1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 572 Don't deprive people of their right to be happy!

Ronan was eager to compete and charged into the first team as soon as he fired the first shot.

However, the dense crowd completely blocked the path.

He had to watch out for the wings that other runners could stick out, and he almost stepped on someone's nose that had accidentally fallen off. It's hard to imagine that a marathon race could be described as 'extremely difficult'.

Ten minutes later, full of energy, he turned around and could still see Lourmaran Castle right behind him.

At this point, Ronan finally put aside the idea that this was a 'race' and began to enjoy it, just like every local from Provence around him, and officially embarked on this happy journey of '42.195 kilometers'.

Zoe's assessment of Ronan is very accurate and objective—he is far from being a true Provençal person; he is too shy and reserved, not bold and open enough.

But today's unprecedented experience has brought Ronan one step closer to a complete Provençalization.

When he sees strangers waving at him from the roadside, Ronan will wave back even more enthusiastically.

If he sees people shouting on either side, he will shout even louder than them.

When a contestant attempts to overtake 'violently' without any mercy, rudely shoving aside princesses, nuns, and female pirates, Ronan will follow behind him and rudely accelerate as well, knocking off a fake buttock in the process.

When Ronan saw contestants showing off their carefully chosen outfits to a camera from some unknown television station, he would point to the Stella Arturo logo on their chests and shout as he passed by:
"Strasga's rosé is the best in all of Provence!"

To hell with the competition!
To hell with his grades and pace!
Today's goal is to launch the 'advertisement' as powerfully as possible, and then fully enjoy this journey!
Lourmaran is surrounded by vineyards.

In some places, grapevines spread all the way to the perimeter of the asphalt and gravel roads, and you can feel their warmth with your hand.

Ronan was enjoying the ride through the green 'pipes' when suddenly applause and cheers erupted ahead. Even more unexpectedly, there was also the sound of loud bagpipes.

"The first supply depot has arrived so quickly?"

When running is no longer associated with competition but with enjoyment, the distance suddenly becomes shorter; Ronan felt like he had only run less than a kilometer.

However, he immediately realized that the 42-kilometer marathon had 26 aid stations, and each section of the route was indeed very short. Running was indeed tiring, but if you grit your teeth, you can reach the aid station, which fits the theme of "happy journey".

Soon, a makeshift stage made from wooden wine crates came into view, and several musicians wearing red berets stood on it, playing or blowing unique Scottish melodies.

These musicians and this stage were prepared by the Lourmaran government, who designed different 'programs' for each supply point along the '42.195 km' happy journey.

There was a ten-meter-long table in front of the stage, and it was already surrounded by 'greedy' contestants.

Several waitresses dressed somewhat like the Statue of Liberty walked through the crowd carrying trays with cups of pink liquid on them, gently asking if everyone was thirsty.

"You can do that?" Ronan knew that each supply point had a different design and that there was food on the table, but he was unaware of the presence of these women.

Inside a temporary lounge at Lourmaran Castle.

Blanco suddenly sneezed, covered his mouth with his handkerchief, and said embarrassedly:
"You might have caught a bit of a cold. Please continue."

Sylvie sighed:

“I’m telling you, you’re spoiling Ronan too much. If other partners knew that Stella had spent the same amount but got so many ‘extra benefits,’ no one would sponsor Lourmaran’s events anymore.”

Blanco shrugged and asked in return:

How would other customers know how much Stella had spent?

He smiled and looked around at the people present:
"It's good that you guys don't tell anyone."

Blanco put down his handkerchief and said humorously:
"Besides, these girls don't just exist for Stella; don't the players like them too?"

The woman's arrangements had an immediate effect.

Although most of the participants today were men, and although these men seemed to have agreed to dress as women, the majority of them were of normal sexual orientation.

Some people who were focused on the competition and wanted to take home the 20 franc prize glanced at the girls with reluctance, but eventually turned away and continued running forward.

Most people couldn't resist the temptation, took the wine glasses, and gathered around the stage.

Ronan was very curious about these women and abandoned the path of winning through performance, so he took a glass of rosé wine and stayed at the supply point to rest.

