1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 227 Big Star Zoe

The Provencals' hunting skills are not very good, but they are very good at joining in the fun.

The news that there were wild boars in the dense forests near Lourmarin spread widely in the Petite Luberon area south of the D934 road, and hunters were all attracted to this hunting paradise not far from the village.

Every day, 3-4 groups of professional hunters would enter the dense forest to look for traces of wild boars, and 2-3 of them would go to Ronan's house, the first supply point on the front line, to seek help for a picnic.

Like loyal guards, they appear from morning to night in the open space where the vineyard and the dense forest meet.

Luo Tianhai is used to counting the cars every morning to determine the level of protection for the day:
"There are many 'guards' here today. There are six cars parked there."

Feng Zhen still hasn't changed her habit of looking out the window, but her mentality and mood are different:
"Oh I hope they'll let the poor little guy go."

But in any case, the wild boar crisis that had plagued Ronan's family for a long time was temporarily resolved after the appearance of these "guards".

The crisis was resolved, and the first thing Ronan did was to go to Zoe's house to take Xiao Hei and Marseille home.

But even if the crisis is not resolved, it will be difficult for them to stay in Zoe's house.

Because a fierce war broke out between Marseille and Huhu.

Both Maasai and Huhu are small animals with distinct personalities.

Everyone in Lourmarin knew that Zoe had bought a little lamb that liked to go out for a walk, but no one in the village, whether adults or children, could touch it, and Huhu could always inadvertently avoid anyone who wanted to harm it.

As the name suggests, the Maasai dog, in Ronan's words, is very smart and good at observing people's words and expressions.

Logically speaking, they are all smart little guys and should not be unable to get along with each other, but what happens is that they have one common characteristic - they love to compete for favor.

Masai is usually like a bully at home. He is given way to by his 'brother' Xiao Hei and spoiled by his 'grandparents'. Except for occasionally 'teasing' his father, everything goes well for him.

But when he got to Zoe's house, he immediately became dissatisfied after being butted by the sheep's horns twice for no apparent reason.

Louis' backyard has turned into a 'colosseum', with Marseille and Huhu fighting three to five times a day.

Huhu's calf was bitten by Masai, and Masai's arm was swollen by Huhu. The battle was brutal!

The free-range Huhu was forced to be kept in a pen, but even so, Maasai, who had a lame leg, would go to the sheepfold and provoke whenever he had the chance, making Huhu so angry that he rolled his eyes.

"Is Huhu okay? Is it sick?" Zoe asked worriedly.

Ronan carefully checked Huhu's status:
"I'm not sick. I'm just angry."

If emotions had colors, then at this moment the area within a ten-meter radius would definitely be a crimson-black color representing resentment, so heavy that it could not flow.

"Are you so angry about locking it up?" Zoe asked doubtfully.

Ronan pointed at Marseille's head and said:

"It should be fine once it leaves. Masai is so annoying. He's already been locked up, so why are you still provoking me?"

After scolding Marseille, Ronan comforted Zoe:

"Don't worry. If Huhu has any problems later, please call the restaurant at any time and I'll be there right away."

Zoe was even more confused:

"You are an 'animal' expert now too?"

Ronan raised his chin confidently:

"Definitely more reliable than Freddy."

Zoe didn't take it seriously, but said worriedly:
“How can they not get along?”

Ronan said with a wicked smile:
"Don't worry, I will definitely solve this problem before the two of them need to get along for a long time."

He is going to marry Zoe in the future, and Masai and Huhu must live in harmony.

Ronan won't allow any obstacles between him and Zoe!!
"How to solve it? Do you think Huhu will listen to you more, or Masai?" Zoe's expression was extremely serious.

She was too indulgent towards Huhu.

We must start to solve Huhu's bad habits.

"Then don't worry about it, just go in and work." Ronan took Zoe's hand.

Zoe is going to an exhibition again, but this time it's not in Aix, but in Apt, and she needs to deliver the thrush work within 10 days.

And Ronan can't stay here for long. Unless Marseille leaves, Huhu can't be released. He might get really "angered to death" in a while.

Zoe reluctantly grasped Ronan's hand:

"Okay, I'll go find you and mom for lunch at noon."

After Leah went to work, Zoe, who worked at home, had no place to eat, so Ronan's restaurant became her canteen.

Suddenly, a crisp "ding-ling-ling-ling" sound came into their ears.

A middle-aged man in his forties rode a bicycle to Zoe's door.

"Tracy, today is not Monday or Thursday, why are you here?" Ronan asked.

Tracy is the postman in Lourmarin.

In Luberon, where transportation is inconvenient, the postman only delivers mail twice a week, and still continues the traditional method of delivering mail by bicycle, but today is not the day for the postman to go to work.

Tracy took out a thick pile of things from his sorting box and said with a smile:
"There have been dozens of letters sent to 'great artists' in the past two days. I don't know if these people have something urgent to tell me. So I came here to deliver them."

Tracy was also from Lourmarin. Ronan had gone to help his brother harvest grapes at his vineyard for half a day, so when he saw something unusual happening, he immediately sent the letter.

"Dozens?"

Ronan and Zoe leaned over at the same time and found that the signature was not the specific address of Zoe's home, but only the names of Lourmarin and Zoe - which meant that they were not the people who often exchanged letters with Zoe.

"Why are there so many strangers writing to me?" Zoe took the letters from Tracy and muttered in confusion.

Ronan thought of something and clapped his hands in joy:

"Mermaids! The mermaids are on display!!"

When Gabriel brought Marini to visit Ronan's house, he mentioned that after Mr. Thuram's youngest daughter's coming-of-age ball, the coming-of-age ceremony would be exhibited in the Granet Museum for ten days.

