1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 206 Marketing Genius

It turns out that opening a restaurant is a really complicated thing.

Ronan is very fortunate to have a father who understands restaurant management and can help him share the operational and food issues, and to have the enthusiastic Mr. Jacques who actively helps him apply for the various procedures and documents required to open a restaurant, otherwise he would not know how busy he would be now.

The project of Cafu's team has entered the final stage, and Henry's family has finally finished making the rattan chairs. More than 85% of the wood work has been completed, but Ronan's schedule is still full every day because there are too many small tasks.

Leia designed a lot of new desserts, and Ronan had to take time to finalize details such as cost and plating, and they talked for several hours.

Zoe also entered the stage of making tableware. Although Ronan couldn't help much in action and Zoe didn't let Ronan help, he had the responsibility to provide emotional value. You know, the great artist Zoe made a set of tableware at the market price, which Ronan couldn't afford and could only pay with his "meat".

He also has to make lights, decorations, find suitable green plants, and deal with various emergencies. Sometimes Ronan really has a sense of powerlessness and feels like things will never be finished.

But fortunately, Ronan's busiest period happened to be the period when his friends were the most idle.

The grapes are not picked until the end of September, and the farmers are now in a state of having nothing to do but being very excited. Everyone has noticed that Ronan has been very busy recently, and many people come to the restaurant to help early in the morning.

Those who know carpentry help Ronan with the carpentry work, those who don't help the construction team, those who don't know anything help Ronan run errands and do odd jobs, and those who don't want to work just give orders with their mouths, for example, Theo is like the foreman in the restaurant every day.

"Don't cut wood here. Have you ever seen Ronan doing carpentry work indoors? Take it out! Take it out! You have made the floor that Fabian just swept clean dirty!"

"Henry, you have bad teeth, don't you have bad eyesight? Can't you see that you drove the nail crookedly?"

"Cornell, Ronan's weaving grass is running out. Go to his house and get a bunch of dried grass!"

Theo patrolled indoors and outdoors with a cigarette in his mouth. Although he didn't like to work, his eyes were full of work.

Ronan raised his head and said to Theo in a complicated tone:
"Everyone is here to help, so just be nicer."

Theo squinted his eyes, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said confidently:
"When you work, you have to look like you're working!"

After saying that, he went to the yard to continue supervising the work.

Pierre jumped down from his chair and said to Ronan:
"Your time for renovation is not good. If it's later, when everyone has harvested the grapes, you don't need to hire any craftsmen. We can do it for you."

Every household in Lourmarin asks friends for help when decorating their house. No one would hire a decoration team. This includes the local shop owners on the commercial street. They all ask acquaintances for help.

Cafu grumbled unconvinced:

"We are professionals."

Can you make something so complicated as what Ronan wants?

Pierre smiled and said to the big man:
"But there are many of us."

Cafu weighed the strength of both sides.

A dozen football players can't guarantee that they can defeat more than 20 professional farmers at once.

Forget it, I won’t bother with you.

He went outside angrily and started swinging stones with a hammer.

Ronan said to Pierre gratefully:

"You guys have helped me a lot. I've been really busy lately."

Pierre took the cigarette from his ear and tapped it on his palm:
"If you were so busy, why didn't you ask for help? Why did you let us find out on our own? If Henry hadn't said in the old tavern that you could fall asleep lying on the floor every day, would you have worked yourself to death before you remembered that you had friends like us?"

Ronan patted his arm, and everything was said without words.

Pierre stabbed Ronan in the stomach several times in anger:
"I told you when you first got here, don't be shy about asking for help. You're being timid like a woman. This is Provence, not Paris. Did Theo show any courtesy when he asked to borrow your car?"

Ronan dodged and said:
"I remember it now. I really remember it this time."

Pierre clamped Ronan's neck with his elbow and taught him a lesson:

"Remember, friends in Provence are true friends, especially farmers! We have been like this for hundreds of years!"

The combination of the rugby team and the farmers made the male hormones in Ronan's restaurant explode, and his beards grew a lot faster.

But one morning, two female figures appeared in the restaurant.

Josephine brought Lisa to Ronan who was weaving lanterns.

"Mr. Ronan, do you need help?" Josephine asked, pointing at the grass on the ground.

Ronan was stunned for a moment.

Does Josephine want to contribute to the family income again?

Lisa said timidly:
"Mr. Ronan. It's free."

This made Ronan even more confused about what to do.

I paid for tying the chair, but now you don’t want to pay me?

You make it even harder for me.

