1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 38 Epilogue
At the end of February, truffle picking progress slowed down significantly.

Truffles mature around September every year, when they have a light fragrance and a crispy texture.

From September to March of the following year, the aroma of truffles becomes stronger and stronger, but the taste will change from crispy and tender to increasingly tough.

This week Ronan was still able to pick a lot of truffles every day, but he could find that the texture of many truffles was not as good as before, and the surface was very dry, and no amount of frequent watering could save them.

Truffles of this quality can hardly be sold for 2000 francs per kilogram, and it is even a question whether anyone will buy them.

After digging four old truffles in a row, Ronan found a clean open space to sit down and eat a simple sandwich made with braised beef:

“The picking season is coming to an end”

Although I am a little reluctant, but in summary, I have gained a lot in the past month.

He bought a car. Although it was second-hand, it had enough horsepower and could also carry cargo.

I also replaced all the windows in my house, and now I no longer feel cold when I sleep.

Ronan's ability in truffle picking made him a household name in the village of Lourmarin, increasing not only his popularity but also his right to choose a spouse.

Ronan knew very well why those ladies wanted to talk to him and why those men sent their daughters and sisters to him, but he had no plans to get married for the time being.

Truffles also helped Ronan expand his network of contacts to a higher level. Lucas, Olivier, Jean, Sivir, and Elena were all people he met through truffle picking. They were wealth that could not be measured by money.

Most importantly, truffles helped Ronan relieve financial pressure.

After paying off 3 francs in advance, he only had 10 left on his housing loan.

Ronan took a sip of water:

"In fact, I should have kept more money in my hands."

He now only has more than 2000 francs in cash. According to the current situation, he will be thankful if he can sell this week.

I haven’t figured out the next way to make money yet, but what I can foresee is that it will be difficult to find something as profitable as picking truffles, and my income will definitely drop dramatically after March.

Like Lucas, he only works four or five months a year and rests for the other months. Having made a lot of money, he doesn't care about the small amounts of money.

But Ronan can't do that. He still has a lot of debts.

Moreover, he was planning to buy some new furniture for his home. As a result, he started to be "strapped for money" again just two days after becoming rich.

"You can never make enough money." Ronan patted his butt, got up and continued working.

After an unknown amount of time, he saw a 'strange' area.

This is a "barren" area of nearly one meter wide. The barren areas discovered previously were at most a dozen centimeters wide, and most of them were very small, and it was easy to miss them if you didn't look carefully.

And here, Ronan noticed it from a few meters away.

The larger the area where “no grass grows” is, the larger the area that needs to be swept, because you have to look for the traces of flies.

Ronan put his hands on his hips and looked at this troublesome area, feeling extremely conflicted.

Not every "barren" area has flies, and not every place where flies fly out has truffles, and recently all of them are overripe.
Do you want to spend a lot of time here?
"Being poor is the original sin. How can I be picky?" After thinking about his own financial situation, Ronan immediately squatted down and slowly walked into the area from a corner.

For a small area, it can be swept in one or two minutes. You can stand up, straighten your back, and stretch your legs, so that your body will not feel so uncomfortable.

But five minutes passed and Ronan had only swept less than half of the area. His legs and waist were sore, but he didn't dare to make any big movements. In case there were flies below, any step would scare them away.

Ronan gritted his teeth and held on for another minute. He couldn't bear it any longer and supported himself with his right hand. Suddenly, a black mass rushed out from the ground in front of him on the right and almost hit him in the face - there was more than one fly!
Ronan subconsciously looked for the place where the group of flies flew out, and found that they did not seem to fly out from the same place. They were all nearby, but a little distance away.

"Is there more than one truffle underneath?" Ronan suddenly became serious.

When truffles appear at close range, it means that the roots underneath are very likely connected, so you have to be extra careful at this time.

After digging about five centimeters, a faint truffle smell appeared.

Ronan's heart skipped a beat.

Truffles are usually hidden in the area of 10-30 cm under the soil. If you can smell the flavor after digging so little, it means that it is probably "ripe". Even if there are more than one, it is worthless. However, since you have already dug it, there is no reason to give up halfway.

After digging about five centimeters deeper, Ronan saw a black hard object, and the truffle finally appeared.

When Ronan discovered this thing, his heart, which had already chilled, began to lift again.

The texture and color of this truffle look like good stuff, and it's vibrant.

His movements were even slower. If it was a good item, he would have to handle it more carefully. If he wasn't paying attention, he might destroy the truffles around it.

Ronan took this black spot as the center and slowly expanded to both sides. The more he dug, the more frightened he became, and the more excited he became - the truffle below seemed to be a whole, not several pieces, but just very large in size!

When Ronan dug out all the truffle and held it in his hand, even though he had seen countless truffles, he was still a little surprised.

This is a truffle that is two times larger than an adult male's fist. It is irregular in shape and looks like a black cloud.

Ronan weighed it in his hand twice, and then became even more excited:

"It must be more than a pound, maybe two pounds."

Last week when he was setting up a stall in Mena Village, he met a customer who only wanted large truffles.

The man said that if he could dig up more than a pound of truffles, he could offer a higher price and ask Ronan to keep them for him.

I wonder if he will come to the market in Mena Village this week?

When he got home, Ronan cleaned the big truffle and weighed it, and it weighed 1293 grams.

Worried that he wouldn't be able to meet the customer who specialized in buying giant truffles this week, Ronan went to an old tavern in the evening to inquire about the market.

He ordered a glass of wine and asked Pierre in a 'casual chat' tone:

“How big is the biggest truffle dug up in the village?”

Pierre put the cigarette with only one end left in his mouth. The smoke made him squint his eyes, and he made a circle as big as the mouth of a bowl with his hands:

"This is so big. Lucas dug it out. It weighs nearly 1 kilogram."

"How heavy is it exactly?" Ronan asked in a relaxed tone.

His piece weighs more than 1 kilogram.

Pierre thought for a moment, then turned to ask Theo, who was swaying to the music:
"How much did your brother's truffle, which he sold for over ten thousand francs, weigh?"

More than 10,000 francs?

Ronan's eyes widened.

Isn’t that the price for four or five kilograms?

Are giant truffles so valuable?

Theo made a circle with his hands that was twice as big as the one Pierre had made:
"914 grams. I remember it clearly. It was sold to a Michelin restaurant in Marseille. I was the one who delivered the goods."

"914 grams can be sold for more than francs?" Ronan could hardly suppress his excitement.

Pierre uttered an 'oops' and said with some shame:

"Did I forget to tell you something?"

"What's the matter?" Ronan asked excitedly and fearfully.

"The price of truffles is affected by many factors, among which size is a very important factor. Large truffles have more meat and can provide a more luxurious cooking experience. In addition, large truffles are rare. You know, the rarer the thing, the more expensive it is. Those rich people will not hesitate to spend their money on large truffles." Pierre said nervously, "At that time, I didn't think you would do this business, so I didn't explain it in detail. You didn't sell the large truffles at the market price, did you?"

Ronan drank the wine in one gulp as if he had survived a disaster:

"If you had told me a few days later, I would have jumped into the Rhone River."

(End of this chapter)