Before that, no one knew which lucky person received the commission from the tourism tycoon.

Ronan guessed that the author's information must have been announced at the same time as the mermaid was exhibited, so Zoe, who already had a certain degree of fame, gained more fans.

To confirm the situation, Ronan first called Marini, but his family told Ronan that Marini was in Aix and could not be contacted.

So Ronan called Gabriel again.

The candy king, who had a close relationship with Marini, told Ronan that Zoe's work was indeed exhibited at the Granet Museum in Apt, and that Marini had already seen it. "You don't know how excited Marini was when he called me. He said it was the most spiritual and unique artwork he had seen in recent years. He also said that he would go to Lourmarin to find Zoe after finishing his studies in Aix. Ronan, you must ask Zoe to help Marini!"

There are many people who share the same idea as Marini.

When dealing with letters from strangers, many people asked to "visit".

They hope to discuss art topics with this Provence 'rising star' face to face.

In the evening, Ronan and Leah helped Zoe sort out the letters.

There were so many letters from Tracy that it would be a waste of Zoe's work if she had to read them all by herself.

Leah and Ronan will take a first look, and if it's just to express appreciation, they will tell Zoe in a few words where a friend who does something has expressed appreciation for you.

If the letter discussed some academic issues that they did not understand, they would give the letter to Zoe and ask her to write back.

If the other party expresses an intention to visit, they will pile the letters on the table and deal with them together later.

After reading all the letters, there were more than a dozen letters placed in the middle of the table expressing the desire to meet.

"I feel like an agent who sorts out fan letters for female stars." Leah put down the last letter, unable to hide her excitement.

"Remove the word 'think' and we are just agents who sort out fan letters for female stars!" Ronan read the content of the last letter in his hand. "I always believe that art is a reflection of the soul. Your works have awakened the public's awe of nature, which is particularly precious in today's society. I am proud that Provence has produced a new artist like you."

After reading it with great emotion, Ronan shook the letter paper:
"Zoe has gained another adoring fan."

Leah picked out a letter from the ones she had just read:
"This is an interview invitation from a magazine for Zoe. They hope to conduct an in-depth interview about your interpretation of artistic concepts. Please agree to it quickly, dear!"

Zoe bit her pen, ignoring what Ronan and Leah were talking about, and seemed to be thinking about something important.

"Don't you know what to do?" Ronan asked.

Zoe put down her pen and said to her mother and Ronan:
"Okay, okay, your work is done. All that's left is for me to reply to. You can get out now."

Ronan joked:

"I can help you reply to your fans' letters. I can write them!"

Leah also echoed:

"I can sign for you. I heard that celebrities have people around them who specialize in signing for them."

Zoe laughed and drove them out:

"No, absolutely no! I need to have a good chat with my new friends, you guys hurry out!"

Leia and Ronan smiled at each other after being pushed out of the door.

"The female star is acting like a big shot!"

After that, Tracy continued to send Zoe a lot of letters.

The task of reading letters also evolved from Ronan and Leah to Leah, Ronan, Louis and Vieri.

These people would get together every few days to read the letter for two or three hours, but the letter was never finished.

After reading one batch, the next batch will come immediately. Some fans are so "fanatic" that the letters they write are thicker than professional papers.

Vieri, who often quarreled with Zoe, has now become obedient. He dares not say a word when he sees Zoe in a hurry.

"Zoe is a big star now."

However, Zoe always insisted on replying to those people personally, and never asked for help no matter how many people she had to reply to.

One morning.

Isabel came to the kitchen to find Ronan:

"Ronan, there are two people outside looking for you."

Ronan stopped what he was doing, looked up and asked:
"Did you tell me what you were doing?"

Isabel shook her head and said enviously:
"No, but they are dressed very beautifully, they don't look like people from Luberon."

"Ah?" Ronan put down the kitchen knife and went to the front hall.

The people looking for Ronan were two girls.

One of them was wearing a pretty dress that only girls from big cities would buy, with an exaggerated hat on her head, while the other was dressed like a white-collar worker in Paris.

"Hello, who are you?" Ronan asked politely.

The girl in the hat asked:
"Excuse me, are you Zoe's boyfriend?"

Ronan was startled:
"Yes."

The man dressed in white collar took out a well-preserved piece of letter paper:

"I wonder if Zoe has a convenient time now. Can you help me contact her?"

Ronan opened the letter and saw that it expressed gratitude to the other party in a beautiful and lively handwriting, and answered several academic questions. At the end of the letter there was this paragraph:

"I'm looking forward to meeting you and communicating with you. Let's meet at the largest Chinese restaurant on Lourmarin Commercial Street. It's owned by my boyfriend Ronan and is very unique. I hope you will like the environment there."

"I'll call Zoe right away." Ronan turned and went to the cashier.

"No, I'm already here."

A beautiful woman with fashionable clothes and exquisite makeup appeared at the door of the restaurant.

The white shirt on her upper body was tied in a knot above her belly button, and underneath it was a pair of high-waisted, slightly wide flared pants, which were the most fashionable in France in the 80s.

Every step he took attracted the attention of several customers in the restaurant.

"What a beautiful girl."

“That guy is like a big star in Cannes.”

"God, I've only seen this outfit in magazines, but it doesn't look as good on the models as it does on her."

Isabel's eyes widened in horror.

I couldn't believe that the person in front of me was their 'boss lady'.

Ronan was not mentally prepared, as he had never seen Zoe dressed up in Lourmarin.

His girl is so beautiful, she shines like a star!
When the 'big star' Zoe passed by Ronan, she patted him on the back gently and said with a teasing tone:
"Don't just stand there like an idiot. I have plans for 4 more people to come."

(End of this chapter)