had even seen stalls selling both honey and seafood, so truffles and utensils were not a strange combination.

In fact, even if Ronan didn't do this, the enthusiastic Louis would definitely lend him the car, but Ronan felt bad about it.

After many contacts, he has seen why Louis treats him as a "guest of honor", but Ronan has no rich friends who can come to Provence to invest.

Having received Chinese-style education since childhood, he doesn't want to owe too many favors to others.

Zoe was happy about Ronan's confession. At least she didn't have to guess anymore. But she also felt a faint but hard-to-ignore sense of loss in her heart:
"You don't have to do this and you can use that car. My dad's work is not that busy in the winter and he only drives out when he needs to do shopping."

Ronan smiled and shrugged his shoulders:

"Even if we are brothers by blood, we still need to settle accounts clearly."

Seeing Zoe staring at the table with a serious expression, Ronan raised his eyebrows:
"If you don't agree, I can only treat you to dinner every Friday."

Ronan had indeed planned this in his mind. Three seconds ago, he heard another refreshing voice:
[Having lunch with an attractive person of the opposite sex increases happiness by 5 points]

Zoe looked helplessly at the sincere and happy "child" opposite her, secretly complaining about how he could make her "think about things" with every word he said, and finally compromised:

"Okay, you and I can share a booth."

After dinner, Ronan walked along the main road holding Zoe's box of unsold works:
“What to do with the rest?”

Zoe can make more than a dozen pieces a week, but only sells a few at the market.

"We can continue to sell them at other markets, or send them to specialty stores, but the prices will be greatly discounted."

"Which store is it?"

There were no shops specializing in ceramics and glass products in the village of Lourmarin, which made Ronan curious.

He has not left here and visited other villages.

"I usually send them to Mena Village," Zoe said truthfully.

Mena Village, a member of the Golden Triangle, has more developed commercial and supporting facilities. "When are you going? Can you take me with you?" Ronan asked excitedly.

Zoe pointed to the box in his arms:

"I'll save up a batch first. After all, it's not easy to go there. Are you sure you want to come with me? There will be much more than this."

Ronan made a relaxed expression and shook the box in his hand:
“It doesn’t matter how heavy it is!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ronan felt his hand lighten and the box was in someone else's arms.

Henry showed his rotten teeth and said to Ronan enthusiastically:
"Going home? I'll help you move back."

Ronan and Zoe looked at each other, as if asking each other what was going on.

Zoe and Henry had no intersection, and even avoided him because of his bad reputation.

Ronan had had a quarrel with Henry, so it was impossible for him to take the initiative to help him.

"I'll do it myself." Ronan snatched the box back, gave Zoe a look, and they both quickened their pace.

Henry laughed dryly like a crow, then left with Ronan and Zoe.

"Are we going to the old tavern later?" Henry was obviously asking Ronan.

Ronan shook his head:
"Don't go."

Not only will he not go today, he won't go in the next few days either. He is going to pick truffles.

Henry scratched his hair with his dry fingers:
“The winners will be announced today.”

Today is the deadline for the truffle competition.

Ronan asked curiously:

“Who will take first place?”

There is no need to wait until the last minute, the result will most likely have come out long ago.

Henry sneered:

"Theo's brother Lucas, that guy has a purebred wirehaired retriever that can smell truffles a kilometer away. That's cheating!"

Ronan automatically ignored Henry's habitual dissatisfaction with the world, but captured some useful information from it.

Provence Wirehaired Hound?

A breed of dog specifically designed to hunt for truffles?

Ronan memorized this key information.

"Congratulations to him." Ronan casually agreed.

Henry gave Ronan a friendly but terrifying smile:

"If I were you, I would definitely go to the old tavern for a couple of drinks today. Everyone there would like to buy you a drink."

Ronan raised his eyebrows and shook his head at him:
"Thank those people for me, and let them drink a few more glasses for me."

Henry followed beside her, and Zoe became silent again. Ronan brought up a few topics, but when he got no response, he shut up.

This couldn't help but make his impression of Henry even worse.

He also wanted to ask Zoe about other villages!
Henry didn't notice anything unusual. Wasn't that girl the type who kept people at a distance?
Ronan is really sick!

There are so many enthusiastic girls in the village, why do they have to be so attentive to this ice lump?

When she was almost at Zoe's door, she finally spoke:

"I'll tell my dad about that."

Ronan heard that she was talking about "borrowing a car" and tried to stop her:
"No, I'll talk to Louis myself. This is between him and me."

He clearly remembered Zoe saying something like 'That was between you and my dad, now it's between me and you', there was no need to involve her.

Zoe snatched the thing from his hand, and her blue eyes, which could speak, blocked all Ronan's words of refusal:
"It's about me now."

(End of this chapter)