1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 277 'Harmonious' Sister-Brother Relationship
"Of course." Bruno forced a wry smile.

Ronan pushed the donut forward a little:
"Perhaps something sweet would help you feel better?"

Bruno looked at the donut and said:

"My wife used to make Christmas cakes herself every Christmas."

Ronan asked curiously:

"Before? Not doing it now?"

Bruno sighed:
"Yes, she changed jobs after our second child was born. After that she became very busy around Christmas and had no time to do anything herself."

Ronan felt very much like him:
“Raising two kids in Paris is not easy.”

Children are always money-eaters no matter what era they are in, especially in Paris!
Bruno's tone became even lower:
"I wonder if they are satisfied with the Christmas cake my mother bought this year. Yesterday they called me and asked me when I could go back. They said they wanted me to take them to the zoo."

He pounded the table hard:
"Damn it, I want to go back to Paris right now!"

Ronan comforted:
"I guess their mother must have taken very good care of them. Look, they're still in the mood to go out and play, aren't they?"

He poured Bruno a glass of wine and said in a relaxed tone:
"March will be here soon, and I heard that you are sure to get a promotion. The children will definitely understand you."

The farmers were all temporary workers at the National Forest Service. Ronan heard from them one day that Bruno had done an excellent job on his secondment to Provence, and that their superiors had decided to give him a promotion as soon as the underbrush clearing operation was completed.

A lonely Christmas in exchange for a promotion. It won't be so painful if you think about it this way, right?

Bruno said to Ronan gratefully:
"Sorry man, please forgive the nagging of a homesick man. I know I must be like a nagging 'widow' now,"

Ronan smiled and spread his hands:

"I understand. If I were to spend the holidays alone away from my family, I might not be as emotionally stable as you."

Bruno tilted his head embarrassedly:
"It was my first time away from home for the holidays, and I had a little breakdown."

In order to avoid sounding like a nagging 'widow', he took a bite of the donut in front of him:
"But seriously, I've had Chinese food in Paris, and the food here is better than in Paris. I come here once or twice a week. What's even more horrible is, do you know what—"

Bruno pointed at the donut and said:

"What's even more terrifying is that your desserts are no worse than those famous restaurants in Paris. Man, you really have something."

Ronan happily drank a drink with him:
"This is a truly proud evaluation. I hope you will remember me when you return to Paris."

Ronan has a lot of things to do today and can't stay with Bruno for too long.

When he was there, Bruno was in good shape, but as soon as Ronan left, Bruno became listless again.

Christmas is a day for family reunions, and the restaurant was full of families eating together, which made him seem even more lonely.

But staying alone in the dormitory only made Bruno feel worse.
To be honest, he was in a terrible mood!

"Hey Boss!"

Another dessert appeared in front of Bruno, and then the chubby face of the little fat boy Cornell appeared.

"Merry Christmas!"

“Bringing your family to celebrate?” Bruno asked Cornell.

Cornell shook his head:
"I'm here to help Ronan deliver truffles. A restaurant is out of stock, so I need to send some over."

Bruno nodded. He knew Cornell had other work.

"Go ahead."

Cornell did not leave, but ordered some wine and sat down steadily.

"Aren't you delivering the goods?" Bruno asked.

Cornell said naively:
"Don't worry, wait half an hour before going."

Bruno continued:

"Drinking and driving?"

Cornell smiled and said:
"It's okay, I'll just drink half a glass. In Provence, a glass of wine doesn't count as drunk driving. Boss, I toast to you!"

Cornell chatted with Bruno for half an hour and left the restaurant at Ronan's urging.

As soon as Cornell left, Theo sat down opposite Bruno with a cup in hand:
"I'll drink with you."

"Why are you here too?" Bruno asked in surprise.

Theo pointed at Anna who was taking pictures at the door:

"Anna is clamoring to come here to celebrate the holiday."

Bruno saw Theo's lovely daughter and wife and said with a smile:
"Go and accompany them."

Theo raised his glass stubbornly:
"They're going to take a while to film. Once Anna starts playing, she won't stop. Let's drink first."

"This--" Bruno didn't know what to say.

Until 7: in the evening, from time to time someone would sit down opposite Bruno to chat and drink with him.

He knew that the farmers did it 'on purpose'.

With the company of these 'new friends', Bruno felt much better.

But the gathering always comes to an end. There are fewer and fewer people in the restaurant, and Bruno knows that he has to go back to the dormitory to face loneliness.

I don't know if it's a psychological effect or if the temperature has really dropped.

Bruno felt that the temperature outside was much lower than when he came in the afternoon.

Looking at the warm lights on both sides of the streets in Lourmarin, he began to miss his family again.

I wonder if my wife and kids have started eating turkey by this time?

Christmas is incomplete without turkey, just as it is incomplete without family.

And poor Bruno had both.

"I must be the most pitiful person in Luberon." He tightened his clothes and walked towards the temporary parking lot. Suddenly, there was a sound of hurried footsteps behind him, and soon the sound turned into running.

"Hey, Bruno!"

Bruno turned his head and saw that the person chasing him was Ronan.

"What's the matter?" he stopped and asked.