Josephine's rough hands rubbed back and forth on her clothes nervously, and she was obviously very nervous about what she was going to say next:

"I think this craft is suitable for me. Can I learn how to make lamps?" "Are you interested in this?" Ronan asked, holding up the unfinished lamp in his hand.

Josephine nodded, looked at her daughter lovingly and said:
"I want Lisa to master another craft. What if embroidery is no longer needed in the future? What will Lisa do then?"

Ronan didn't answer, seeming to be thinking about something.

Henry, who had been watching silently from a distance, walked over quickly, took his wife and daughter and left:

"I told you that you would make Mr. Ronan embarrassed! Go home! Go home!"

"Wait a minute." Ronan stopped Henry and picked up the grass on the ground to explain to Josephine and Lisa, "You may not know much about this craft yet. Let me introduce it to you first. If you are still interested, I will teach you, how about that?"

Henry returned to Ronan with his wife and daughter.

Ronan said calmly:

"The chairs I asked you to make before were woven rattan. This kind of craft only has workshops in Sweden, the UK and Italy in Europe, but they are all professional furniture workshops. If you want to make money from this, it will be difficult. I guess people who are willing to buy this style of furniture in Provence will not choose a small workshop like ours."

Ronan used the word 'we' because he had also thought about making money from rattan furniture.

Now he was explaining these things from the perspective of an ordinary citizen like Josephine.

He continued to fiddle with the grass in his hand:

"There is even less market for straw weaving in France. It has existed in China for thousands of years, but has never been popular in Europe. If it weren't for customers like me with special needs, no one would buy things made of straw. Of course, you can make some small ornaments and toys and sell them. But I guess the income may not be as high as making embroidered quilts."

Josephine asked Ronan:

“Then why did you choose ornaments and lights made of grass?”

Ronan smiled and said:
"Because my restaurant is different from other restaurants, I run a Chinese restaurant, and the grass lamps look good. It is very suitable to match with Chinese things."

Lisa asked in a low voice:
“Are there no other occasions in Provence that call for Chinese accessories?”

Ronan shook his head:

"No, this is the first Chinese restaurant in the Luberon Mountains. There are almost no places in Provence that use Chinese design. This style is not popular here."

"But it will be different after your restaurant opens, Mr. Ronan!" Henry pointed at the three-story building behind him and said passionately, "It's not popular because they haven't seen anything good! Even an uneducated farmer like me knows that your design style is very beautiful, so how can those educated and wealthy people not see it?"

Henry carefully touched the table and chairs made by Ronan himself, and said excitedly:
"This is a restaurant that you and your family have put all your efforts into, and everything here is the best! Your restaurant will definitely become famous. Maybe Chinese food and Chinese style will become a trend in Provence, just like the captain's hat!"

"I'm grateful that you think so, but who can predict the future?" Ronan sighed.

"No, you can do it!" Henry clenched his fists tightly, "Josephine, Lisa, I will learn this craft with you. Mr. Ronan will definitely lead us to make money!"

I, Henry, will always be loyal to Mr. Ronan forever!

If Thomas and Cotillard had not been very familiar with the progress of the renovation of Ronan's restaurant, they would have thought it had already opened.

The restaurant has only 50 seats indoors, but it has to accommodate 60 or even 70 people every day.

Among them were a dozen construction workers, more than twenty farmers, a dozen children looking for their fathers to play, and occasional farmers' families who came to visit.
If this happened in August when the tourists hadn't left yet, they would have made a comment:
Ronan is truly a marketing genius.

It's a big deal to find so many 'drags'!
But now it is a cold September, and they just want to ask:
"Are you holding parties every day in your unfinished restaurant? How come so many people are coming in and out of your restaurant every day?"

Ronan touched his nose embarrassedly:
"I told you I have a lot of friends."

“Isn’t this more than having many friends?” Cotillard pointed at himself and said, “I have a lot of friends, but it’s not like this.”

Ronan said in the tone of a 'veteran':
"Ma'am, friends in small villages are different from friends in big cities. Friends in Provence are true friends, especially farmers. But don't panic, you already have a farmer friend, and I will help you in the same way if you have any trouble in the future."

Thomas showed an expectant expression:

"Then can you help me with the store's performance?"

Ronan stood up and left:

"Let's go, there's still a lot of work to do."

Cotillard's afro shook violently up and down and left and right:

"Oh, my friend. Why are you leaving so soon?"

"Let's go back too." Thomas shrugged and left the shady area.

They had just taken two steps when they saw a figure in a suit slowly walking into Ronan's restaurant.

Cotillard rubbed his eyes:

"Friend in a suit? Not a farmer?"

Thomas pressed his glasses tight to his eyes:

"That seems to be Blanco? Blanco also came to help Ronan's restaurant?"