1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 251 Good luck
The heating installation project in Ronan's house has been going on for several days.

One morning, Mr. Simon, who showed up for the first time after the start of work, suddenly visited Ronan's house and excitedly informed them that a grand "start-up ceremony" would be held today.

"But the construction has already started for a long time. Why are we holding a 'groundbreaking ceremony' now?" Ronan asked Simon in confusion.

In November, the wind was just a little stronger, but the temperature was not very low.

But Simon was dressed as if he was going to the North Pole - with a thick woolen hat and down jacket all over his body, making him look like an 80-year-old grandfather.

This made Ronan curious about what he would wear during the coldest months of January and February?

Then Ronan remembered.

Simon did not go out in January and February.

At the beginning of the year, Ronan was almost frozen to death, but the old man refused to leave his warm home and asked Ronan to wait until March before discussing the heating.

Simon said in a thick Provencal dialect:
"It was just preparation before, and the official installation starts today. In Provence, there must be a 'groundbreaking ceremony', that's the rule!"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Let's do it." Feng Zhen kept pointing at Simon with her eyes, as if reminding Ronan not to argue with an old man who was afraid of the cold.

Ronan thought, that's because you haven't seen him dancing to his wife's out-of-tune accordion. The old man is in much better shape than you.

Suddenly, Ronan thought of something and his heart tightened:
"What's in the 'groundbreaking ceremony'?"

God, you're not going to invite your wife here, are you?
Has she learned any musical instrument recently?
After half an hour.

Ronan would rather Simon invite his wife to perform a part.

At least it was elegant and something he could understand.

The 'groundbreaking ceremony' was held on an oil-stained workbench in the open space in front of Ronan's house.

The parts needed for the heating system were piled high on the workbench, including but not limited to boxes of brass fittings and pistons, welding guns, hacksaws, drills, and cans of black goo that Ronan had no idea what it was.

The branch venue is on the ground next to the workbench, where groups of radiators, water tanks, fuel barrels, large boilers and stoves are placed.

Simon introduced the names and uses of the parts lying on the ground or on the workbench like a speech, while making comments of amazement:

“Look at the quality, it’s amazing!”

This was Feng Zhen's first time dealing with Simon, so she asked politely:

"What are you trying to say by putting all this together?"

Simon said, in a tenor voice:
"These are all the parts of this construction. Before the end of next month, they will all be assembled in your home, and your home will be as warm as spring."

The passionate speech was met with only the cold response of the three people in Paris:
"and then?"

Simon was so angry at the reaction of the Paris family that he jumped a little:
"Anyway! After the 'groundbreaking ceremony' we will enter the actual installation phase!"

Ronan was speechless and turned away:

“I went truffle picking.”

What the hell is this old man trying to be mysterious about? !

Although the heating installation has been going on for a while.

But Ronan always forgets that there is construction at his house. Apart from some more holes in the walls and some construction soil occasionally appearing on the ground, his life has not been greatly affected.

However, his peaceful life completely disappeared after the 'groundbreaking ceremony'.

After returning home from truffle picking today, as soon as he opened the door he saw spare parts all over the floor, copper pipes, dust, rubble, and twisted and deformed broken pipes and wires. It was as if the Transformers had fought a fierce battle here.

But it's normal for construction to be a little messy. Ronan has gotten used to it after so many renovations.

He opened the bathroom, wanting to take a comfortable hot bath, and then went to find Zoe, but when he closed the door and turned around, he saw a big man holding a welding gun. They were both scared and shouted at the same time.

A bloodshot eye immediately appeared in the hole in the wall, darting left and right.

Ronan was so scared that he pushed the door open and bumped into the worker who was installing the piston.

The man looked at the bathroom, then at Ronan, and asked with a shrill, hoarse voice what two grown men were doing in the bathroom with the door closed.

Ronan went to the bedroom and lay on the bed to calm down.

Halloween has never been so scary!

After lying down for a while, he supported himself on the bed with his hands and planned to go to another bathroom to take a shower, but he felt a piercing pain in his palms, and saw two small bloody holes on them.

When I lifted the quilt, I found twenty or thirty screws of different sizes hidden inside, most of them with their heads facing upwards.

