1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 279 Spoiling Women to the Extreme!

The next day, Ronan was going into the mountains to collect truffles and couldn't find out the wine prices listed by the Moli Winery Cooperative—no, we should now call it the Moli Winery.

However, with an additional discount on top of the "friendship price," the price will surely be very affordable.

But when Ronan returned to Lourmaran that evening, he found that everyone's mood was not quite right.

The wine lovers all looked dejected, and the restaurant was nearly empty.

Ronan immediately realized the reason and asked his mother:
"Moli Winery didn't offer a good price?"

Feng Zhen nodded:

"Morley Winery said they are applying for AOC this year and can no longer sell wine at the previous prices. The most affordable table wine has increased from 20 francs to 25 francs, and that is the price after the discount. It will be sold to the public at 40 francs a bottle. The other wines have all been adjusted to 50 francs or more."

She lowered her voice and said:

"And now they don't sell to individual farmers anymore. You have to order a certain number of boxes at once to get that price. The villagers complained about it for a long time during the day."

Ronan sighed:

“The winemaking cooperative makes wine by hand, which keeps costs low. If it is upgraded to a winery, the owner will definitely purchase a lot of advanced equipment, and the cost will definitely go up immediately.”

Feng Zhen asked Luo Nan:
"Are we still cooperating with Moli this year?"

The affordable red wines served at Ronan's restaurant are also sourced from the Moli Winery.

“The wineries further away are even more expensive,” Ronan said helplessly.

Residents of Luberon typically only buy wine from the winery or cooperative that supplies grapes to their village, as that is the cheapest way to buy wine.

It's more expensive to buy wine elsewhere.

Although Moli has raised its price this year, you can no longer buy red wine for 25 francs a bottle elsewhere.

This affordable version is the most popular among residents and also the one consumed the most at Ronan Restaurant.

However, Ronan suddenly thought of something else.

After the price of Moli's red wine increased, the most "affordable" wine in the restaurant became Stella's rosé.

Rosé wines have a poor reputation in Provence, and their prices are very low.

Because of the association's connections, the more affordable Jerome was priced at 18 francs per bottle for Ronan.

Will this price increase by Moli benefit rosé wine?
However, this is all predicated on the fact that Stellar Winery still exists.

"Has anyone called the restaurant looking for me these past couple of days?" Ronan asked his mother.

Mr. Jacques said that Ines was organizing the next gathering, the theme of which was to help Stellar Winery find a new owner.

Why haven't I received any messages yet?
Feng Zhen shook her head:

"Only restaurants that wanted truffles contacted you, but I had Cornell deliver them to them."

Ronan tapped his finger on the counter a few times.

He would wait a few more days, and if there was still no news, he would ask Mr. Jacques.

Ines must be very anxious to get everyone to work together, probably because the most important character, Ms. Astrid, has a problem with her schedule.

But why is Astrid so busy?
They don't look like nobles at all; they're practically working like laborers.

Seeing her son's serious expression, Feng Zhen assumed he was troubled by the increased purchase price of red wine and immediately told him some good news.

She pressed a five-digit number on the calculator and exclaimed excitedly:

"December profits!"

Ronan leaned closer, his eyes lighting up instantly, and he lowered his voice to say:
"Over 7? That's a lot!"

The restaurant's profit was over 100,000 in October, but dropped to 30,000 in November due to various unforeseen circumstances. It rebounded in December!

Feng Zhen blinked a few times:

"Business has stabilized now. Your father and I estimate we can reach this number in January. If we can maintain this level, once the weather warms up and we open up the outdoor area and tourists come, we could easily make over 200,000 a month?"

It's the off-season for tourism in Provence now, and while other shops are closing and losing money, they're making a profit.

When the peak season comes... oh my god, I don't even want to think about it!
Ronan imagined the scene for a moment, then happily patted the calculator:

"Same as always, you take 2, and keep the rest for me."

Feng Zhen clicked her tongue:

"I've told you so many times, your father and I don't need that much money."

Who taught you this? Did they pay you ten or twenty thousand?!
Ronan said with a smile:
"The money I used to buy the house was actually subsidized by you."

Without the 60,000 francs his parents gave him, Ronan wouldn't have been able to buy the house on the shopping street in November.

A month later, house prices in Lourmaran did indeed rise again.

"Isn't this the house we're supposed to live in?" Feng Zhen whispered.

"Hey, let's not talk about money outside. It's settled then." Ronan went to the kitchen. "What are we having for dinner tonight? I'm starving."

"Hey! Hey! Hey!!" Feng Zhen stood up and called out a few times from behind, but Ronan completely ignored her. She sat down angrily, muttering under her breath:
"Giving it to us is also to help you save it, kid!"

A minute passed.

Feng Zhen tilted her head and muttered to herself:
"What brand of lipstick did Zoe mention the other day?"

Another minute passed.

She suddenly chuckled twice.

Since my son gave me the money, I'll buy two new lipsticks.

I've run out of pressed powder, I'll buy another one.

You can buy two sets of clothes.

