1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 261 Surprise! Big surprise!!
Time goes back a few hours.

After meeting Lucas on Saturday night, Ronan began to wonder whether to spend 2000 [Happiness] to upgrade [Collection] to level 4.

But the abilities granted after the upgrade were too random, and Ronan was unsure whether this investment was necessary.

Moreover, he had just delivered a batch of goods, and he only had three days to prepare for the Carpentras Truffle Market.

Even if you develop an incredible skill, it is difficult to compare with those hunters who can collect 10 kilograms of truffles a day.

It is better to go with a learning attitude and not be so radical.

Ronan thought his heart had made up its mind, but his body woke up early every day and was reluctant to leave the forest at night.
This shows that his real thought is that he doesn't want to give up and still wants to give it a try.

So on Monday afternoon, Ronan followed his heart's choice and upgraded [Collection] to level 4.

[Cooking] can only be used in the early spring of next year, and [Planting] has no use at the moment. There are so many [Happiness Levels] in the system, so just increase it.

I didn’t expect that this upgrade would actually yield some good stuff.

There is only one change that upgrading brings, and that is a vast amount of knowledge.

There were so many that Ronan spent an hour or two combing the forest before he found anything related to truffle picking.

There are two of them that Ronan thinks are of great help to him.

The first is that the system explains in more detail the symbiotic relationship between truffles and their host trees.

Truffle mycelium can expand the absorption range of tree roots, improve the intake efficiency of phosphorus, potassium and trace elements, and thus promote tree growth.

Therefore, the above-ground part of the symbiotic tree will be 10-15% larger than that of the tree without truffle symbiosis, and it may be thicker or taller.

Truffles consume 20-30% of the photosynthetic products of the host tree, causing the host tree's carbon allocation to tilt toward the underground. As a result, the host tree's crown will be sparser and the leaf area index will be 8-12% lower.

This new knowledge point allows Ronan to find traces of truffles based on the state of the tree.

In the past, he always lowered his head to look for places where there was no grass, and he couldn't walk fast. Now he looks for trees first and then looks at the ground, and his efficiency has greatly improved.

And now Ronan also knows the scientific name of the "barren" area he mentioned - truffle ring.

That afternoon, he nearly doubled his efficiency in finding truffles by combining observation of the trees with the search for 'truffle rings'.

Even though I wasted nearly 2 hours summarizing the knowledge points in the forest, I still brought home about 5 kilograms of truffles.

The second piece of knowledge that Ronan found that might be related to truffles in the new knowledge given by the system was actually related to animals and smells.

He can determine an animal's sensitivity to a smell by its reaction after smelling it.

The nasal cavity of animals has a complex structure. Dogs have about 3 million olfactory cells, which respond differently to different volatile factors.

This ability helps Ronan find the best truffle dogs!
Xiao Hei and Masai just 'dropped out' due to personality issues, which doesn't mean they are not suitable material.

Ronan felt that the lid of the coffin was showing signs of loosening, and perhaps the two dogs could still be rescued.

Isn’t this discovery a huge surprise?
However, Ronan returned home from the restaurant with great expectations, but the result made his heart immediately cool down.

He gave fresh truffles to two dogs to smell, and both had low sensitivity.

In other words, even if Xiao Hei and Ma Sai did not drop out of school, it would be difficult for them to graduate with excellent grades if they attended classes every day.

Ronan sat on the sofa somewhat depressed and complained quietly:
"Are you planning on having a third child?"

Why is it so hard to find a good truffle dog!

Tuesday was Ronan’s last day in the mountains before he went to the special market, and it was also his last chance to make an effort.

He got up earlier that day than on Monday, and it was still dark when he almost reached Frasier.

However, Ronan didn't feel it was that bitter, and he still kept his mouth raised as he chewed the bread.

"Don't worry about what will happen tomorrow. The more you dig, the more you can sell. The more you sell, the more you earn. What's there to complain about?"

After a good sleep, Ronan had gotten over the frustration of not having a truffle dog.

He was optimistic that the truffle dog would definitely appear in his life, but the time had not come yet!
Ronan came out early, and when he entered the forest, the morning mist had not yet dissipated and visibility was not very high.

However, Ronan had been to this forest too many times, and his speed of advancement was not affected by wearing professional equipment.

But because the eyes cannot see clearly, the other senses are infinitely magnified.

He actually saw different scenery on this road that he walked four or five times a week.

The dense forest of Frasier smelled even better because of the fog, a scent of resin mixed with fallen leaves wet with dew and fragrant earth.

The feeling of his feet touching the ground became more concrete, and Ronan could imagine the crushed fungi hidden under the wet fallen leaves.

This smell, which was rarely smelled, and the touch of the soles of his feet that he had previously ignored made Ronan think of many philosophical questions.

About nature, about death, about imprisonment and redemption.
"No wonder Rousseau and Van Gogh found inspiration through walking. Walking is philosophical thinking." Ronan muttered softly after realizing that his brain was filled with so many things.

He felt that at this moment he could join in the lively discussions among the artists in the restaurant.

“When the first rays of light penetrate the leaves, even the humus becomes sacred.”

"I walked on the carcasses of ferns, but heard the mycelium singing Easter hymns underground."

Ronan recited Rousseau's "Reveries of a Solitary Walker" aloud, occasionally inserting a few lines in between:
"My little truffle, where are you singing?"

