1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 340 The Spectacular Restaurant Lobby

Ronan was amused by his mother's reaction, put down his pen, and asked seriously:

"How did you know? Tell me quickly."

Feng Zhen patted her cash register a few times like it was a treasure, and said proudly:
"I told you, this position is awesome. Even though I never leave the house, I know everything just by sitting here!"

Ronan was taken aback:
"You overheard that?"

He recalled the unsolved case where five people confessed to murder at the same time.

Surprisingly, you can hear not only gossip but also useful information?
Feng Zhen clicked her tongue unhappily and glared at Ronan fiercely.
"Why are you talking so rudely? I was just observing! They're the ones who don't watch their words and they're blaming me for listening?"

Ronan quickly corrected his attitude and said affirmatively:
"Yes, yes, you observed it. Tell me quickly, how did you 'observe' the price increase of truffles?"

“One day, I saw two customers sitting side by side drinking, their heads pressed tightly together.” Feng Zhen squinted and pointed in a direction, as if recalling the scene that day. “I was curious. I thought, the table is so big, the space is so wide, why are they squeezing together? The room isn’t cold, so I wanted to see what was going on.”

She suddenly nudged Ronan's arm hard, asking with a 'terrified' expression:
"Guess what I discovered when I looked at it so closely?"

Ronan seriously considered the answer, but Feng Zhen didn't give him a chance to speak at all, as if the question was just a formality.

She lowered her voice, her eyebrows shooting up:
"I saw one of them holding a knife!"

Ronan's eyes widened suddenly as the unsolved case resurfaced in his mind.

Feng Zhen pointed at Ronan's face and said with a smile:
"Yes, yes, I had the same expression as you at the time. I was thinking, why is someone carrying a knife to eat? And they're always cautiously looking around. Are they here to cause trouble?"

Ronan was already emotionally invested in the situation and asked nervously:
"And then? Did you call the police?"

“You need evidence to call the police, right? After that, I paid even closer attention to that table, and then I noticed... another person was holding a small folding scale. They were standing too close for me to see it.” Feng Zhen patted her palm with the back of her hand and spread her hands out. “Now you understand?”

Ronan frowned and asked:
"Understand what?"

Feng Zhen poked Ronan's chest twice:
"Don't you understand? Those two are trading truffles!"

“No knife is needed to trade truffles,” Ronan denied.

Feng Zhen smacked her lips again, and said unhappily:

"What's the rush? I haven't finished speaking yet!"

Ronan was practically ready to surrender:
"Okay, okay, you can continue. I won't bother you anymore. I'll speak after you're finished."

Feng Zhen took a sip of water and began her story:

"At first, like you, I didn't realize what they were doing when I saw the scale. Then I saw the guy with the knife write something on his hand with a ballpoint pen several times and show it to the other guy. As soon as the other guy saw it, he would immediately wipe the writing off with his saliva. I got even more scared and wondered if these two were doing something shady in the restaurant. So I just sat behind them—"

"Isn't this something I overheard?" Ronan couldn't help but interject.

Feng Zhen asked in a threatening tone:
"Are you still listening?"

"Listen to this!" Ronan said with a forced smile.

Feng Zhen crossed her legs:

"When I arrived, their deal was already done. One of them said that times have changed. Before, when selling truffles, you never had to cut them open to see if they were black inside. It's all because of those Italians who used walnut dye to color white truffles as black truffles and have been flooding the Provence market with them in the last month. And they're not even ordinary white truffles, but the worst kind of white truffles!"

"The Italians are selling white truffles as black truffles in Provence?" Ronan couldn't help but exclaim.

Italy is famous for its white truffles, but their taste is incomparable to that of French black truffles; the difference in flavor is too great.

But the bigger difference is in price.

Last year, when black truffles in Provence were priced at 2000 francs per kilogram, white truffles in Italy were only 350 francs per kilogram.

Isn't Provence full of gourmet food?

How could their tongues be fooled by the Italians?

It can only be said that the demand for truffles is too great, and some people may have noticed the problem and, tempted by money, joined in the corruption.

