1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 44 You Artists [Additional Update]

Ronan was not familiar with Mena Village and this was his second visit.

It's called strolling, but in fact it's just wandering around the village aimlessly.

He looked at the shops on both sides, explored the buildings he had never seen before, and played with the cats and dogs with Zoe by his side. In less than an hour, Ronan gained more than ten points of happiness.

"This little life is so happy." Ronan stroked the cat twice and said with a double entendre.

He turned his head and looked at Zoe with a smile:
"This little guy is not afraid of people. He must have been touched by many people."

Just now Zoe was standing less than a meter behind him. This time when Ronan looked back, he found that she had walked alone to a place more than ten meters away, staring blankly at a quaint four-story house.

Ronan walked up to her and saw that there was no smile on her face. He asked curiously:
"what happened?"

You were smiling a minute ago, why did you suddenly become like this?
"I thought of something." Zoe said in confusion.

"What's the matter?" Ronan asked.

Zoe thought for a while, and when she looked at Ronan again, he had gotten rid of the strange state just now, and said with a smile:
"Let me tell you a story, a story that happened in Mena Village."

"Okay." Ronan responded positively.

Zoe took a step forward slowly:
"One day in 1944, a couple walked into the village of Mena hand in hand. The girl was called Dora, a famous French surrealist photographer. She was smart, independent and extremely beautiful. When the two met in Paris, the man was already 54 years old, had not divorced his Russian wife, and had a 17-year-old lover who gave birth to a daughter for him."

Ronan shrank back when he heard this.

What an explosive start to the story.

"In Mena Village, Dora grew her black hair for the man because he liked elegant women, but he had more than one lover. One day, the two lovers had a fierce conflict, and Dora burst into tears hysterically. She questioned the man, asking why he ended up like this when she had given everything."

Ronan's face became more and more ugly
Several people in the story are twisted enough, especially that man!

Zoe raised the corners of her mouth and said mischievously:
"The man did not answer the question, but instead painted the painting that shocked the world - The Weeping Woman."

"What?" Ronan was ashamed of his own illiteracy. "That man is Picasso?"

Zoe covered her mouth and laughed for a while:
"A year later, Picasso met a female painter, Frances, who was 40 years younger than him, and eloped to another place without hesitation."

Her tone became heavy, and she looked back at the old house:
"Dora has lived here alone since then, for more than 40 years."

"Dora has been living here all the time?" Ronan turned back in surprise and was shocked again.

Provence is really a place of hidden talents.

You can meet "big shots" just by walking around.

"Not only has he never left." Zoe turned around and continued walking forward, "After Picasso left, all the furnishings and old things there have not changed."

Ronan didn't know how to comment for a moment, and after a long pause he finally said:
“You artists.”

Zoe curled her lips in dissatisfaction:

"At this time, I apply to temporarily leave the ranks of 'artists'."

Ronan shook his head and said with emotion:
“I think people who engage in art are more or less different from ordinary people. This is by no means derogatory. If their thinking is the same as that of ordinary people, it will be difficult for them to create excellent works.”

Zoe glanced at Ronan secretly and said seriously:
"But I'm not that kind of person, at least not when it comes to relationships. I won't use inspiration as an excuse to seek physical and mental stimulation, nor will I lose myself in love and become someone's appendage. That's too scary. I only accept healthy relationships between men and women."

I should have known not to tell him this story.
He wouldn't misunderstand, would he?

Ronan also secretly glanced at Zoe out of the corner of his eye.

Why does it feel like an explanation?
But I didn't mean that.
The two people set out on their journey home, each with their own thoughts.

After a while, Ronan felt it was too quiet, and said in a relaxed tone:
"Tell me another story?" Zoe knew and understood a lot, and Ronan urgently needed her to help him broaden his horizons.

Zoe leaned against the car window and said in a weak tone:

"I just tell a story when I see something that comes to my mind. There's nothing around here, so I have no inspiration."

Alas, the pleasant "spring outing" ended just like that.

Ronan's pleasant voice suddenly rang in Zoe's ears:

"Then after setting up the stall next week, go look for 'inspiration'?"

Zoe turned her head sharply and met Ronan's smiling eyes.

"Drive carefully and don't look around." Zoe looked ahead with a helpless look and muttered, "I don't want to tell stories in the hospital."

The first thing Ronan did when he got home was to lock the door and take out all the money hidden in the house and in his pocket.

I spent part of the 5000 francs left after paying off the mortgage last week, and I still have 4725 left. The biggest expense was the beef for making braised beef. A kilogram of beef in Provence costs about 70 francs, while lamb only costs more than 40.

Yesterday I made 920 francs selling ripe truffles at the market in Lourmarin. I gave Vieri 200, making a net profit of 720.

Today he received a check for 41000 francs, and had 1750 in cash, but he filled up 30 liters of gasoline on the way, which cost 144 francs.

"So the total is 41000 francs in checks and -" Ronan counted all the cash twice, "7051 francs."

Ronan's net worth broke the record again, reaching nearly 5 francs!

Having learned from last week's lesson, Ronan felt that he could not be so aggressive. Given that the future was temporarily uncertain, he should keep more money in hand.

"I'll find time to go to Avignon again next week, cash the check, pay back the 25000 francs, and get the rest of the money back," Ronan said to himself.

This way he had about 23000 francs in cash, and he could use part of it as start-up capital for the next project, continue renovating the house, or buy furniture that he had been thinking about for a long time.

The heavy burden on his shoulders was also greatly relieved - from the original 13 francs to about 7.5 francs.

Although high interest will still be incurred every month, it is much less than when the benchmark was 13 francs.

After calculating the monetary gains, Ronan opened the system again.

[Level 2 Construction: 0\500]

[Level 2 Planting: 0\500]

[Level 2 Collection: 0\500]

[Level 2 Cooking: 0\500]

[Level 1 Fishing: 0\100]

[Level 1 Hunting: 0\100]

[Usable experience: 312]

After upgrading [Construction] to level 2, Ronan never used [Happiness] again, and saved 312 experience points in the past half month.

The recent increase in harvest speed is due not only to the help from the 'opposite sex', but also to the increase in the bonus coefficient of the house after renovating some windows.

Whether you sleep soundly until dawn or take a nap on the sofa, you can get a fixed 2 points of [Happiness].

After summarizing the bonus rules brought by the opposite sex today, Ronan couldn't help but start thinking, if he continued to improve the housing conditions, maybe he could discover more secrets to gaining experience?

(End of this chapter)