1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 68 Misunderstanding? No, no, it’s not a misunderstanding
Zoe wore a tight-fitting lining underneath her leather jacket, which perfectly highlighted her figure.

Whether it was because of her figure or her aura, Ronan looked away awkwardly:

"Aren't you in the business of making ceramics and glass?"

When Zoe’s new electric kiln was delivered last month, he came to help move it and visited Zoe’s home studio.

How many studios do you have?

Zoe walked over to the wood piled against the wall and picked up a one-meter-long log:
“This was my introduction to handcraft.”

Ronan calmed down, looked left and right:

“What an advanced enlightenment.”

God, this was his dream house.

Zoe put the wood in her hand on the workbench, leaned her hips against the workbench, crossed her arms and said earnestly:

"I have been involved in woodworking for six years, but I can't even say I have mastered the art of woodworking."

The implication is - where do you get the courage to make your own furniture when you first enter this business?

Or complex items like beds and closets!
Ronan laughed and replied perfunctorily:
"If you had told me you had so many tools here, I wouldn't have bought so many."

Zoe sighed deeply and pointed at the piece of wood with her chin:
"You splice it together."

Splicing is the most basic and important technique in carpentry.

Without this technique a carpenter can do almost nothing.

The purpose of splicing is to connect the wood to a width that exceeds the natural growth of the tree.

Don't tell me that what you mean by 'knowing a little' is only being able to use a saw?
Ronan picked up the board and looked at it.

Top quality material, no scars, no cracks.

"Where did you get this wood?" Ronan asked curiously.

"Provence prohibits illegal felling of trees, and hardwood is difficult to find. These are bought at a lumberyard outside Avignon."

Wood is divided into softwood and hardwood, but this division is not based on the actual hardness of the wood, but on botanical classification.

The cell structure of hardwood is relatively complex. The trunk contains several completely different layers and has a high fiber density. Therefore, it has a hard texture, distinct texture, and darker color, making it more suitable for making furniture.

Soft wood grows faster, has a simple cell structure, lower density, softer texture, and smoother grain, making it suitable for making joinery, roofs, boats, and musical instruments.

But this is not absolutely true. Some soft materials are harder than hard materials, such as yew.

When choosing which wood to make something, you also need to consider durability, pattern, texture, and stability. You can't generalize.

Zoe put her weight on the table behind her, which made her figure more 'curvy'.

Ronan quickly looked away:

"Avignon. So far away."

Zoe stared at Ronan without looking away:
"What do you think? It's not as simple as you think."

Ronan put down the piece in his hand and looked at the other wood:

"Do you have a longer one? I want to make a table."

This is too short.

Zoe's eyes widened:

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard you, I heard you." Ronan walked towards the wood pile, "But I really want to make a table."

Zoe kept comforting herself:

Calm down! Calm down!!

Can't you pamper him a little?
Shortly after.

Ronan used a hand saw to cut the long piece of wood into several 2-meter-long pieces in a very professional manner, and was using a planer to smooth the connecting surfaces.

Zoe didn't give him any guidance during the whole process.

Whenever she wanted to "instruct" Ronan on something, he would immediately take corresponding steps.

Ronan knew that when polishing a flat surface, the amount should be small and it should be checked repeatedly.

Ronan knew to compare the two pieces of wood after a few strokes of planing, and to mark the excess with a pencil where there was a gap. Ronan also knew to draw a 'V' on the adjacent boards that had been processed so that he could accurately calibrate the position later.

She learned these little details from an old carpenter in the village.

But who did Ronan learn from?

Was he from Paris or not?
The other side.

A transparent object suddenly appeared in front of Ronan.

"Huh?" He dodged backwards and bumped into a soft body.

Zoe forced Ronan to wear the goggles, and handed him a pair of protective gloves and a brand new mask:
"Didn't your teacher teach you that you must take protective measures?"

She was in a hurry to drive out just now because she was worried that Ronan would get hurt.

Seeing how excited he was on the way, he would definitely take action immediately, so Zoe took Ronan home and watched him in person to feel at ease.

Ronan shook his head and was about to take off his glasses:

"Being not."

"You have to wear it." Zoe said in a warning tone.

Ronan: "."

Ronan put on his protective gear and looked around.

Zoe immediately handed over a pair of retaining clips, which were exactly what Ronan was looking for.

"Thank you." Ronan continued, thinking that they had a pretty good understanding of each other.

Zoe walked to the other side of the workbench, spread her legs slightly, and propped her elbows on the table:

"Who did you learn this from?"

The level that Ronan has demonstrated is definitely not something that can be self-taught.

"I work as an interior designer in Paris. I've seen a lot of craftsmen working and learned a lot from them. Sometimes I'd try my hand at it too." Ronan found a very good explanation.

Zoe nodded silently.

It turned out to be the case.

"I'm overthinking it," she muttered in disappointment.

"What are you overthinking?" Ronan looked up.

Zoe stood up:

"I thought I could be your teacher, but you don't need it."

Ronan also stood up:
"No, no, no, I need a teacher right now."

He pointed at the processed wood and said embarrassedly:
"That's all I know. I don't know anything other than splicing. I need a teacher to tell me how to turn these wooden boards into a table."

Ronan knew a lot of carpentry terms in his head, such as mortise and tenon, tenon-and-tenon joint, cross tenon joint, dovetail tenon joint, and bevel tenon, but he didn't know how to use them.

Zoe was happy to take on this 'new job'. She walked to Ronan's side and started drawing on the paper with a pencil:
"First, you need to draw the blueprint."

Ronan immediately leaned his head forward.

"Draw the connection structure." Zoe noticed with her peripheral vision that the person above her head didn't seem to be looking at the paper on the table.

She looked up suddenly and their eyes met Ronan's at close range.

Ronan had been patient for a long time, and finally got a chance to secretly look at Zoe, but he didn't expect to be discovered like this
Both of them were obviously stunned, but at the same time they did not look away.

Zoe's eyes moved from Ronan's eyes to his mouth.
Looks delicious?
"Zoe, dinner is ready!"

This is the scene that Leia saw when she pushed the door open—her daughter was staring at Ronan's lips with a look of envy on her face.

"Ah! Ah? Ronan is there too, let's go out and have dinner together." Leia was so shocked that she couldn't say anything, her pupils dizzy.

Ronan quickly fled the scene and gave Leah an awkward smile when he passed by her.

Don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, it's not what you think!
Behind him, Zoe followed calmly out and smiled at her mother as she passed by.

Yes, it's what you think.

(End of this chapter)