Feng Zhen grinned while simultaneously pouting:
"Absolutely! Can you believe how wicked they are? Those two were hurling filth at us, saying that if it weren't for this batch of white truffles, the price of truffles in Provence would have already exceeded 4000 francs. But now black truffles are even more 'in short supply,' and the price keeps rising and rising and rising."

Ronan believed that such inside information was difficult for ordinary people to obtain, and that this was a huge scandal in the Provence truffle market.

Moreover, the behavior of the two people his mother described reminded Ronan of his experience at the Capontra truffle market, where truffle brokers liked to trade discreetly. So he tentatively asked:
"Do those two have a Luberon accent?"

Feng Zhen shook her head without even thinking:
“No, they’re from the north, Capontra. They mentioned it in their conversation.” Ronan stroked his chin, looking puzzled.
"They really are from Capontra, but why are they trading truffles in Lourmaran?"

Capontra is more than two hours' drive from Lourmaran.

What are you here for?
Just for trading truffles?
Feng Zhen thought Ronan didn't believe her, and slammed her hand on the table, saying:
"What's wrong with Carpenter? We've had customers from Avignon, Nice, and Bordeaux lately! The restaurant is bustling with activity every day. They never have the same show twice!"

Ronan looked at the tables of guests in the lobby with a mixture of belief and doubt.

real or fake?

Have we been getting so many customers from outside Luberon lately?

That evening, Lucas came to the restaurant to deliver truffles, and Ronan temporarily left the table to chat with him for a bit.

"How have you been lately?" Ronan asked with a smile.

“I’m fine.” Lucas’s answer was not unexpected for Ronan. Whenever asked, he would say that he was fine. But his next sentence was unexpected for Ronan.

Lucas looked at Ronan with a half-smile:
"You've made quite a stir in Gold."

Lucas didn't understand art and had no interest in it.

But he had many friends throughout Luberon, and some of them were knowledgeable about art.

In the past two weeks, several friends called him, saying that Lourmarin had become quite 'famous' in Provence recently. Only then did Lucas realize that Ronan had made such a big splash in Gold.

This kid is not only good at digging for truffles, but he's equally excellent at everything else.

Ronan waved his hand:

"Let's not talk about art in Lourmaran. I heard the price of truffles has gone up a lot recently?"

Lucas nodded at first, then sighed with a hint of regret:

"Yes, the price goes up every two or three days. It's just that we're at the tail end of the truffle harvesting season now. If it were earlier, it could have gone up to 5500 or 6000 francs."

Truffles become hard to find in March.

It's possible, but besides skill, a bit of luck is also needed.

Last March, Ronan only dug up old truffles, the kind that could only be used to make truffle sauce. If they hadn't found a large truffle, it would have been a complete failure.

Therefore, the last half of February is especially precious, especially now that prices have risen so high.

Ronan said in a comforting tone:
"It's impossible that the supply is only falling short of demand now. When the new truffle season comes in November, the price will definitely be very good as well."

The cold snap in January will affect truffle prices in Provence for at least 3-5 years, as wild truffles take a long time to grow.

Lucas nodded noncommittally and said nothing.

Ronan asked in a casual tone:
"I heard that you're going to take mycelial samples from your forest in the spring? Have you done that?"

Lucas shook his head indifferently:

"It hasn't been done yet. The people in the lab said it would be early next month."

Ronan nodded and patted Lucas on the shoulder twice:
"it is good."

He remembered this timeframe.

Lucas wanted to take Margaret home to rest, and after a brief chat, they left the restaurant.

Ronan escorted him to the door and watched them disappear into the night until they were out of sight before turning his gaze away.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Lucas's back wasn't as straight anymore.

The conversation with Lucas was just a minor incident; the main topic of the day was having dinner with friends.

Ronan returned to the restaurant and sighed silently when he saw his friends drinking.

Ronan wasn't sure if Lucas's back was actually that straight; he always felt it was a psychological illusion caused by knowing Lucas's secret.

But one of his friends had a visibly 'collapsed' back, and he wasn't the only one who noticed it.

(End of this chapter)