1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 194: Always 'loyal' to Mr. Ronan

Last week at the market in Mena Village, Luo Tianhai tried the strategy of selling boxed lunches to stall owners for the first time, and the effect was quite good.

This week, they will sell boxed lunches to stallholders at the market in Lourmarin for the first time.

Ronan said that this strategy should be implemented regardless of where the products are sold.

The stall owners in Lourmarin also need to eat.

But since this is Ronan's home ground, the feedback is much better than in Mena Village.

Among the less than 100 stalls, more than 30 stall owners asked Luo Tianhai to order meals, and Luo Tianhai was sweating while delivering the meals.

However, after selling in Lourmarin, Luo Tianhai had some new thoughts:
“Should we adjust the price of lunch boxes? If they are cheaper, they might sell better.”

In fact, Luo Tianhai’s prices are not high. The cheapest one costs only 20 francs. A serving of country pizza costs 12 francs at the market. Isn’t a box lunch with vegetables and meat more affordable than a country pizza?
But many villagers still think it is expensive.

They didn't say it explicitly, but Luo Tianhai could still tell from their burning eyes and the way they kept swallowing their saliva - everyone wanted to try it, but not everyone was willing to buy it.

"It's not because of the price." Ronan took time to discuss this with his father. "It's because the income of the villagers in Lourmarin is too low. My sweet and sour pork costs more than 30 francs per serving. Don't you think there are not many people buying it?"

Ronan has never heard any tourist complain that the sweet and sour pork he sells is expensive. The most common complaint he hears is - why is it sold out again?

Luo Tianhai sighed silently:
"That seems to be the case. I didn't see this phenomenon in Mena Village last week."

Luo Tianhai comforted his father:
"So Blanc wants to 'revitalize' Lourmarin."

Lourmarin is still too backward, backward in every aspect.

"Stop chatting, come and help!" Feng Zhen called Luo Tianhai over, "These two guests want to see the lunch boxes."

Ronan's sales strategy finally worked.

Last week in Lourmarin, the lunch boxes were put out at 8 o'clock, but only sold for more than 11 francs by 300 o'clock.

But today, after his 'billboard' was put up, nearly 11 copies have been sold by 20 o'clock. Ronan didn't see how much he earned specifically, but it was definitely better than last week.

And this does not include the more than 30 portions sold by the stall owners.

Ronan doesn't ask for a hit in one go, he will be satisfied as long as he can see progress every week.

Customers and word of mouth are accumulated bit by bit. Don't be anxious. As long as you can continue to see "hope", you will win!
This is the mentality of Ronan's family of three.

Although it has not reached the level of "hot", they have not spared any enthusiasm.

Every time Luo Tianhai sells a box lunch, he will patiently say to the customer:
"We have opened a Chinese restaurant in the commercial street, which will open in October. If you like it, you can go there and try the freshly cooked dishes. They are even better than this."

When Feng Zhen pours pink wine, she will also say to the guests with a smile on her face:
"We are going to open a restaurant on the commercial street. If you come to Provence next year, remember to try it."

Ronan, who is the best at shouting slogans, naturally also updated the slogan.

In the future, at the markets of Lourmarin and Mena, a unique and unrepeatable cry appeared:

"Mr., Ms., Miss, would you like to try the special pink wine of Provence? This kind of wine that can only be drunk in Provence tastes best with Chinese food! In October, the first Chinese restaurant in Luberon will open in Lourmarin! Now you can taste it two months in advance, come and try it!"

Usually after the market ends on Friday, the first thing the family of three does is go home and have a good sleep.

There will be a market in Mena Village tomorrow. I will take a short rest before getting up and getting busy again.

However, Ronan did not go home to rest today, but went somewhere else.

Ronan has to make a total of 40 tables and 40 chairs during this renovation period.

Wood is not as obedient as metal. It will bend easily when pressed by a machine. It needs to be cut and polished piece by piece. Even though Ronan started working on it as early as August, with Zoe's occasional help, the time pressure is still very high.

In addition, as the restaurant is about to open, many emergencies may occur and there is no guarantee of time, so some things must require help from others.

"Mr. Ronan, why are you here?" Henry was very surprised to see that the person outside the door was Ronan again.

There are very few visitors to his house, but Ronan has been here twice in the past two weeks.

But it didn’t rain today?
"Are Lisa and the others resting?" Ronan asked, pointing inside the house.

Henry shook his head:

"No, Lisa is helping her mother with a quilt."

Ronan nodded:

"Go in and talk."

Henry gave Ronan the cleanest sofa in his house and entertained him warmly.

Suddenly, Henry thought of something and said apologetically:

“I don’t have any pink wine at home.”

Then he said to his daughter:
"Lisa, go buy two bottles of pink wine, and keep it chilled!"

No matter how poor the people of Provence are, they will entertain their guests with the best etiquette.

Ronan stopped Lisa from going out and said to Henry:

"What I'm going to say is related to all of you. Stay and listen. I'll drink anything."

Henry cleaned the cup several times before pouring wine for Ronan:

"What do you want from us?"

