1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 89 Don't force me to have a second child

After Leah's strong persuasion, Ronan agreed to try her homemade version of butter and garlic baked snails, which are said to be more delicious than those in high-end restaurants.

Fortunately, the snails need to be left for a few days before they can be eaten. Leah said that would make the meat more delicious, and Ronan wouldn't have to face its nightmare garlic sauce right away.

He had another purpose for coming to Louis's house this time - Ronan hoped that Leah and Vieri could go to the market with him in the next month, and he could pay them a fee that was in line with the local market price.

His parents will be coming to Provence in about a month, and Ronan needs to find some helpers for himself this month.

The most suitable candidate is undoubtedly Vieri, who has an excellent business acumen and is very reliable, but he can only participate in the weekend market in the village of Mena. The market in Lourmarin is held on Fridays, and Ronan can only ask his mother Leah if she agrees.

In the Luberon Mountains, most women of Leah's age are full-time housewives or help the men of the family with some things.

Of course she was happy to add some financial income to the family.

"Vieri and I are happy to help you."

Leah was very happy.

All shops in Lourmarin are family-run, as they are throughout the Luberon region.

Ronan's request invisibly brought the two families closer together.

With Leah's consent, Ronan went to Carl's house again and formally promised him that he would attend the market in Lourmarin starting this Friday.

"The future of Lourmarin requires our joint efforts." Old Carl is old, and even at parties he will strictly follow the doctor's advice and only drink one glass of wine.

But today, Ronan saw him drink three cups.

The snail's trouble was temporarily solved, and the matter of the market was also settled. Ronan returned home and was about to have a good rest when the phone suddenly rang.

"Hello Ronan, I'm Blanco. Carl just informed me of your decision. I'm so happy! If time permits, can you accept interviews from several media after the market ends this Friday?"

Ronan glanced at the calendar on the wall and exclaimed:
"That's three days later, isn't it?"

After receiving the call, Ronan inevitably fell into tension.

What will the media ask?
Can I answer it?

Will they believe what I say?

In order not to keep thinking about it, Ronan had to keep himself busy.

At night he would patrol the vineyard with a flashlight, continuing to look for the 'thief'. In addition to doing farm work during the day, he also started Xiao Hei's second round of truffle training.

After raising Xiao Hei for a few more months, Ronan discovered that it was not very interested in "retrieving" things.

Whether it is socks, balls, small animals or other things, it has no desire to chase, but there is one exception, that is people.

If Ronan 'throws' himself out, Xiao Hei will run diagonally in front of him with his head raised and tail wagging, and he will even slow down to match Ronan's speed. This is a game they often play. Ronan named it "You Chase Me". There is no technical content, but the man and the dog can 'chase' for an hour.

By using this method, Ronan gained a lot of [Happiness].

Luo Tianhai has said more than once that Xiao Hei is the most clingy dog he has ever seen. Of course, most domestic dogs are clingy, but Xiao Hei's behavior is particularly obvious.

If there is only one person in the house, that person must be within its sight.

If there are multiple people at home and they are not in the same area, it will move back and forth between several areas to make sure no one has left. Luo Tianhai attributed this to when Xiao Hei was a child, it was the time when Ronan went to the mountains to dig truffles. The puppy was alone at home every day, and when he saw his owner again, he didn't want him to leave.

Ronan didn't expect that Xiao Hei, the 'gangster in a suit', actually had such a sensitive heart.

The only thing that Xiao Hei was willing to "retrieve" was Ronan, but Ronan couldn't hold a truffle in his mouth to train Xiao Hei's sensitivity, so he learned another way to find truffles from Pierre - the food method.

The core of this training method is to only feed the dog food with truffle flavor within a certain period of time, but the food cannot be the same, truffles are mixed with sausages, truffles are mixed with bread, truffles are mixed with fruits.
The other foods keep changing, but the truffle smell remains, so the dog will think of "eating" as soon as it smells that smell, thus increasing the dog's sensitivity to the truffle smell.

Pierre said this is the dog training method used by 'rich people', and that at least 1-2 kilograms of truffles are consumed per month, and the money is enough to feed a family of three for a month.

Before, he didn't think Ronan was a rich man, so he taught him the "socks method". But now Ronan must be among the "rich people", so this method can be taught to him.

Ronan is not as rich as Pierre thinks.

After the truffle picking season ended, the money in his pocket never exceeded 1 francs. That's why he wanted to train an excellent "truffle hunting dog" to make more money in the winter.

Truffles are difficult to buy outside the truffle picking season. You can’t find them in Lourmarin, so you have to go to the village of Mena.

Ronan drove for more than an hour to the village of Mena, where he spent 1100 francs to buy four small pieces of dried truffles, and then went to Alaina to buy a freshly baked baguette.

Before starting the formal training, Ronan held a "mobilization meeting".

He squatted in front of Xiao Hei and said earnestly:

"You are more than five months old. If you can't learn it this time, your life will basically be 'wasted'. If you learn it well, I will take you out every day in the winter, and you won't be lonely, right? If you don't learn it again, I can only ask for a 'second child'. Then, do you think it will be hard for you to take your brother out every day?"

Ronan held Xiao Hei in his arms and patted its big head like an old father who wanted his son to be successful:
"Have some courage!"

Xiao Hei arched his wet nose to express his determination!

Ronan rubbed some truffles, mixed them with the hot baguette, and put them in Xiao Hei's rice bowl:

"Go ahead and eat."

After feeding the dog, Ronan opened the refrigerator. It was time to eat as his parents still had a lot of food left for him before they left.

They ate leftovers for two days in a row, but they only suffered some "minor injuries".

Ronan's family never had the habit of throwing away food. Even though the leaves had turned black and the soup had turned a horrible dark brown, Ronan still took them out and turned on the stove to heat them up.

In this day and age, it’s good enough to have something to eat. Who has the right to be picky?

Can I have truffles every meal?
Ronan couldn't help but envy the dog. No matter whether he succeeded in learning or not, Xiao Hei would have a good meal this month.

When he lowered his head, he saw Xiao Hei sitting upright at his feet.

"Have you finished eating?" Ronan looked at its food bowl and found that the bread had only minor scratches.

Based on Ronan's understanding of Xiao Hei's eating speed, this guy should have stopped when he opened the refrigerator.

"You don't want to eat these leftovers, do you?" Ronan's facial features twisted together.

(End of this chapter)