1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 341 Supernatural events?

Ronan pretended nothing had happened and sat back down in his seat with a smile.

At this moment, the conversation at the dinner table is still about the topics he discussed before he left.

"The cost of beef and mutton is too high now, so people are reluctant to eat meat. My truck has only been filled up with gas once every two weeks," Freddy complained bitterly. "Before, I needed to fill up with two tanks of gas a week."

"The bakery business is tough too. In the past, we would definitely sell out of bread by the afternoon, but when I came today, there were only a dozen or so left unsold. I brought them with me, and we'll share them later." Alan's business has also been affected by the cold wave.

The restaurant's business had been good, but Feng Zhen still sighed:

"This year has been tough for everyone."

Having witnessed the 'all walks of life' every day, she has a lot to say about it, as everyone's lives have been affected by the cold wave to varying degrees.

Freddie looked enviously at Louis on the other side of the long table:

“That stone house next to the slaughterhouse that had been empty for five or six years was sold last week. Rich people don’t care about cold snaps in Provence winters because they don’t spend their winters here. Louis, your business shouldn’t be affected, right? I was wondering why you’ve been so quiet lately.”

The party was crowded, and the table was very long. Louis seemed not to have heard Freddie across from him and was asking the people around him:

"Does anyone want rice? I can get some for you."

"Oh, no need, darling, I won't eat."

"I'm not eating anymore, I'm full."

Louis nodded and got up to go to the kitchen to get some rice.

Ronan and Zoe exchanged a glance, both seeing the worry in each other's eyes.

Throughout the gathering today, Louis wasn't as active as before, especially when the topic turned to work; he kept getting distracted and doing other things.

But Louis was probably the most talkative one in the group. He seemed to know everything and could say something about anything, no matter what topic everyone was talking about.

But today he is as silent as Vieri.

Has the job crisis escalated?

"I've been too busy lately and haven't given Dad the care he deserves," Zoe said softly, feeling guilty.

Ronan kissed her forehead and comforted her:
"It's alright, we're done with our work now. Let's keep an eye on Louis."

"That's the only way." Zoe looked back worriedly in the direction Louis had left, and made a questioning sound. "Why did Vieri go to the kitchen too?"

Ronan glanced back:
"He's probably going to help out. You know, there are some things people don't trust Louis to do alone."

Louis arrived at the kitchen but did not immediately serve the rice.

Instead, he stared blankly at the huge cabinet, lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.

However, he only had a few seconds to himself before he heard clear footsteps behind him.

Vieri appeared, carrying his plate:
"I'd like to eat some rice too."

Louis smiled at his son and extended his hand:
"Let me serve you."

Vieri did not refuse, handing over his own plate and standing beside his father to watch him serve the food.

"The second semester's grades are out."

French high schools operate on a semester system, with each academic year consisting of three semesters, culminating in a comprehensive written exam at the end of each semester.

In early February, Vieri finished his second semester of 12th grade and took his second semester exams, which were also his last final exams in high school.

At the end of his third semester in 12th grade, he will go directly to take the high school graduation exam.

Louis's expected question:

"How about it?"

Vieri's tone was flat:
"11.5 points."

Louis's face was visibly grim.

The final exam, like the high school graduation exam, is graded on a 20-point scale.

16-20 points is excellent.

14-15.9 Good.

12-13.9 Medium.

10-11.9 is passing.

<10 is failing.

Vieri's performance is already on the verge of collapse.

Because French high school students often fail their compulsory philosophy courses, if Vieri continues at this level, he might not be able to attend university.

Louis calmed down for a few seconds and decided not to give his son a 'moral education' lesson.

Ever since Zoe reminded everyone at Christmas that Vieri had grown up, Louis has changed the way he interacts with Vieri.

He realized that constant criticism wouldn't help his son and would only severely damage his self-confidence.

Vieri used to be the most lively and cheerful one in the family, but for the past six months, he has been keeping himself cooped up in his room every day.

Moreover, many recent events have led Louis to acknowledge that Vieri has grown up.

They should be equals now.

Louis handed the plate to Vieri, his smile still radiant.
"That's great. If you can maintain this level of performance, you'll definitely have no problem with the high school entrance exam."

Vieri said with his head down:

"I thought you were going to yell at me," Louis said with a bright smile.

"How could that be? My son is so wonderful!"

Vieri's expression finally changed; he looked at his father's profile and gave a faint smile.

"I thought that telling you about my bad grades would get me a scolding, but instead you not only didn't scold me, you also praised me for being great for the first time."

The boy happily took the plate.

