1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 210: A Race Against Time
When Ronan found Pierre, the best farmer in Lourmarin was cleaning his large shotgun.

It was obvious that his mind was also immersed in the valley of Luberon.

"Pierre, it's going to rain, you have to organize the farmers to start harvesting grapes as soon as possible!"

Ronan was running with sweat all over his forehead. Judging from the experience of the previous two rains, this heavy rain will come in 3-5 days. There are more than 3000 acres of vineyards near Lourmarin. This is simply a race against time.

Pierre put down his gun and thought for a few seconds. He couldn't help laughing as soon as he opened his mouth:

"Okay Ronan, you did fool me for a few seconds, but man the rainy season is over, it never rains in Luberon at this time of year."

Pranks are a trick that farmers will never get tired of playing. Pierre is the prank king of Lourmarin, and everyone is racking their brains to trick him back. If you can trick Pierre once, there will be a lot of people in the old tavern who will treat you to a drink.

Ronan said solemnly, as if he couldn't be more solemn:

"No, no, no, I'm not kidding. It's really going to rain. Didn't you notice that the wind direction has changed? The wind is blowing from the Mediterranean Sea now."

Wind direction, clouds and smell were all factors that Ronan used to judge the weather, and he was so anxious that he blurted it out.

Pierre crossed his arms and nodded seriously:
"Not bad, not bad. You've done your homework. Since you mentioned the wind, I'll tell you about the more than 30 kinds of wind in Provence. Each of them corresponds to a type of extreme weather. You can use this knowledge to deceive more people in the future."

Ronan hugged his head frantically:

"Pierre, I'm serious! It's going to rain!!"

Pierre clapped his hands vigorously:
"Ronan, your performance of wanting to strangle that bastard to death with my own hands is so good. I will find an opportunity to perform this exact performance for someone else."

"I'm going to find Blanco." Ronan turned and left.

Time was running out and he didn't have time to play 'crying wolf' with Pierre here.

I'll tell the village chief, and you'll believe me, right?

Pierre trotted after him:
"You can't be serious?"

Ronan quickened his pace:

"I really don't want to joke with you, Pierre. This year everyone hopes to sell grapes at a good price. This rain will shatter everyone's dreams."

Pierre blocked Ronan's car:

"But the rainy season is over, so why is it still raining?"

Ronan said quickly:
"Maybe this is just a rainy year? Did you forget that it started raining in July, when the rainy season hadn't started yet? Nature always has a lot of surprises for us, doesn't it?"

The horizontal lines between Pierre's eyebrows suddenly appeared:

"Your friend in Paris said it will rain in a few days?"

Ronan made preparations in advance for the heavy rain before the rainy season based on the notification from his friends in Paris, and he also reminded many people.

The weather forecast in Paris is much more accurate than that in Provence!
Ronan held his forehead and said:
"Maybe three days, maybe five days, but it will definitely rain."

"Damn weather..." Pierre pulled hard on Ronan's car door a few times, but found it wouldn't open. "Drive, drive quickly!"

Ronan opened the car door:

"I'll take you to the old tavern."

Pierre almost jumped up:

"Don't go to the old tavern, go find Blanco. There are too many people and I don't have time to notify them one by one. Ask the government for help!"

"Attention all residents, this is a municipal emergency notice: Extreme weather may hit in the next three to five days. Please immediately check nearby drains, secure or recycle outdoor items, stay away from rivers, and protect your environment."

The big loudspeaker used for watching movies in the old church square completely shattered the dreams of all the farmers.

Along with this notice, there were dozens of villagers running around the village, notifying farmers to quickly harvest the grapes.

"Are you crazy? The rainy season is over! Why is it raining?" Theo gestured with a gun.

The villagers who came to inform said anxiously:
"Really? Pierre went to the government and told us to notify everyone to harvest the grapes quickly. It would be too late if we were to delay any longer."

Theo put down his gun, frowned and asked:
"Where is Pierre?"

He wants to go and ask in person.

The man walked out and said:

"Looking for farmers in the village with Ronan."

"Is Ronan coming too?" Theo lowered his head in thought, threw away the cigarette in his mouth, returned to the house and said to his daughter, "Anna, can you bring the deer home a few days later? Dad has something important to do now."

"Is Pierre crazy? Harvesting the grapes now will reduce the grape yield by 0.2, no, maybe 0.3 degrees. That's a lot of money!" Henry started to talk about conspiracy again, "Is he so jealous of everyone making money that he wants us to harvest now while he waits until the end of the month?"

All of Lourmarin knew what kind of character Henry had. The villager didn't want to waste time on him, so he left.

"Okay, then I'll tell Ronan."

Henry bared his teeth and asked:

"Why should I tell Mr. Ronan? What does this have to do with Mr. Ronan?"

