1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 186 Are you guys okay?

This meal was a particularly enjoyable one.

Freddy's evaluation gave Luo Tianhai great confidence. He wished he could open his eyes and wait until tomorrow morning so that the upgraded sweet and sour pork could appear in the market of Mena Village and officially promote the restaurant.

Freddy also began to dream of his dream of being "Mr. Chairman" and vowed that he would take a day off tomorrow and go to the government to apply for the "Provence Chinese Food Association".

Ronan looked up at the sky and comforted his father:

"Don't worry. Most of the people who come to the market now are tourists. They will leave when the restaurant opens."

He then comforted Freddy:
"Then you can go anytime. Don't delay your work. Have you forgotten that this is your 'career upswing'?"

Freddy muttered:
"Ronan, why do you keep pouring cold water on us?"

Ronan smiled and took a sip of wine:

"No, no, I just think tomorrow might not be a good day."

The next morning, Ronan was told some bad news as soon as he got up.

"It's raining outside." Feng Zhen said with a sad face.

Today is the day to set up stalls in Mena Village. The rainy day will affect their business.

Ronan stood in front of the kitchen counter and stretched out his body:

"It's just a little rain, maybe it will stop soon."

Ronan also suddenly "discovered" last night that it was going to rain today.

But the rain was not heavy, especially since we entered the rainy season, and everyone had made preparations in advance, so I didn’t specifically remind my friends to pay attention.

"Are we going to set up the stall today?" Luo Tianhai asked Ronan for his opinion.

He discussed it with Feng Zhen but was still undecided and decided to see what Ronan thought.

He is no longer the head of the family now.

Ronan sniffed the air outside that was mixed with the scent of damp soil:
"Go ahead. We've prepared so much meat. We'll sell as much as we can."

After entering August, the grapes have matured.

There is not much left for farmers to do except wait for more than a month and pick them when the fruits are at their fullest.

However, Ronan still goes to the vineyard every morning to check on it, which has become a habit.

Today's drizzle was not heavy, but it gave the ground, which had been baked by the scorching sun for several months, a moment of respite.

There was a gurgling sound on the ground and the temperature was exceptionally comfortable. Ronan took Xiao Hei and Marseille to wander aimlessly in the vineyard.

The rain floated on the surface of Xiao Hei's hair, making it look "sparkling", while Masai's beard was covered with water droplets, making it look particularly funny.

Although the quality has been improved, Marseille still likes humid environment. The 'little follower' rarely walked in front of the 'big brother', ran around happily, and disappeared in a short while.

Xiao Hei liked to follow Ronan around, but was afraid that his "little brother" would get lost, so he ran back and forth in the vineyard, getting himself covered in mud.

The entire vineyard is the most familiar and favorite place for the two little guys besides their home. Ronan followed the two dogs and thought - what should be planted on this land after the grapes are ripe in September?

Ronan had previously told Pierre that he wanted to grow other crops in the future, but based on the new soil analysis capabilities brought by [Planting], the farmland near Lourmarin was most suitable for growing grapes.

Continue growing grapes, but set aside a small area for other crops?

However, the area of this land is not large, and Ronan does not expect to make money from it. So, without considering the suitability of the soil, why not plant a field of lavender?

"Forget it, let's harvest the grapes first." Ronan looked up at the sky, "I hope it doesn't rain too much, it will affect the harvest."

He himself didn't care, as he didn't make money by selling grapes, but he was worried about his brothers.

Although it was drizzling, there were still many stall owners like Ronan who set up stalls in the rain. This is the only source of income for most people.

However, there were very few tourists visiting the market in the rain, and even a popular stall like Ronan was deserted.

It is not an exaggeration to say that some people would commit suicide because of the rain. This is a real example.

The people of Provence hate any day without the sun, and days without the sun and no money are even more disgusting.

The stall owners who had no business numbly hid under the parasols covered with tarpaulin, like prisoners imprisoned by bad weather. They had gloomy faces and cursed the horrible weather that locked them up from time to time.

The stall owner opposite Ronan was a lady. She didn't do anything stupid like cursing the air, but she lit five cigarettes in half an hour. Every time she exhaled smoke, she used all her strength, as if she was trying to blow away the dark clouds above her head.

As she lit up her sixth cigarette, she turned on the radio, which was playing the local news program.