He had just eaten breakfast and wasn't hungry, so he wandered around the stage, observing the girls and listening to what the contestants were talking about.

In fact, Ronan had certain expectations regarding the content of the discussion.

The scene was too chaotic, and he had long since lost contact with the villagers of Lourmaran he knew. The other contestants were in roughly the same situation.

They were just strangers who had met by chance. What could they possibly talk about when they gathered together? It must be related to today's match.

Ronan guessed that they would talk about either the journey they had just taken, the newly renovated Lormalan, or the majestic castle.

To Ronan's utter surprise, all the topics these people were discussing were related to 'whether someone is pretty or not'.

Don't get me wrong, they weren't talking about the women around them, they were talking about themselves.

One man said his eyelashes got wet from a pink drizzle and fell onto his cheek, leaving a horrible black mark that ruined his 'Snow White' look and made him look like a comical raccoon.

Another person said his ballet tutu always stuck to his upper thighs, making him very uncomfortable.

Another person was complaining of ear pain because he was wearing a 'ribbonfish' style earring.

Ronan soon made a second discovery: there wasn't a single athlete in the entire supply area looking pained. Everyone seemed completely unconcerned about the race results. If they were talking about the race, they were encouraging each other, telling each other, "Even if you have to crawl, crawl to the end and see which supply point has the prettiest girls."

After stopping at the first supply point for about a minute, Ronan decided to continue.

However, before leaving, he made a third discovery—the players leaving the supply point all chose to form 'temporary' teams with strangers, and there weren't many players like him who were all alone.

"Let's see if I run into someone I know at the next supply point. If not, I'll team up with a stranger." Ronan put down his glass and continued his 'journey'.

After leaving the castle, you can only see spectators around the supply points.

As I stepped onto the track again, both sides were lined with banners and cheering relatives of the runners.

Although the banner read "Go Emily!", a father wearing a baseball cap would shout "Go for it! You can do it!" to every passing player.

Some people even yelled at the contestants, "Swallow what's in your mouth! You're here to compete, not to eat!"

Encouraged by the strangers, Ronan, already excited, sped up a little. Anyway, they would be at the next supply point soon, so there was no need to worry about stamina.

The second 'stage' was easy to run, the density of runners was not as high, and Ronan overtook many runners in outlandish costumes.

It could be due to the acceleration, or it could be because it was almost 10 o'clock, the hottest hours of the day in Provence had begun.

When Ronan finally saw the buildings of the second supply depot in the distance, he wanted nothing more than to bury his head in a barrel of frozen rosé. "It's so hot, so hot!" he exclaimed, dashing towards the icy rosé.

Sure enough, many more players chose to stay at the second supply point than at the first, and almost everyone had a cup in their hand.

Ronan didn't linger in front of the stage; he bypassed the dancers and went straight to a woman carrying a tray.

Ronan only came back to life after drinking two glasses of rosé.

These women were volunteers from who-knows-where; Ronan had never seen a single one of them before, yet they all seemed to have been trained by him.

Seeing Ronan drink two glasses in a row, the woman smiled and said:
"This is a rosé wine from Stella. The Stella winery is located in the beautiful Lourmaran. If you like the taste, you can pick up a few bottles from the village when you leave. You can buy it in every grocery store."

Ronan's face immediately turned red:
"thanks, thanks."

He certainly knew who was behind it all; the government's methods were truly masterful.

Ronan had no intention of lingering at the second supply depot.

Over the next three hours, the temperature will gradually rise, so take advantage of this time to run more and you can avoid a lot of hardship.

However, this time he wasn't going alone; he wanted to see if there was any possibility of teaming up.

There were quite a few players at the supply depot who shared the same idea.

As temperatures rise and energy levels drop, traveling in groups is a better option.

If you really can't run anymore, encourage each other, and you might end up running an extra kilometer or two.

However, forming a temporary team also depends on fate.

Ronan invited a young man who looked to be about his age to join him, but the man said that the roast chicken here was better than at the last supply point, and he planned to replenish his energy before leaving. He asked if Ronan was not in a hurry and could wait for him for ten minutes.