"So, many times, the difficulties are actually things we imagine, right, Dad?"

Upon seeing Louis return from the kitchen, Ronan took the initiative to switch places with Luo Tianhai and sat next to Louis.

Zoe is a girl, and there are some things that she and Louis don't communicate very well about.

Now it's time for him, the 'son-in-law,' to step in!

In fact, Ronan's deeper understanding of Louis was evident in their private lives; he didn't know much about the proud side of Louis that Zoe spoke of.

But he knew Lucas.

Lucas's biggest problem wasn't his stubbornness, because everyone makes mistakes, and doing business is inherently a gamble.

Ronan believes that Lucas's biggest problem is that he never tells his family about his true situation and has to bear everything alone.

Lucas and Ronaldo are not related, so Ronaldo has no right to say anything.

But Louis was different.

What, do you think I, your son-in-law, am incompetent, or do you think your daughter can't work with you to find a solution?

Just as Ronan decided to have a frank conversation with Louis, Louis surprisingly took the initiative to talk to everyone about his work:
"From what we've seen so far, the cold wave has had a very limited impact on us. House prices only dropped slightly and are now starting to rise again. The problem in my industry is that the competition is too fierce. In the past six months, there have been hundreds more real estate agents in Luberon."

"Oh my God, hundreds more?" Freddy held his fork in the air. "Aren't there almost more than houses?"

Alan kept shaking his head as he listened:

"Everyone has discovered that selling houses is profitable, so they're all vying for a piece of the pie."

Old Karl touched his cane and said:
“I heard from Blanco that a few days ago Henry went to the government to report that a stranger was frequently wandering aimlessly on the streets of Lourmaran. Later, they checked the person’s identity and found that he was Bonigno’s real estate agent, looking for vacant houses.”

Louis took a bitter sip of wine:

"That must be a pitiful guy. I heard that some companies set sales targets for intermediaries in order to get more resources. Everyone has come up with every possible way."

"It's really tough on him to wander around outside in this cold weather."

"Like I said, this year has been tough for everyone."

Louis's condition suddenly changed.

Although I won't go into too much detail, I will take the initiative to talk about my work.

This surprised Ronan greatly, and the words of advice he had prepared were now useless.

Did I suddenly understand something after eating some rice?
After a while, Ronan keenly observed that Louis made a 'cute' shrug at Vieri, which was completely inconsistent with his character.

"Why are you back?"

Before Ronan changed positions, he told Zoe that he wanted to go and "enlighten" Louis, so Zoe kept an eye on Ronan's every word and action.

But Ronan sat there without saying a word, drank two glasses of wine, ate a few lobster balls, and then came back. Had he changed his plans?
Ronan leaned closer to Zoe and whispered:

"Let's pretend we don't know anything for now."

Zoe blinked and asked Ronan:
"why?"

Ronan glanced at Louis, then at Vieri, and said with a guessing smile:
“I suspect some thoughtful people have already tried to talk him out of it. Unless the situation is too serious, there’s no need to be ‘overly’ concerned, as that would only put pressure on Louis.”

Louis was already willing to talk about what happened at work, so Ronan felt there was no need to say anything more.

Zoe followed Ronan's gaze to Vieri, who was quietly eating, and asked in a low voice:

"You're not talking about Vieri, are you?"

How could that be? That kid has never cared about anything other than football!

Ronan patted Zoe's hand, which was resting on her lap:
"Vieri is a very thoughtful boy. Thoughtful people can always find more details, and please believe me, Vieri cares about much more than just football."

Zoe asked, half-believing, half-doubting:

"Are we not supposed to do anything at all?"

Ronan picked up his cup, smiling broadly, and said:
“Leave the psychological issues to Vieri; we will help Louis in other ways.”

The next day, Ronan went into the mountains early in the morning.

The last two weeks of the truffle harvesting season are especially important for him; he needs to work hard to earn more money.

Although he is already very wealthy, there are still many places where he will need to spend money in the future.

He spent a relatively long time in the mountains today, and it was already dark when he returned to Lourmaran.

After dark, when driving on the D943 highway, you can only judge when to exit the main road by looking for traces of Lourmaran Castle.

For the first two weeks, there were signs along the roadside made by Cornell University indicating the Chinese restaurant and the X-kilometer mark, but they were removed by the government within two days. These privately made signs are not allowed to be placed on major roads.

But as he was driving, Ronan suddenly slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.

The sign indicating that the Chinese restaurant is X kilometers away appeared again.
"A paranormal event???" Ronan rolled down the car window and stuck his head out.

(End of this chapter)