This is Ronan's favorite radio station because the way the Provençal people report the news is like a skit, vivid and interesting, but today those funny witty remarks have the opposite effect here.

The radio said that the sewage system of the village of Rustler was destroyed by the "drizzle", and they suggested investigating whether the village chief had been soaked in wine.

"In the past, the rainy season had not started in Provence by this date, but this is already the second rain this year." A stall owner complained in a tone of "the sky is falling", "The goddess of luck has left this land."

Another stall owner let out a snort of disdain:
"Dude, you sell waterproof shoes. Didn't you pray to the goddess of luck for the rain?"

The first stall owner responded with even more outrageous words:
"You are from Rustler, right? Your house has been destroyed, and you still have the mood to set up a stall in Mena Village?"

“How good is Biwu Village? Every year, several tourists fall off the mountain road in your village. Even if it doesn’t rain, your road will collapse on its own.”

"That's better than having an alcoholic village chief!"

Thus began the quarrel caused by a rain.

The heroic 'patriotism' was on full display at the small Mena village bazaar, with both men loyally defending their village and stubbornly belittling the other.

Curses and slanders fell like a mountain on everyone and everything they could think of, and both sides threw aside all superficial etiquette:

The women there are the ugliest, the men there are the most vulgar, the old people there are the laziest, and the children there are the most naughty.
The two men had surprisingly bad tempers, which left the Paris family dumbfounded. They could not find any conflict between them. Was the alcoholic village chief hindering anyone?
But this quarrel made them energetic and passionate. Their voices became louder and louder, and they gradually showed signs of resorting to violence. The names of their ancestors were also dragged into this war.

Zoe, who was in the next booth, comforted them:

"When it rains, Provencal people are like this. They will be fine when the weather clears up."

However, this unreasonable quarrel brought Ronan a lot of customers.

It's best to have something to eat or drink while watching a show.

Customers have given very positive reviews to the upgraded sweet and sour pork, with some tourists even asking if they can eat it in other provinces.

The dark clouds above Luo Tianhai's head have dissipated. He is full of motivation to work and is full of confidence in the future.

However, the dark cloud over Ronan's head still exists.

The stall owners selling things are all in such a bad mood.

Farmers hate bad weather even more.

He was a little worried about his brothers.

After renovating the restaurant, Ronan's interactions with the farmers decreased a lot.

People visited him less frequently, but would occasionally visit him in the restaurant.

But it was not a good place to chat, it was noisy and chaotic, and they left in a hurry after saying a few words.

Ronan decided to go to the old tavern to see them after returning from Mena Village today.

It was indeed a light rain today, but it lasted for quite a long time.

The rain didn't stop completely until it was time to close the stall.

However, thanks to the "war", the turnover did not decrease too much and still sold for more than 3000 francs.

Luo Tianhai was worried that the way back would be difficult, so he suggested having lunch in Mena Village before going back.

Who knew that when we arrived at the restaurant, we encountered another inexplicable quarrel. This time the two sides of the confrontation were a villager from Mena Village and a tourist from Burgundy.

When Ronan sat down, they were already halfway through the argument. After listening for a long time, and with Zoe's "popular science", he finally understood what the two were arguing about, and suddenly felt even more speechless.

Snail 'expert' Pierre once taught Ronan about the two most famous snails in France, namely the Burgundy snail from Burgundy and the small gray snail that grows in Provence.

But he did not tell Ronan about the history of the French eating snails.

Snail farms have existed in Europe since the Mesolithic period, and snails have been a delicacy on tables here ever since.

By the 16th century, the custom of eating snails began to fade, and for a long time afterwards, snails were nowhere to be found in cookbooks, recipes, and restaurants. The reason is unclear, but one theory is that snails came to be seen as food for the poor, not worthy of being eaten in a refined setting.

But whatever the reason, snails disappeared from continental Europe for about two hundred years.

It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century that snails became popular again, thanks to the fashionable brasserie's in Paris.

At that time, snails were often cooked according to the Provencal method, but the snails in Burgundy were more "precious" than those in Provence, so they gave this dish an official name - Burgundy roasted snails.

The people of Provence had to change their original methods and added more spices to the raw materials in order to make them different, but they lost something that originally belonged to them.

Today's war started from this. The Burgundy tourist ordered "Burgundy grilled snails" in the restaurant, which aroused the anger of a local villager who was affected by the bad weather.