Ronan's visit made Henry's family feel very uneasy, especially Henry's wife Josephine, whose rough hands were rubbing back and forth nervously.

Lisa often goes out and has met Ronan several times.

But Josephine rarely went out and spent all her time sewing and embroidering quilts to supplement the family income, just like many older women in Lourmarin.

Ronan tried to make his tone as relaxed as possible, without any sense of oppression:

"I want to add some 'Chinese' elements to the restaurant, so I went out to learn a craft a while ago, but I found that I don't have enough time to do everything. Are you interested in helping me complete part of it?"

There are two applications of weaving skills in the restaurant: one is furniture transformation, and the other is decoration. Furniture transformation is to tie a layer of vines to the wooden chair frame that Ronan has already made, turning the wooden chair into a rattan chair.

This task was simple but time-consuming, and Ronan wanted to "outsource" it. The first family he thought of was the Henry family.

He does the more complex parts of the accessories himself.

Henry was very excited to hear about making money, but when he thought about this new skill, he asked hesitantly:

“Is that craft complicated?”

Ronan smiled and said:
"It's very simple. I can teach you. You should be able to learn it in one afternoon."

"How much is it?" Lisa asked cautiously.

Ronan asked her back:
"How did you and your mother settle the payment for sewing the quilt?"

Lisa's voice was as weak as a mosquito:
"The pattern was provided by Pires, and we embroidered it according to his requirements. Each bed costs 300 francs, and if we sell it ourselves, we can sell it for 400 francs."

Ronan asked:

"So how long does it take you to make an embroidered quilt?"

Ronan has seen many old people in the village sewing quilts. They seem to have no time to rest and embroider from morning to night every day.

Lisa glanced at her mother:
"When I first started embroidering, it took me about 12 days to finish, but my mother only needed 8-9 days."

Ronan gasped.

12 francs in 300 days?

God, no wonder the villagers of Lourmarin are so poor.

He looked at Henry with a complicated expression.
Even so, you still have to go to the old tavern to have a couple of drinks every day?

Henry seemed to know what Ronan was thinking. He nodded his hat and said stubbornly:

"I only drink two drinks a day at most, sometimes just one!"

This situation should not only happen to Henry, and Ronan has no right to say anything about him.

After calculating the time and efficiency, Ronan asked them in a negotiating tone:
"I should be able to finish tying up one chair in a day. I have a total of 40 chairs that need this treatment. I'll give you 30 francs for each one. Do you accept it?"

The price Ronan offered was about the same as their daily income from sewing and embroidering quilts.

He just wanted to provide the Henrys with some extra income, nothing 'great' enough to disrupt the market price.

Henry thought about it and was about to agree.

This was Mr. Ronan's respect for him, how could he refuse?

However, Lisa's mother Josephine, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up:

"Can you let me try one first?"

Ronan smiled and said:
"Of course, of course."

Weaving is a craft that is easy to learn, especially since Ronan's needs are not difficult, as he only needs to turn a wooden chair into a rattan chair.

Josephine's hands were indeed rough, but they were incredibly skillful.

It took her just over an hour to fully understand what Ronan taught her and she was able to tie a chair independently.

Ronan was amazed by this situation.

Are there so many geniuses in the world?

If I tell Batistuta about this, will it help him give up the idea of going to Aix to be a university teacher?
Henry proudly said:

"Isn't Josephine very skilled? She learns everything quickly, and her quilts are even better than Akonina's!"

Cornell's mother, Akenina, has always been a benchmark figure in the Lourmarin embroidery quilt world.

When people say they have done a good job, they always bring her up for comparison.

Josephine followed Ronan's example and finished 'closing', then stood up and clapped her hands:
"Once you become proficient, you can tie two a day without any problem. We can take on this job."

60 francs a day, which is higher than the daily income of making quilts.

Ronan smiled and said:
"There are more than two, there are three of you."

You can do it as a family. Maybe you can finish it in a week. Wouldn't you make more money than sewing and embroidering quilts?
Henry stretched his neck and said:
"These are things women do, I don't do them!"

There was only one man in Lourmarin who dared to sew quilts "openly", and that was Pires.

Because of this incident, the old guy was often ridiculed and made fun of.

Pires would not be polite to those people and would often make up outrageous rumors to retaliate. Later, no one dared to mess with this loudspeaker.

However, the men in Lourmarin still hated being known for doing "crafts" like embroidering quilts, so Cornell was always sneaky when helping his mother at home.

Ronan pointed at himself and said:
"I am a woman too? This is a skill I learned from Valensole."

"That's not what I meant!" Henry was not well educated and was speechless for a moment. He just kept apologizing to Ronan.

Ronan said earnestly:

"There's nothing shameful about making money. You should improve your thinking, Henry."

Henry lowered his head and pondered over what Ronan said for a while. Suddenly, he threw the captain's hat, which he always wore, heavily to the ground and said to his wife and daughter:

"Josephine, Lisa, I'll do it with you."

Mr. Ronan is different from the people in the village.

He asked me to do this, there must be a reason for it!

I will always be loyal to Mr. Ronan!
(End of this chapter)