1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 6 Planting Upgrade
When Ronan finished describing the current appearance of his home, everyone present immediately gave a characterization of the matter.

"There's a thief in your house." Carl said with a serious but calm expression.

Vaucluse has the highest theft rate in France outside of Paris.

It's dotted with large, beautiful houses, many of which are only occupied by their owners during Christmas, Easter, and summer, leaving them empty the rest of the time.

Elements such as the closed sunshades and the iron lock on the door announced that there was no one here.

Thieves can work their business undisturbed for months.

Local residents often hear that because the theft season is so long, the thieves' ambitions, the length of time they take to commit crimes, the complexity of the process, and the shocking results are all astonishing.

Until they heard what happened to Ronan.
"You mean, the two stone pillars in the middle of the living room are gone too?" Louis confirmed again and again.

"It's gone, everything is gone! The clay pots, the statues, the iron gate on the terrace you mentioned... they're all gone! There's only a fireplace in the living room!" Ronan collapsed.

It turned out that the system's mention of "bare walls" was a reminder that his house had been completely looted.

Karl's wife gave Ronan a glass of red wine to calm him down, and then said in horror:

"Even more 'crazy' than the legend says."

"What should I do now? Call the police?" Ronan asked.

Carl said with a serious expression:

"Michelle's last visit was at Easter two years ago. The house has been empty for a year and a half. Calling the police now is useless. They are not as efficient as I am at 73 years old."

Louis clapped his hands:

"What you need to do now is to buy home insurance as soon as possible. I will call Renault tomorrow morning. He is the most competent insurance agent. He can even help you put a lock on the refrigerator."

Ronan looked embarrassed.

Home insurance in France is expensive, and the insurance agent will force you to upgrade your doors, windows, wall thickness, and even exhaust fan holes to reduce the risk of future theft.

Ronan knew with his toes that his house must have many hidden dangers of unqualified construction, and he did not have the financial resources to bear the cost for the time being.

"I have an insurance agent I know," Ronan lied. "Is there any way to reduce the risk of theft, rather than relying on compensation after theft?"

There was nothing left to steal in his house, so the priority now was to reduce the risk.

Who knows if he will be targeted by other theft gangs again?
At this time, the slightly plump Freddy spoke:

"The Doberman Pinscher of the butcher in Fontaine Village has just given birth to three puppies. I want one for you."

Doberman Pinscher is lively, brave and loyal, making it a good choice for guarding the house.

Ronan was overjoyed:

"how much is it?"

The price of this breed of dog in Paris is not cheap, but it is certainly much lower than the cost of buying a full set of home insurance.

“Young man, in Provence, dogs are family members, not items to be traded. All you have to do is take good care of them and keep them healthy. It doesn’t cost anything.” The birthday boy was sleeping soundly in Freddy’s arms.

It is just an ordinary Tahara dog, but it has its own birthday anniversary.

"I will take good care of it." Ronan said firmly and gratefully.

Like family.

the next day.

[Waking up in a bare house increases happiness by 1 point]

100 points are enough!

Ronan quickly upgraded [Planting] to level 2.

As the [Planting] skill was upgraded, a lot of basic agricultural knowledge flooded into my head.

He got dressed and went to his own vineyard which was full of grape vines.

I touched the soil and, based on the new knowledge that had entered my head, I concluded that it didn't need watering.

"But we need to weed and prepare fertilizer." Ronan had a clear direction for the next work. A few days ago, when he was cleaning up the donkey shed, he found farming tools such as hoes, sickles and shovels.

The previous tenant farmer had done a very thorough job, so not many weeds grew. Ronan completed this step in just one morning.

But fertilizing is not that simple.

First of all, without fertilizer, the output alone cannot meet the needs of the eight acres of land.

Secondly, pure manual work is too slow.

After thinking for a while, Ronan left his house and walked towards Louis's house.

Louis and Leah went to work, Vieri was in class at this time, and it was Zoe who worked at home who opened the door for Ronan.

"How can I help you?" Zoe asked politely.

"Do you know where I can get fertilizer?" Ronan guessed that Zoe, a native of Lourmarin, must know the answer.

"To the north, at the border of the village and the forest, there's a large pile of fallen leaves. You can use them." Zoe tightened her collar.

"Is it far?" Ronan continued to ask.

“It’s not far, but you’ll need to find a big guy to get it,” Zoe said with obvious worry in her tone.

Like other villagers, she didn't think Ronan was capable of farming.

"I remember Louis said that you have an unused tractor at home?" Ronan recalled what happened at the party.

Zoe nodded:
"I loaned it to Frank, but I don't know how to drive. You can come in the afternoon and let Vieri help you."

Ronan pointed in the direction of the village with his head:
"Where is Frank's house? I can drive. I can drive there by myself."

"You can?" Zoe's eyes widened. That thing was much harder to drive than a car, especially in a field. "How did you do that?"

"I came here after making sufficient preparations." Ronan smiled.

He was not idle during the month in Paris, as he learned to drive a tractor.

Zoe closed the door behind her, looked into Ronan's crooked eyes and said:

"I'll take you."

The biggest characteristic of agricultural labor is the huge imbalance in the time occupied by labor.

I am so busy in the fall that I wish there were 48 hours in a day.

But in winter, farmers have nothing to do.

This season, nine out of ten people sitting in cafes during the day are farmers.

Henry, with a mouthful of rotten teeth, held a cup of coffee in his left hand and a cigarette in his right hand, and complained loudly to several of his colleagues about the weather.

"For the past three years, the winters have been getting colder each year. It's all caused by those capitalists! The wind from Siberia takes less time to reach our village, and there's not enough time for warming up because those people have turned the trees and farmland into their private party places!"

He cursed loudly and continued:
"We're going to lose another eight acres of land! Can these people just go back to their city?"

Another farmer who had contact with Ronan spoke for him:
“He said he would take care of the vineyard himself and would not tear it down.”

Henry gritted his teeth and said:

"I'd rather trust a dentist than someone in Paris. They're all scammers trying to take your money."

A rhythmic but slightly chaotic "thump thump" sound came from far away.

If you look closely, you will come to your mind with images of screws and metal parts trying to break free from the iron sheet and escape.

Everyone in the cafe was familiar with this sound; it was a tractor!

"Who is so hardworking that he starts working in the morning?" Someone walked out curiously.

Then, a surprised scream came from outside the door:
“Oh my God, that Parisian guy can drive a tractor!”

(End of this chapter)