The villager said without turning his head:
"Ronan said that if anyone disagrees with this decision, just inform him and he will do the 'homework' himself."

"What?" Henry ran up to the man and said nervously, "No need to tell Mr. Ronan! I have no objection!!"

He turned back and shouted into the house:

"Josephine, Lisa, get ready and come with me to harvest the grapes. I'll drive the tractor!"

Similar scenes are happening in more than 100 farmers’ homes in Lourmarin at the same time. A race against time has officially begun in Lourmarin. This race against time is difficult for families with machines, and even more difficult for Ronan, who does everything by hand.

Hand-picking grapes is a time-consuming and laborious job.

The appearance of the grapes is almost as important as their taste.

Every bunch of grapes picked must be carefully inspected, and any that are scarred or wrinkled must be pinched off.

The grape bunches grow very low, sometimes touching the ground, and some are covered by dense leaves, making them very difficult to pick.

You have to squat down, prune, check, stand up, and squat down again over and over again.

All the while he had to fight the heat rising from the soil beneath his feet, while the sun would scorch his back and neck viciously.

There is no shade or wind in the vineyard. In this environment, people are wet from head to toe, and sweat drips like crazy.

The efficiency of pure manual grape harvesting is about 0.5 acres to 1 acre per day. If Ronan has enough time, he can do it slowly by himself.

Due to time constraints, parents dropped all their work and came to help, but they still couldn't catch up with the schedule.

It was the first time for the old couple to do this and they were too old to even work 0.5 acres per day. They only had 3 days, and Ronan had a total of 8 acres of land, so there was no end to the work.

Pierre told Ronan to find them if he had any difficulties.

But at this moment, Ronan's friends are also fighting on their own "battlefields" and cannot extricate themselves. Everyone has a tough battle to fight.

This time Ronan will have to fight alone.

"It's okay, son. Let's work hard and maybe we can finish it." Sweat kept dripping from Feng Zhen's forehead, but she still did not forget to encourage Ronan.

"If you are tired, go inside and rest." Ronan said distressedly, "You have never done farm work before. Your body cannot handle such a high intensity all of a sudden."

"Let your mother go into the house and rest, I'm fine." Luo Tianhai wore a straw hat, but his face was still sunburned.

They had been working under the scorching sun of Provence for more than two hours, but victory in the war was still 'out of reach'.

Just as the three people were encouraging each other, a rhythmic but slightly chaotic "thump thump" sound came from far away.

If you listen for a while longer, you will imagine screws and metal parts trying to break away from the iron sheet and escape.

Ronan stood up and looked towards the source of the voice:
"A tractor?"

A tractor slowly appeared at the end of the asphalt road in front of Ronan's house.

Louis, wearing an old bleached plaid shirt, farmer's jeans and canvas shoes, waved to everyone from a distance.

There was also a young man wearing a football uniform standing on the tractor.

Vieri jumped out of the vineyard without waiting to get to Ronan, and rushed into the vineyard with the tools they brought:
"I'm here to help."

Ronan's face was covered in sweat. He wiped it hastily and shouted to Vieri:

"Why didn't you go to school?"

Vieri's voice echoed through the vineyards:
"The school is closed today. They said the situation is urgent and asked us to come back to help."

At this time, Louis finally drove his 'ancestral' tractor to the Ronan family. He pointed at his clothes and said:

"Fortunately I didn't throw it away."

Luo Tianhai's clothes were all wet:

"Didn't you go to work today?"

Louis struggled to turn the tractor around:
"I'm going to change my job today. The former best farmer of Lourmarin is going to work!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Leah and Zoe also appeared on the asphalt road.

Louis's old tractor was too slow, so he arrived only a little earlier than them who came on foot to help.

Leah came in with a large basket:

"I guess you guys don't have time to cook, so I made some convenient food and put it in and I'll come out to help you right away."

Zoe was wearing her work overalls and her hair was neatly tied back.

She gave Ronan a huge hug:

"Don't worry, these grapes will be saved. We are with you."

"It will definitely be saved!" Freddy showed up with Alan in his car, "But can you find some work clothes for Alan and me? We came in such a hurry, we need the largest size!"

Alan got off the car holding a few baguettes:

"Nicola and Flossie will come as soon as they have settled the kids."

On the dry land in front of Ronan, which already had traces of sweat, a few drops of sweat suddenly fell quickly:
"Thank you, thank you."

The farmers went to fight, but Ronan had other 'reinforcements'.

One person cannot conquer 8 acres of vineyards, and a family of three may not be able to conquer 3 acres of vineyards either, but a dozen people can definitely win the battle.

It is very difficult to rely on more than 100 farmers to cultivate more than 3000 acres of vineyards in three days.

But what if there are 200, 300 or 500 people?

A difficult battle requires the deployment of the largest possible force, and the war thus entered the 'everyone is a soldier' stage.

(End of this chapter)