Having found something fun to pass the time, Ronan quickly walked to his 'work place' and began looking for traces of truffles.

With the new truffle-finding technique, in just over an hour, Ronan's truffle bag was filled with a thick layer of truffles, probably more than one kilogram.

If we can maintain this speed, today's total collection can reach 6-8 kilograms, which is already at the threshold of an excellent truffle hunter.

But the time he was given to prepare was too short and too rushed. If he had a few more days, Ronan was confident that he would be able to pull a cart to the Carpentras truffle market.

It was almost 10 o'clock when Ronan found a clean place to sit down and have lunch.

After opening a restaurant at home, Ronan's meals have become better and better. At the beginning of the year, when he went out to pick truffles, he could only eat bread, braised beef and dumplings. Now he can have a six-course meal and it is still hot.

Feng Zhen made him a small insulation bag.

"Is it bitter? This life is not bitter at all. This life is so happy." Ronan put the bag of truffles worth thousands of francs on his legs, put his hands behind his head, leaned against the tree trunk behind him, and looked at the sunlight shining on the ground.

The sun shone through the gaps between the pine needles and oak leaves, casting mottled golden spots on the ground. Each one was so beautiful that Ronan couldn't help but be fascinated. As he watched, he suddenly found a different "golden spot".

Others draw it little by little, but there it is a large area. It is the same light spot but it looks like it was painted by two painters.

Ronan wanted to figure out the cause of this large patch of light, so he squinted his eyes and looked up above his head.

This was so shocking that he couldn't help but exclaim:

“What a bald tree.”

There are few leaves on the top of that tree, so more sunlight can penetrate.

As soon as Ronan saw the tree, he knew that he had come to work.

There must be truffles under such a sparse tree canopy, there is no doubt about it.

He packed up his things and walked towards the sturdy oak tree. When he got near the roots, he leaned over and sniffed a few times. The smell was very clear, and Ronan quickly locked onto the target's location.

Everything after that is very simple, just dig down gently.

dig.

Dig again.

Keep digging.
Ronan's expression gradually changed. It was rare that he didn't see any truffles after digging for so long.

If Ronan had not confirmed from the state of the trees that there were definitely truffles underneath, he would have definitely stopped.

After digging for a while, more than 30 centimeters from the ground, Ronan finally touched the small object with a familiar feel.

The rest is very simple, just dig gently towards both sides.

dig.

Dig again.

Keep digging.
This time Ronan's eyes gradually widened and became round.

In the end, he almost fell to the ground with his face down.

"God, this is really a surprise! And it's a big surprise!!"

These days Ronan has been struggling over whether or not to upgrade [Collection].

Lucas debates whether to go to the Carpentras truffle market with Ronan.

On Tuesday afternoon, he took Margaret back to Lourmarin early, but he couldn't stay at home, so he put on some clothes and went to Ronan's restaurant on the commercial street.

Ronan came suddenly that day, and Lucas refused on impulse without thinking it through.

But after Ronan left, he regretted it so much that he couldn't sleep.

Visiting the Carpentras truffle market is completely different from participating in it.

If you can be a stall owner there, it means you have a place in the truffle world of Provence.

This is extremely important for him who is engaged in the artificial cultivation of truffles.

After Olivier withdrew, Lucas was busy raising money to keep the artificial truffle cultivation project going, but he also needed a channel to purchase truffles.

Why did you refuse?
But Lucas was used to being proud. In the past ten years, only others asked him to do things for them, but he had never asked anyone for help.

Even though he regretted it now, he couldn't bring himself to talk to Ronan about it. He just hoped that Ronan would invite him again when they saw him in the restaurant, so that Lucas could join naturally.

Lucas thought he would have to wait for Ronan in the restaurant for a long time, but he didn't expect Ronan to come back after just two drinks.

"It's so early today." Feng Zhen looked up at the sky, "It's not dark yet."

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, Ronan didn't get home until 6 or 7 o'clock.

When did our children become so obedient?

Ronan hugged his truffle bag tightly and said to his mother excitedly:

"Let's eat something delicious today!"

Feng Zhen smiled and joked:

"What day did we not eat well?"

"Even better! Can you still buy seafood now?"

"What time is it? Where can we buy seafood? Let's have noodles."

"That's fine, let's eat the wedding noodles!"

"This kid, is that how you use the noodles?"

“That’s how it’s used!”

Ronan went upstairs with the bag of truffles, and Lucas summoned up his courage and took the initiative to greet Ronan.

Seeing Lucas, Ronan became even more excited and immediately walked towards him.

Lucas was ready to say 'I do'.

But Ronan just patted his shoulder and said cheerfully:
"Eat more and drink more, it's my treat today!"

After saying that, he ran away without even stopping to look at Lucas, who looked anxious.

Lucas stood there with a complicated expression.

Don't you need me anymore so soon?

Early on Wednesday morning, Ronan left home early and went to Carpentras to attend the special truffle market.

"Why is he so excited?" Luo Tianhai turned around and asked his wife, "He looks like he's going to war."

Feng Zhen sat opposite Luo Tianhai, shook his head and said:
"When he woke up this morning, he was talking about 'going to blow up Carpentras', 'going to blow up Carpentras'. Maybe we're really going to go to war."

(End of this chapter)