1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 196: Ronan's "Love in the Mountain City"

Before this, Ronan didn't have any particular feelings towards the large numbers of tourists, nor did he have much idea about the travel season.

Even though there are many tourists who want to take pictures in Ronan's backyard, and even though these people occasionally disturb his life, Ronan still advises farmers who are very hostile to tourists:
"Lourmarin cannot develop without tourists. Don't resist tourists."

But at the end of August, when tourists were about to leave Provence, Ronan showed signs of assimilation.

Whenever he heard someone say "there are fewer tourists" or "the tourists have left", a surge of joy would surge in his heart that he couldn't stop.

And I couldn't help but think of the infernal joke Louie told about the fire-fighting plane that loaded tourists into water tanks and threw them into the forest fire.

He finally found the joke funny now.

"What are you laughing at?" Cotillard asked Ronan with a bitter look under the shade of the tree, "The tourists are leaving, and you still have the mood to laugh?"

Cotillard's art store opened in the last week of August, but the situation was far from ideal.

She picked up smoking again after quitting for several years, and the smoke above Ronan's head was so thick that it looked like rain.

Ronan threw the joke out of his head:

"Zoe received an order for a custom artwork from a very wealthy person. I'm happy for her."

After nearly half a month of consideration, the wealthy man in Aix finally decided to spend 30000 francs to customize a commemorative coming-of-age gift for his daughter - a mermaid ornament made of glass and ceramic.

After confirming that his face was not tanned, Ronan found it hard not to be happy for his girlfriend.

Finally, there is some sunshine on Cotillard's face:

"Thank God, that's the only good news I've heard this week."

She has a lot of Zoe's works in her hands, and if Zoe develops smoothly, her assets will be guaranteed.

It's cloudy and sunny here, but it's been raining for two weeks in Thomas's place:

"What are we going to do after the tourists leave?"

Cotillard put out her cigarette:

"I'm ready to close the shop in the winter. If there are no customers, I will go back to Aix and find something else to do. I have a lot of lights in my shop, and I probably won't even be able to make back the electricity bill."

Thomas held his head in frustration and said:
"If I don't do well, I will have to go home and inherit the family property, but I want to have my own business."

Cotillard rolled his eyes:

"Shut up, Thomas. Aren't you selling the stone tools at home?"

Thomas protested:
"Of course not, these are the styles I designed. My father sells a different style."

"But they were all mined from your father's quarry." Ronan shrugged.

Cotillard kicked the cigarette butt off the ground:

"You are different from us. Ronan and I can only rely on ourselves. If the store closes, no one can support us."

"Who said that?" A brisk female voice came from the front.

Everyone looked up and saw Zoe, wearing a white dress, standing elegantly a few meters away from them.

She smiled and stood on tiptoe, the sunlight sprinkled on her long golden waterfall hair, shining so brightly that no one could look directly at it:

"If Ronan can't make money, I'll support him."

Cotillard was even more speechless, holding his forehead and said:
"A rich father, a rich girlfriend, that's enough!"

So I'm the only one who's not loved?!
Zoe walked briskly to Ronan, looked up and said with a smile:
"But I don't think I'll have the chance to 'raise' you. You'll definitely do a good job!"

Thomas and Cotillard both broke down:

"That's enough, you two!"

Ronan raised his hand to block the sun for Zoe without paying any attention to anyone around him, and asked with a smile:
"How did you come?"

Zoe didn't inform him in advance that she would come to help today.

"I suddenly thought of something and wanted to come over to discuss it with you in person." Zoe said with a smile.

The success of her career made Zoe cheerful and outgoing. Every time Ronan saw her, Zoe had an infectious smile on her face.

"What's the matter?" Ronan asked lovingly.

Zoe narrowed her eyes and said:
"Remember that movie I mentioned to you before? My classmate said it's coming out soon, and I'm about to start working on that custom project, so it'll probably be busy for a while. Why don't we go see it before then?"

Ronan's face lit up with joy:
"'Love in the Mountain City'?"

More than a month ago, when they were watching an open-air movie in front of the old church, Zoe mentioned that she would ask her classmates in Aix to help keep an eye out for information.

This movie tells the story of the heroine Manon and her family moving from the city to a mountain village in Provence to inherit a farm. It is somewhat similar to Ronan's experience, so they all want to see it.

Zoe nodded:

"Yes, if you want to go too, why don't we go to Aix one afternoon? We can visit the site and come back the same day?"

Ronan has a lot to do every day, and Zoe also has a strict work schedule. This kind of activity that takes half a day must be communicated in advance, so she came here temporarily.

"Sure, sure!" Ronan nodded repeatedly.

Zoe said happily:

"Then let's arrange it in advance this Wednesday afternoon."

In the past, Ronan and Zoe would leave early for Aix and arrive at their destination just after 9 a.m.

This time they set out at around 2 p.m., and the road conditions had changed drastically - they encountered the biggest traffic jam of this year's travel season.

No, probably not them, but the biggest traffic jam in Provence this year.

Everyone wants to catch the tail end of the holiday and go south to the famous "Cote d'Azur" to see the beauties and beaches. The next opportunity to do so will be next spring.

Coincidentally, there are many people who have this idea.

As soon as Ronan drove onto Highway 7 from the mountain road, he was told a horrible news.

"Turn off the engine, buddy. It won't move for another four hours." A kind-hearted person came over and reminded him.

"Is there an accident ahead?" Ronan stuck his head out and found that both directions were blocked and there was no way to turn back.

The man shrugged.

"Maybe there was an accident in Marseille. I heard that it was jam packed from there."

Marseille is the end of the D7 road.

Although this is a joke, it still proves the seriousness of the traffic jam.

