1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 178 Enthusiastic Wooden Man
In order to get closer to Master Ronan who was experiencing life, Thomas pointed at the huge cutting machine and praised it:

"You are amazing. You can actually use the 'cutter'."

Ronan took off his earplugs and carefully put them away:

"Thanks, but this isn't a 'cutter'. It's a table saw."

Thomas laughed awkwardly. He didn't know what a table saw was, but that didn't stop him from continuing to brag:

"Anyway, it's great."

Ronan asked them politely:

"Did something happen just now that caused you to misunderstand? My friends wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for you."

Cotillard felt that Ronan's attitude was unexpectedly sincere and that he seemed easy to get along with, so he directly stated his purpose:

"It must be a misunderstanding, but it's lunch time, Thomas and I want to have lunch with you."

Thomas spread his hands:
"We should get to know each other as quickly as possible, right? There will definitely be opportunities for cooperation in the future, so we can start chatting first."

We all have businesses on the same commercial street, so there will definitely be things we can do to help each other in the future. For example, if I buy my stone tools, I can get a discount when I eat at your place, or if I eat at your place, I can get a small stone tool gift or something like that.

Ronan scratched his head:
"But I have to go to my girlfriend for lunch at noon and give her a handheld electric saw. I'm afraid I can't do that today."

He asked embarrassedly:
"Can we do it some other time?"

Thomas and Cotillard looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

What a poor excuse, isn't Ronan's girlfriend an artist who works with glass and ceramics?

Do you need a chainsaw?
"Okay, let's make an appointment another day." Thomas and Cotillard left with some disappointment.

It seemed that Ronan did not want to make friends with them. In fact, the workers outside and Ronan's "steward" had already given them the answer.

Thomas whispered to Cotillard as they moved a little further away:

"Is he too immersed in the role? He got such professional tools. Is he going to make furniture himself? He reminded me of Pierre Cardin who designed toilets. He is really rich and willful."

In Provence, many people know that Mr. Pierre Cardin once had a failed experience in designing toilets, which was a huge joke.

Cotillard stroked his afro and said:
"It's also unlucky to be his girlfriend. What woman wants to talk about chainsaws with her boyfriend? It drives me crazy just thinking about it."

Cotillard looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he wanted to give the "middle finger" that he had just failed to give. Turning back, he saw that Ronan had also taken off his shirt and was shaking off the sawdust on his clothes.

Ronan has a great body. His six months as a farmer have allowed him to develop strong and well-proportioned muscles.

"Okay. It's not impossible." Cotillard didn't give the middle finger in the end.

Women don’t like to talk about chainsaws, but they love to look at good-looking and attractive men.

In front of Louis' house.

"From now on, I will bring a change of clothes to the restaurant every day, so I don't have to bother you to help me dust every day."

Even though Ronan had carefully 'tidyed up' his clothes once, Zoe still helped him do a professional dusting again.

"I'm not tired, I'm just worried that you might inhale it into your lungs." Zoe asked seriously, "Have you taken precautions today?"

Ronan carefully took out the earplugs from his pocket:

"Of course! You prepared all the gloves, masks, glasses, and earplugs for me!"

Zoe attached great importance to protection work. Knowing that Ronan had to deal with sawdust every day, she spent more than 1000 francs to buy Ronan a set of protective gear with super high protection standards.

The ones she used herself were not that expensive.
Feeling that it was almost done, Zoe put away the tools and touched Ronan's chin twice as if to encourage him:
"I'll get you another mask this afternoon, come in and eat."

Recently, Ronan would come to see Zoe whenever he had time. It all started when he borrowed a full set of carpentry machine tools from Cafu.

Since I have decided to save money, I must make as much of the restaurant furniture as possible myself.

It would be impossible to finish the task even if Ronan used only those small planes and saws.

Power tools are very expensive, and Ronan doesn't have much money, so he can't bear to buy them.

One day he was chatting with Cafu and learned that Cafu had a complete set of tools and machinery. It just so happened that he didn't need them at the moment, so Ronan borrowed them and put them in the restaurant.

Ronan and Zoe were both manual workers before, and when they suddenly got the power tools, they were as excited as if they had their favorite toys.

Whenever Ronan had any experience using something, he would come and share it with Zoe, and Zoe would also get some small mechanical tools from Ronan to try out.

The two people have a common hobby and they both truly love it, so the boring furniture making becomes a sweet date.

Because of this set of mechanical tools, the frequency of meetings has greatly increased.

"What I got you today is an electric circular saw." After dinner, Ronan went to Zoe's woodworking workshop to introduce her to today's 'toy'.

There are three types of handheld chainsaws at Kafu:
Circular saws, jigsaws and reciprocating saws.

In comparison, electric circular saws are applicable in more scenarios and are easier for girls to use.

Compared with the table saw he currently uses, it can also save the trimming step.

The table saw is an ideal tool for "large woodworking", but it needs to be trimmed with a plane and wood router after cutting, but its advantage is its high efficiency.

Zoe put on a full set of protective tools, plugged in the power, and was eager to start cutting wood.

Ronan reminded:
"A plug-in hand-held saw is more powerful than a battery-powered hand-held saw, so you have to be careful and hold it steady."

Zoe unplugged the power cord and asked Ronan with a smile:
"Can you tell me where all this mechanical knowledge came from? If I remember correctly, four months ago you couldn't even draw a blueprint, and you still needed me to teach you how to do it step by step."

Before Ronan decorated the restaurant, Zoe hadn't done carpentry with Ronan for a long time, and her memory was still stuck in the stage when Ronan was an obedient "student".

Ronan had brought a lot of small machines recently. Zoe had wanted to study them with him and make progress together, but she didn't expect that Ronan has become her teacher now and can teach her how to use them every time.