Another man invited Ronan to team up. Ronan was about to accept when he noticed an arrow drawn on the man's bare back, pointing directly to his buttocks, with the words '200 francs' written on it. He politely declined.

Zoe would certainly not agree to Ronan spending 200 francs there.

Having found nothing near the stage, Ronan went to the supply table area to try his luck.

I was surprised to hear everyone laughing and discussing a dog.

"Is this a local villager's dog? Did it wander in here looking for food?"

"It's definitely not a stray dog. Look how shiny its fur is; it's clearly been carefully groomed."

"Haha, I saw it come in from the track, just like the racers."

There were so many contestants eating around the table that Ronan couldn't make out what the dog they were talking about looked like. However, being quite curious, he squatted down, hoping to see some information from below.

Soon, among dozens of pairs of thick legs, he spotted a familiar steel gray.

Ronan's eyes widened in surprise.

Does anyone else in Lourmaran have dogs of this color?

He tentatively called out:
"Is that you, Marseille?"

The next second, the steel-gray figure stumbled out of the maze of thighs and rushed straight into Ronan's arms.

Ronan was knocked down by the 40-pound Marseille and landed on his bottom. He wanted to scold the little guy for running out on his own, but when he saw the funny way it was cuddling in Ronan's arms with a chicken leg in its mouth, which no one knew who had fed it, all his anger disappeared.

As the saying goes, a woman who knows how to be charming has the best life, and the same goes for dogs!

"Is this your dog?" a contestant asked Ronan from above.

"Yes, it's my dog. He probably came with his family to cheer me on, and before I knew it, he'd come looking for me," Ronan replied, half-laughing and half-crying.

A volunteer near the dining table asked Ronan:

"What do you plan to do with the dog? Should we contact your family to take it back?"

We're not far from the starting point yet, and Ronan's family will be here soon.

Ronan pondered for a few seconds, then looked up at the volunteer and said:

"There's no need to contact my family; it will stay with me through the rest of the competition."

It's no exaggeration to say that Ronan ran two stages and hardly anyone even glanced at it.

But after Marseille got together with him, there were so many people around him that he couldn't breathe.

How could he bear to leave Marseille?
Moreover, he knew Marseille's strength; completing the race would definitely not be a problem for him.

"You're going to bring your dog along? That's not appropriate." The volunteer was stunned for a moment, then immediately thought about where the nearest phone booth was and wanted to ask his superiors.

A guy dressed as a baby explained on Ronan's behalf:
"Is there anything wrong with this? Your registration requirements didn't say that only people can participate."

A girl wearing cat ears squeezed through the crowd, wagging her tail and pointing at herself:
"If cats can participate, why can't dogs? Are you discriminating?"

After saying that, she fed the cheese in her hand to Marseille:

"And this player looks very capable."

The man who had previously planned to team up with Ronan, who had a 'price list' on his sleeve, stood with his hands on his hips and said angrily:
"Dude, don't forget your own slogan: This isn't just an ordinary marathon, it's a '42.195-kilometer' fun journey. What could be more joyful than completing a marathon with your beloved pet dog? Tell me, what right do you have to deprive us of this joy!"

The poor volunteer called over more volunteers to seriously discuss whether or not to allow a dog to join today's competition.

After a brief discussion, they compromised:
"Alright then, sir, you can continue the competition with your dog. Good luck!"

Thunderous applause erupted around them. The strangely dressed monsters seemed to have shed their fur, revealing their burning, beating hearts. They all came over to pat Marseille's head, wishing it good luck in the future.

Ronan took the red toy ball off his head and put it on Marseille's head. Zoe secured it to the hat with an elastic band, and it fit Marseille's head quite well.

Since we're participating together, we should respect the rules!

Upon receiving her favorite toy, Marseille happily spun around in circles.

Ronan hugged its neck and kissed it:
"We ran all the way to the finish line!"

"Woof woof woof—" The steel-gray figure ran out with Ronan, its tail held high in happiness.

(End of this chapter)