This battle affects not only snails and sauces, but also wine, cultural heritage, medical care, GDP, transportation systems, air quality, temperature, residents' quality and even the birth rate of newborns.

Both sides used all the knowledge in their minds as weapons to attack each other.

After witnessing this battle, Ronan had only one thought - he should attend more parties, because without profound knowledge he had no right to quarrel.

Zoe whispered to Ronan's family:
"That villager from Mena was Vieri's high school teacher."

"What?!" The Paris family was shocked.

"Then I guess the tourist from Burgundy is a university professor." Ronan said, stroking his chin.

Burgundy has the upper hand in this battle so far.

That person always managed to cleverly use some word games to set traps and unexpectedly trip up Provence.

Ronan and his group finished lunch, but the argument between the two men continued, and more and more people stayed to listen to their lecture.

But Ronan had to leave.

The teachers couldn't control their temper due to the rainy day. Will anything happen to those grumpy 'old guys'?
Ronan returned to Lourmarin and headed straight for the old tavern.

But surprisingly, none of his familiar friends were here.

Ronan went to Henry's house in the rain first. This guy had the hottest temper among his friends.

He was worried that Henry's resentment towards tourists, which had been suppressed for several months, would explode and he would start a quarrel with them.

As a result, Henry stayed at home obediently and did not go out.

"Mr. Ronan, is there anything wrong?" Henry nervously invited Ronan into the house.

This was Ronan's first time entering Henry's home. Although he had already had a psychological expectation of Henry's financial conditions, he was still inevitably "stimulated".

The rain was not heavy today, but Henry's house was still leaking. There were many broken cans on the ground, and his wife and daughter were crowded in the "cleanest" corner to make an embroidered quilt.

In order to prevent the embroidered quilts from getting dirty or wet, there was a small "awning" above their heads and some plastic sheeting-like materials were laid on the ground.

Ronan turned his eyes away and looked elsewhere. Other places were also in ruins.

Henry's house needs a major renovation.
"It's nothing. It's raining. I was worried that you would go out and quarrel with the tourists. The village of Mena is full of people quarreling because of the bad weather." Ronan said calmly.

Henry straightened his hat, pointed at his wife and daughter and said:

"I never go out when it rains. Lisa and her mom need me."

Ronan patted Henry on the shoulder:

"Okay, I'm leaving then."

"Goodbye, Mr. Ronan!" Henry politely saw him out the door.

Ronan took a few steps, turned back and said to Henry:
"I may give you another job later."

"Taking care of the backyard?" Henry asked excitedly.

He's been working hard to get this job!

"More than that, we may need all three of you together." Ronan waved to Henry with a bright smile and walked into the rain.

Although the rain did not stop and wet Henry's clothes, he felt the gentle sunshine shining on him.

The second place Ronan went to was Theo's house.

This guy is also very worrying.

As a result, this time they came back empty-handed. Not only Theo, but Theo's entire family was not there, and the car had also driven away.

Ronan had no choice but to go home, only to find Theo's car parked in front of his house.

This is unbelievable, as their two homes are only a few hundred meters apart.

After entering the house and asking, Feng Zhen told Ronan that Theo's family was in the backyard.

Ronan went to the backyard and found Theo holding Anna and squatting beside Ronan's flower bed. Anna's mother was with them holding an umbrella.

Seeing Ronan coming, Theo carefully handed Anna to his wife:
"Holding Anna, she doesn't like getting her feet wet."

Anna and her mother continued to look at other flowers. Theo trotted over to Ronan and explained to him:
"Anna is a bit of a 'clean freak'. She wouldn't be happy if I stepped on dirt near flowers in other places, so I brought her to your backyard to see the flowers. Your backyard is clean, and she likes it here too."

Ronan said to Theo with a half-smile:
"I was worried that you might go out and get into a fight with someone."

Theo put a cigarette in his mouth:

"Why would I go out and fight with someone?"

Ronan pointed to the sky:

"Because of the rain. Don't you Provencal people think the world is going to end when it rains?"

Theo laughed and looked at his daughter and wife:
"That was in the past. I don't hate rainy days now. Seriously."

Ronan shrugged.

"Because we can stop watering the grapes for a long time?"

Theo said happily:

"Because Anna loves rainy days. She is my sunshine, isn't she?"

Ronan stood side by side with Theo, looking at his 'sun'.

"Come to my house for dinner tonight and invite others to come along."