Ronan attributed the reason to his decoration experience:

"How many times have I renovated recently? I've seen Kafu more times than you. You'll learn after seeing him more often. Don't be distracted. These things are dangerous."

Zoe does have a lot of 'crafts', but she can't be considered proficient except for glass and ceramics.

Taking carpentry as an example, Ronan’s skill is not as strong as Zoe’s at level 2, but it exceeds Zoe at level 3. If it is upgraded to level 4, the difference in strength will be even greater.

Ronan guessed that Zoe's other 'skills' such as rope art were probably of a similar level, just hobbies she had before college.

But ceramics and glass are much more capable.

Ronan's system also has the two skills of [Pottery Making] and [Glass Firing]. There is no "Rope Art", but there is a skill called [Weaving].

Ronan guessed that [weaving] should be related to rope art, and maybe he could learn to knit sweaters. He could try to learn level one later if he had a chance. Retracting his thoughts, Ronan continued to "threaten" Zoe:
"If you hurt yourself, I won't bring you 'toys' anymore."

Zoe plugged in the power and said calmly:
"If you don't take me with you, I'll go there and use it by myself. Your restaurant can't run away. After I deliver the work, I'll go to the restaurant and make furniture with you."

After returning from Aix, Zoe immediately sent photos of her works to the three art institutions that had contacted her before.

One of them responded immediately and asked her to send her works to Aix, but not to put them in an exhibition, but to consign them to an art store in Aix.

Zoe didn't want to make 'quick money' and turned down the agency.

I had already prepared myself mentally to continue making plates and cups without any changes in my life, but I did not expect to receive replies from two other organizations this week - they met the requirements for participating in the exhibition.

This week she will continue to go to Aix to present her works.

However, Zoe did not let Ronan pick her up this time. First of all, Ronan's time is precious now. Secondly, she might have to travel frequently in the future and it is impossible for Ronan to pick her up every time. That would be a waste of time.

Zoe has been practicing driving recently, and this time she will drive to Aix by herself, but Louis will accompany her.

After Zoe has practiced a few more times, she will be able to go to all activities in Provence by herself in the future, and if she leaves Provence, she can let Ronan take her there.

"No need." Ronan shook his head. "With these tools, I can make things very quickly. You don't need to help me."

Zoe turned on the chainsaw and said in a firm tone:
"I'm not going to help you. I'm going to fall in love. Please pay close attention to what I'm doing."

The roar of the huge chainsaw drowned out Ronan's words of refusal.

Finding a team of artisans in Provence is a matter of luck.

Not every boss is called Cafu, and not every person is a working machine.

They often ask for leave with various excuses, such as the weather is bad and they are not in the mood to work, they want to go on a picnic, they broke their arm on the way to work, etc.

Fortunately, Thomas and Cotillard are both experienced people and know how to specify the construction period when signing the contract with the craftsmen.

But this only ensures that they open within the stipulated time, but cannot prevent the absence of workers.

On this day, the plumber hired by Godia took a leave of absence. In order not to affect the construction period, the bricklayer had to take over the plumber's work for the day, but he was "absent from work" after working for only an hour.

“Sidu didn’t mark the location of the pipes, so I don’t know how to get them.”

"Can't we redefine the location of the pipes? Is there only one way to route water pipes in the kitchen?" Cotillard asked angrily.

The bricklayer shrugged:

“But I’m a bricklayer.”

Cotillard had no choice but to ask Thomas for help.

Everyone starts work at about the same time, so the progress of decoration should also be about the same.

"I'm sorry, Cotillard, my plumber also took a day off today. He said his mother wanted to eat apricots from Roussillon, so he went to pick apricots for her." Thomas laughed.

"Why don't we go to Ronan's place?" Thomas suggested. "That team looks professional enough, and there are a lot of people there."

Although they were very reluctant, they came to Ronan's restaurant again.

As soon as they entered, they panicked. It seemed that the water and electricity circuits of Ronan Restaurant had been completed. So fast?

"Excuse me, is there a plumber who can come to my restaurant and take a look? I'm having some trouble there," Cotillard asked for help.

A sweaty worker said:
"You guys go back first, I'll ask him, if there's any, I'll ask him to come find you."

"Thank you."

About 10 minutes passed.

A 'wooden man' appeared at the door of Cotillard's restaurant:

"I heard you need help?"

Cotillard's facial expression changed four or five times in just one second:

"I appreciate you coming, but I need a plumber, not a carpenter."

Ronan politely shook some sawdust at the door:

"Take me to see it."

Half an hour later, Ronan drew some pictures on the wall and left.

"Why follow his markings?" the bricklayer asked Cotillard.

"Do you think there's something wrong with his painting?" Cotillard asked.

"I'm just a bricklayer." The bricklayer shrugged.

Cotillard gave him a middle finger:
"Go ahead, go ahead."

She didn't know whether Ronan was professional or not, but he should be more professional than this bricklayer!
A few days later, Towers's bricklayer took a leave of absence, and the floor work of the entire house came to a standstill.

He had to go to Ronan's restaurant again for help.

Ten minutes later, the enthusiastic 'wooden man' appeared again.

"need any help?"

Thors took off his glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes vigorously:
"First it was carpentry, then plumbing, and now you're getting to experience bricklaying?"

Master Ronan!

How many lives do you want to experience?

The wooden man shook his head, and sawdust flew everywhere:

"I'm not a carpenter, a plumber, or a bricklayer."

Cotillard, who was watching the fun, widened his eyes in horror, as if he wanted to eat Ronan:
"What? I modified all my waterways according to the diagram you drew. It won't explode, right?!"

Ronan spread his hands innocently:
“I’m just a designer.”

Do you think I want to come?

I paid for those workers, and it hurts me to ask them to help you.
It can only make myself suffer.

(End of this chapter)