Ronan patted his shoulder:

"You left without me noticing. Come with me."

"Where are you going?" Bruno asked confusedly. Wasn't the restaurant closed?
Ronan pointed in a direction:
"Celebrate the festival!"

Bruno was taken by Ronan to a house with warm lights on.

As soon as he opened the door, the warm air that rushed towards him drove away the coldness in his body.

The attitude of the people in the room towards him drove away the coldness in his heart.

A tall, handsome man hugged him like an old friend and patted his shoulder:

"How can you spend Christmas alone? Treat this place like your own home. Come and try my wife's cooking. This is the best turkey in Lourmarin. She started preparing it yesterday."

Another yellow-skinned middle-aged man came over with a bottle of transparent liquid that Bruno had never seen before:

"Have you ever tried Chinese liquor? Let's try it together?"

Bruno was taken to the restaurant by these two enthusiastic men and found that a real "Christmas dinner" had been prepared, which was even more sumptuous than what he had eaten at home in Paris.

The two women who were busy in the kitchen also showed great enthusiasm to him, constantly asking him what he liked and wanted to eat, saying that there were many dishes at home and everything could be cooked.

Seeing Bruno's uneasy look, Ronan seemed to see himself a year ago.

He smiled and explained to Bruno:

"These are my parents and my girlfriend's family. Don't be shy. Stay and celebrate the holiday with us. We Provencals will not ignore any friend who comes from afar. I swear."

Looking at the "strangers" in this room who were showing him kindness, Bruno suddenly felt that this place was much "warmer" than Paris.

"I must be the luckiest man in Luberon," he said gratefully.

Bruno had drunk quite a bit of wine in the restaurant, and got drunk right away after drinking a little white wine here. He took the phone and called his wife in Paris to tell her about the great friends he had met in Luberon.

He didn't come over when the Christmas cake was being distributed, so Vieri sensibly took a piece and handed it to him.

While Vieri was away, Louis whispered to Ronan:
"Today's Christmas event was really designed by Vieri?"

Louis asked Ronan this question no less than five times during the day, but no matter what Ronan said, he didn't believe it.

Louis simply couldn't believe that his son, who couldn't even drink two sips of wine and had to go for dessert, had such a great ability.

Ronan sighed silently:
"Louis, I believe you already have the answer in your heart. You have been in the restaurant all day today. Didn't you see Vieri's performance?"

He pointed to Vieri in the distance and said:
"Even if you don't believe Vieri has the ability, don't you see his attitude? He takes this matter very seriously. Maybe you don't know that he was the one who opened the restaurant this morning, half an hour earlier than my parents."

Feng Zhen nodded in affirmation:

"Vieri takes it seriously every day."

Seeing Vieri coming back, Ronan took a sip of pink wine and said to Louis with obvious dissatisfaction:
"You have a very good son, but you don't realize it and always find fault with him. I don't think Vieri has any adolescent problems. If he has any, it's you who 'caused' it. You always use his love of football as an excuse, which makes him lose all confidence."

Louis lowered his voice and said:
"He was so obsessed with football."

Ronan shrugged.

"So what?"

Zoe coughed, reminding them that Vieri was back and they quickly ended the topic.

Louis looked at his daughter Zoe for help, as if to say:

You know what I mean, baby?
Our attitude is consistent!

Zoe pursed her lips, got up and went back to her bedroom.

A minute later, she took out a blue gift and gave it to Vieri across the table.

Vieri didn't answer, pointing to the Christmas tree outside his house and said:
"Isn't the gift you gave me there? It's a white school bag. I've already opened it."

Zoe lowered her head and took a bite of the cake:
"I have prepared two gifts for you this year."

Zoe gives Vieri stationery every year, but even with two gifts, Vieri doesn't feel any anticipation.

He soullessly unwrapped the wrapping paper as if he was doing homework, then opened the box, and then let out a scream that shouldn't have come from someone his age.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Vieri took the jersey out of the box and put it under the light to examine it carefully. "It's a Marseille jersey signed by Jean-Pierre Papin!!"

He asked Zoe excitedly:

"Where did you get that? How do you know he's my favorite in the Marseille team??"

Zoe said without any emotion:
"You said it every day at home, so I remembered it. I got it from a friend."

Vieri buried his face in his jersey excitedly, as if he had returned to the simple, carefree boy he was a few months ago:
"Thank you, thank you. My classmates will definitely envy me to death!"

Vieri was quiet for only a few seconds, then he started screaming in the room, pacing back and forth while holding his jersey.

Zoe looked at her father with wide eyes and said in a complicated tone:

"Dad, I think we have overlooked too many of Vieri's shining points before. As Ronan said, he really took this Christmas seriously and worked hard. It's not Vieri who should change, but us. We should learn to respect him."

"What are you talking about?" Vieri came back and only heard one or two words.

"It's none of your business!" Zoe pointed to the living room, signaling him to go over there and scream so as not to disturb the adults from chatting.

"Okay." Vieri left happily.

Zoe took a sip of wine and took a deep breath:
"Okay, I admit that I'm not doing well, but I will try to change."

(End of this chapter)