"I guess we won't be able to watch the movie today." Ronan said to Zoe dejectedly.

Zoe comforted Ronan: "It's okay, the movie will take a long time, we can't watch it today, we can come next time."

Ronan looked around in a bad mood and found that the windows of cars on both sides were covered with orange or brown highway toll receipts. They were obviously from far away, and his mood immediately became worse:

“It’s these tourists again.”

He finally understood the villagers' complaints about the travel season.

Sometimes they are really frustrating!

Zoe gently pulled Ronan's hand and comforted him:
"Look at it another way. We can spend at least four hours together. Isn't that great?"

Zoe always had an easy way of influencing Ronan's mood. Ronan's bad mood receded a lot, and he looked around:
"Get off and walk around?"

There are many farmlands and grasslands on both sides of the road, and they can find a place to kill time nearby.

"Okay." Zoe never refused Ronan's proposal.

There were many people who had the same idea as Ronan. When they left the road and came to the farmlands on both sides, they found that there were already many men, women, young and old and their pets here.

They were scattered in groups here and there in every corner, happily playing and taking pictures.

Ronan took Zoe's hand and said:
"This is just a plain farmland, how come these tourists are having so much fun?"

The gentle slope behind Theo's house looks better than here.

Zoe said briskly:

"These tourists have lived in cities full of steel and concrete for many years and have few opportunities to see flowers and plants, so of course they find it strange."

She looked at Ronan and smiled:
"Weren't you curious about everything in Provence when you first came here?"

Ronan touched his head embarrassedly:

“When I first came to Provence, I even thought the smoke coming out of the chimneys smelled good.”

Zoe smiled and said:
"So now you understand the mentality of these tourists, right? Imagine what it would be like for the villagers to go to Paris?"

Ronan let out a long sigh.

If you take Theo and Henry to Paris, they might behave even crazier than those tourists.

"Let's go there." Zoe took Ronan's hand and ran happily into the mountains.

Zoe and Ronan played in the mountains for nearly two hours. As evening approached, they returned to the car.

At this time, the D7 highway has become a large natural restaurant.

No matter which country you are from, when you arrive in France you must follow French rules - dinner is the most important thing of the day.

They brought out chairs, small stools and tents, or simply sat on the ground on blankets to enjoy this rare opportunity to have dinner outdoors.

Ronan could not see any frustration or loss on these people's faces. Known and unknown people gathered in groups of three or five, sharing the food and wine they brought in the car, chatting about what they saw and heard in Provence, and even giving each other various suggestions on cooking skills.

The owner of the car next to Ronan saw the two of them sitting alone in the car and offered them a box of cookies:
"Didn't you bring any food?"

Ronan gratefully continued:

"We are locals and went to Aix to see a movie."

The man said in French with a strange accent:
"I really envy you. Provence is such a beautiful place."

He pointed to the farmland that Ronan commented was "not as beautiful as the gentle slope behind Theo's house" and said:
“I took a lot of photos with my family there and we will definitely miss this place.”

Zoe took a bite of the cookie and said thankfully:

"Thank you, it's delicious."

The man smiled and patted the roof of the car:
"I'll get you two more cups of coffee. It would be a waste to have no delicious food to accompany such a beautiful sunset."

As soon as the kindhearted person left, someone carefully brought two colorful desserts from the opposite lane:
"Hey man, I heard you're a local? If we come to Provence again next year, where would you recommend me to go?"

Zoe was still thinking carefully about the answer, but Ronan blurted out without thinking:

"Lourmarin."

Many of the tourists caused trouble for Ronan and the villagers, but that was not all.

Lourmarin always welcomes visitors who know how to respect Provence.

The resentment and entanglement in Ronan's heart completely disappeared.

At this moment, he had completely reconciled with these tourists.

This traffic jam lasted longer than expected, but Ronan no longer cared when it would be cleared.

The young couple sat side by side on the roof of the truck, leaning against each other, looking at the endless long metal dragon, with the sunset behind them as their backdrop.

Zoe took a sip of the apple brandy that the kind-hearted person 'fed' her:
“Although I didn’t get to see ‘Love in the Mountains’, I don’t regret it at all.”

Ronan looked into the distance and said:
"Me too."

Zoe asked doubtfully:

"I am happy because I see these tourists truly love the land where I live. The gain is no less than watching a movie. What's your reason?"

Ronan lowered his head and kissed Zoe lightly on the head:
"Because we are also performing 'Love in the Mountain City', and it is a 'Love in the Mountain City' that is even better than the movie."

The protagonist of "Love in the Mountain City" did not have a good ending. She was framed by a greedy uncle and nephew and her family was destroyed.

Ronan also came to Provence from a big city. Isn't he also performing his own "Love in Provence"?

But in this movie world, Ronan has a girlfriend who loves him, parents who respect him, friends he can trust, and a bright future.

Therefore, Ronan’s Love in the Mountain City will definitely have a happy ending.

Zoe leaned against Ronan happily.

The backs of the two people were stretched very long by the setting sun. As beautiful as a movie poster.

At around 7 o'clock in the evening, the long metal dragon finally started moving. Many strangers had become good friends and exchanged contact information as if they had known each other for half a month.

The owner of the car who brought the cookies to Ronan and Zoe exchanged words with Ronan and hurriedly started the car:

"Bye mate."

Ronan looked at the license plate of the car he was driving, smiled and jumped out of the car with his entire upper body:
"Goodbye, Belgium man! Welcome back next year!"

Ronan made a cylinder shape with his hands and shouted loudly to the surroundings:
“Provence welcomes you! See you next year!!”

This year's travel season is over, but I hope to see you again next year!

(End of this chapter)