Ronan pushed open the door and roared:
"Xiao Hei, Marseille! Who hid something in my quilt?!"

My career is not going well and now I can’t even stay at home!
November has been so unlucky!!

If I had to give a score to each month since arriving in Provence.

Ronan would definitely give November a score of 11.

This month has been tough for him.

In the previous 10 months, Ronan saw the future as colorful and full of hope, but throughout November, Ronan saw the future as bleak.

Although it is not the end of the month yet, it is foreseeable that the restaurant's turnover this month will be halved and then halved again compared to October, and there is no sign of any recovery in traffic.

The price of truffles on the market has been adjusted again, and it has become 20 yuan cheaper per kilogram. Since Ronan is working with friends or friends of friends, no one cares about this small amount of money.

But if the price of truffles continues to drop, they will definitely have to renegotiate the purchase price with Ronan.

Thinking carefully, Ronan’s biggest feeling in November was that we must respect nature.

All the bad news this month was triggered by the weather.

A rainy year with constant northwest winds.
This is something you will never understand if you live in Paris. You have to experience it yourself to understand the pain and sadness involved.

In late November, like every Provence local, the first thing Ronan did when he woke up was to pray for good weather.

Only with good weather can people living in Provence make money.

Ronan's psychological endurance is already pretty good. At worst, he can use the money from selling truffles to support the restaurant. He will definitely not starve to death.

But Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen, who devoted all their energy to the restaurant, were in increasingly worse moods, and were almost filled with all kinds of negative emotions.

Ronan has to comfort his parents countless times every day - 'Every bad time will bring good times'.

Nature will not always give us good gifts, nor will it always give us bad gifts. Everything will pass.

With Ronan's comfort, Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen waited and waited until the last week of November.

The turning point from bad to good has finally arrived.

It was a Monday morning.

Feng Zhen, as usual, packed her things tightly and went to pick up the weather forecast and the "Provence Daily" delivered by the postman Tracy.

Normally, Feng Zhen would be eager to check the weather, while Luo Tianhai would pick up the "Provence Daily" to read at the same time.

But this time, Feng Zhen, who had been fooled too many times by the weather forecast, opened the newspaper first.

Almost the moment she opened it, she screamed, waking up the two sleeping dogs.

"The arsonist has been caught!!"

Ronan almost flew down from the second floor, and Luo Tianhai turned off all the fires in the kitchen and rushed to Feng Zhen who was standing at the door reading a newspaper. The Provence Daily published the police notice on the front page.

It turned out that the mentally twisted arsonist had set two more fires in the past period of time, but because the Provence Forestry Bureau and the Fire Brigade increased the level of prevention, the fire was put out before it spread.

During these two operations, the police gradually targeted the suspect.

The man was caught setting fire to a forest near the village of Ur last Saturday.

The newspapers also included a photo of the handcuffed arsonist, who looked to be about the same size as Vieri.

Feng Zhen didn't even have time to eat breakfast and went to open the restaurant:
"Now that the arsonist has been caught, the flow of people may recover a little. I'm going to make preparations."

There are two factors that affect the restaurant's customer flow. One is the bad weather, and the other is the arsonist who may set Provence on fire at any time.

Now that one problem has been solved, there should be a little more customers, right?
Luo Tianhai's heart also flew to the restaurant. He told Ronan:
"We didn't prepare enough dishes yesterday. If there are more customers, I'm afraid they won't be enough. I'll go make some dishes and place an order with the supplier. Your mother and I will go to the restaurant for breakfast, and you can eat at home."

Finally seeing a turn for the better, Ronan was extremely happy and told them to go without worry.

But Feng Zhen, who had just walked out of the house, screamed loudly again.

Ronan quickly ran out and asked:

"what happened?"

Feng Zhen opened her arms, palms facing forward, and spun around while shouting in fear:
"Wind! The wind has stopped, hasn't it??"

"What's the weather forecast?" Ronan asked his mother.

The wind may have just stopped for a short while, but what about the next few days?

"Oh, I haven't had time to check it yet!" Feng Zhen ran back home, opened the personal weather forecast printed by the 'Carpunk Weather Station', and shouted even louder, "There will be no wind for the next week! No wind at all!!"

She hugged Ronan tightly:
“After adversity comes good times, after adversity comes good times!”