Okay, I'll buy Lao Luo a new pair of shoes.

Hey, does Ronan have enough clothes?
With Chinese New Year approaching, shouldn't we buy some things for the family?

"What are you thinking about, laughing like that?" Freddy came to pick up Frosty from get off work and saw Feng Zhen with her head down, grinning foolishly, so he couldn't help but ask.

Feng Zhen proudly tossed her hair:

"I wonder what good deeds I must have done in my past life to be able to give birth to such a wonderful son in this life."

Feng Zhen gave Ronan the restaurant's accounts and reminded him that he should also calculate the profits from other businesses in December.

Now that the business has expanded so much, I have to find a separate time to take out paper and pen and carefully record the money; relying solely on my brain is no longer enough.

The restaurant's profit here is 5.

The weaving business also did quite well in December. Although the woven lamps and ornaments hadn't sold yet, the market for garlands had completely opened up. In the latter half of the month, three trips were made to Apt, delivering a total of more than 1400 garlands, with a profit of more than 38,000.

With the upgrade of the [Gathering] skill, the truffle business also experienced a boom in the latter half of the month. In addition to the more than 50 kilograms of the original truffles supplied to Jacques, Artur, and Pascal, the extra 30 kilograms of truffles were also sold to truffle brokers they met at the Carpenter's specialty truffle market.

Throughout December, Ronan earned 130,000 francs from the truffle business, not including the more than 80,000 francs he made at the Carpenter Truffle Market. If all of that is added together, his monthly income exceeded 200,000 francs, and that was 200,000 francs in cash!

There were also 10,000 francs earned from the two markets, and 13,000 francs left after paying off the mortgage.
在1987年的1月份，罗南已经是一个拥有2套房、2辆车，24万存款的人了！

Moreover, this 240,000 yuan deposit was earned within one month.

After buying the house from the government at the end of November, Ronan only had a few hundred francs in his pocket.

After finishing the calculations, Ronan put down his pen and sighed from the bottom of his heart:

"If I work hard in January and February, at this rate of making money, I'll soon become a real 'millionaire'!"

What's the first thing you do when you get money?
Of course it was spent!

Ronan inherited this trait from his mother.

After obtaining the 'building permit', Ronan immediately contacted Cafu and asked him to come to Lourmaran to carry out the construction.

"What? You want to build a two-story carpentry workshop?" Kafu's puzzled voice came through the phone. "It's not that I'm afraid of trouble, it's just that I don't think it's necessary. You've already set the area of ​​the first floor at the limit of 150 square meters without approval. Two floors of 300 square meters is a complete waste. To be honest, you don't even need 150 square meters. You're not a professional carpenter. That's just your hobby. I think 70-80 square meters is enough."

Ronan leaned back comfortably on the sofa and corrected him:

"Woodworking is indeed my hobby, but have you forgotten that we also have a professional artist in our family? It's not just our woodworking workshop, but also Zoe's future studio."

When the young couple first discussed their post-marital plans, Ronan mentioned that he wanted to build a spacious studio for Zoe in the backyard.

But Zoe said that was completely unnecessary. Ronan's house was only a 10-minute walk from Louis's, and even if she got married, she could go back to her parents' house to work every day.

But is Ronan the kind of person who's stingy?
Ronan was an extremely doting man, whether it was his wife or his mother!

Since we're going to build a woodworking shop, let's arrange Zoe's studio at the same time.

Ronan carefully observed Zoe's work environment and believed that it was absolutely necessary for Zoe to separate the ceramics and glassmaking processes because they required completely different materials, procedures, and tools.

Furthermore, while some steps in Zoe's creative process generate dust, others do not produce harmful gases or floating particles, such as designing and drawing, consulting reference books, making molds, and the final polishing process.

However, due to the lack of workspace, all work can only be done in one space, which means Zoe has to wear the highest level of protective mask as soon as she enters the studio, and she wears it all day long. Ronan feels so sorry for her.

In the future, half of the first floor of this family studio will be a woodworking workshop, which will contain a full set of woodworking machinery and hand tools, as well as a huge workbench that can allow two people to work at the same time.

The other half is separated to house Zoe's kiln, where materials such as cement, glass, and plaster are made, as well as processes that may be harmful to health are carried out. The entire floor will be fully covered by a state-of-the-art dust removal system.

The second floor is designed as a clean and tidy studio, where Zoe can work, read, and think comfortably without worrying about the dangers of dust.

Ronan had it all planned out: the second floor would also need sofas, a TV, a bar, and a restroom to provide Zoe with the best possible environment.

After hearing Ronan's entire plan, Cafu kept sighing:

"Being your woman must be so wonderful, buddy. If I were Zoe, I'd marry you right now!"

Ronan sat up straight, tense.
"You have to keep this a secret. I've only told you about this idea; I'm planning to give Zoe a surprise."

Cafu said enviously:

"I'll bring a team to create a 'surprise' for you tomorrow. Let's talk when we meet. Damn it, I want a studio that awesome too!!"

(End of this chapter)