Newspaper subscription rates in Lourmarin do not exceed 60%.

But today, all the residents of Lourdes knew what was published in the newspaper, and also discovered that the northwest wind that had troubled them for nearly a month had finally stopped.

When the weather is bad, the people of Provence lose their appetite.

But after the weather cleared up, all these people who were feeling depressed went out of their homes to embrace the good weather they had been away from for a long time.

The places they chose to go were also very similar - they were tired of seeing castles and churches, so they went to take a look at the newly built commercial streets.

But the commercial street is so short that you can finish it in just a few minutes.

If the museum is not open, you don’t want to buy stone tools, or you don’t understand the art, then why not go to Ronan’s restaurant for a drink or a meal?

Fortunately, Luo Tianhai and Feng Zhen came ahead to make preparations.

Otherwise, we would not be able to cope with so many villagers who suddenly poured in.

So many villagers came out to drink and eat today that even the outdoor area that had been closed for a long time was reopened.

There was no wind, and the highest temperature during the day was around 16 or 17 degrees. It was very comfortable to bask in the sun and look at the Luberon Valley.

With more customers in the restaurant, the kitchen became busier.

The 150 wreaths that Cafu ordered were completed in less than a week, and the employees had several days of idle time.

Hearing the familiar sounds of cutting vegetables, cooking and the waiter's questions about the order, Luo Tianhai had never felt so at ease.

"Is Provence the lucky charm for this kid Ronan? He really got it right. Good times are coming after bad times." Luo Tianhai could finally laugh, and at the same time, he stirred the spoon with more strength.

Ronan has been worried about the situation in the restaurant.

After picking truffles today, I went straight to the restaurant.

Seeing the room full of guests, he finally felt relieved. It turns out that you can only make money in good weather!

He whispered to his mother:

“How are sales today?”

Feng Zhen whispered in Ronan's ear:
"All the people who came today are from our village. They are all going crazy! We have sold 1 so far, and we estimate that we can make 1 or by closing time."

Ronan slapped the table excitedly.

Can the villagers from this village sell it for more than 1?
If only they could keep this trend going.

But the residents of Lourmarin do not have such economic conditions.
Business was bad a while ago, and Ronan was not in the mood to drink.

The farmers knew that the restaurant was not doing well, and Ronan was not in the mood, so they didn't call him much.

But today the restaurant is packed again, and they will not let Ronan go.

"Drink quickly, how long have you been resting?" Theo shouted.

Fabian picked up the pink wine and pretended to fill it for Ronan:

"If you don't drink, you'll have to drink a penalty drink!"

Ronan knew that these farmers were deliberately trying to get him drunk, so he wouldn't obey.

He blocked his glass and asked:

"I've already drunk almost a bottle, and you've only had two. I can drink, no problem, but you have to keep me company."

Theo said with a sly smile:
"You made money today, so you should drink more. When we make money someday, we will drink more too."

Fabian tries to grab Ronan's glass:
"Yes, that's the truth. Look at how much we drank during the harvest days. We drank from morning to night every day, but today you made money!"

Suddenly, Isabelle brought a man in work clothes to find Ronan.

Ronan saw that this man was his heating worker and asked nervously:

"what happened?"

The man said reluctantly:

"Just now someone came to your house to look for you. I told him you weren't home and asked him to come tomorrow. That bastard started to curse me. I was about to curse him back, but he took out his work ID and slammed it in my face and started to curse me again. How did you get to know that bastard?"

Ronan imagined Bruno cursing and asked with a smile:
"What did he say?"

The worker slammed the table hard:
"That person asked you to go back and see him now."

Theo also slapped the table and asked Ronan:
"Who is this person? Can't he come here by himself? Is he sick?"

Ronan immediately stood up and prepared to leave.

Fabian stopped in front of Ronan and said aggressively:

"Don't spoil him. This is Lourmarin. I don't know who has the guts to let you go to him!"

Ronan smiled and explained to the farmers:

"That man is an official from the National Forest Service."

"Ah???" The farmers swallowed all the dirty words in their hearts.

Ronan pointed at each farmer with his index finger:
"Prepare the wine for me, and drink it all when I come back."

(End of this chapter)