1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 93 Reporters who are difficult to communicate with [Please read more!!!]

Ronan hadn't been to the market in Lourmarin village for a long time. His reappearance after two months caused quite a stir, with people greeting and joking with him along the way.

"You're here again. I thought you wouldn't appear here again."

"Friends, look which handsome guy is here? It's Ronan!"

"You're coming to the market to get married dressed like this? Haha——"

Ronan looked at his clothes helplessly.

Yesterday afternoon, Blanco brought several women to his house and forced him to change several sets of clothes until they were satisfied, on the grounds that he wanted to leave a good impression on the reporters.

The standard attire for a Provencal farmer is a plaid shirt, jeans and canvas shoes, but now he is wearing the white shirt he wore when he worked in Paris.

If he wasn't pushing the cart, he would look more like a tourist.

You can't blame others for making fun of him; he wants to laugh too.

The buildings of Lourmarin village are centered on the old church and spread out like a snail shell. The most important building in the village is the old church, which is also a must-visit place for all tourists.

The stall that Blanco arranged for Ronan was near the old church, which was the place with the largest flow of people.

Leah arrived a little earlier than Ronan, and she had already prepared the table, chairs and parasol, all of which she had gotten from Alan.

Ronan looked around while moving things.

The two months he spends selling truffles in Lourmarin are the off-season, and the market in Mena Village has more traffic than Lourmarin, but not that much more.

Once the travel season begins, the gap becomes apparent.

It is 7:45 now. If it were in the village of Mena, customers would have already started picking things out on the street, but in Lourmarin many stalls are not even open, let alone any customers.

"The situation is very serious." Ronan sighed.

It was my first time setting up a stall in Lourmarin and not many people came.

Leia had no chance to intervene and could only wipe the table and clean the kitchen utensils over and over again.

At 9:15, a plump lady who had been to Ronan's house yesterday afternoon came jogging over, looking not very well.

"The reporters have arrived and are touring the castle. They will arrive at the market in about an hour."

Ronan remembered that this person's name was Sylvie, and she was a staff member of the Lourmarin Market Management Center. She gave him a lot of suggestions on his clothes yesterday, and in the end, it was she who decided on this outfit.

His only impression of this man was that he was picky.

Ronan continued to do his own thing calmly:

"Don't worry, there's still a long time to go."

Blanco told him yesterday that before the reporters went to the market to collect materials, they would send a letter to Ronan in advance to let him make some "preparations".

For example, keep the stall and the surrounding area clean, adjust your mood, tidy up your clothes, etc.

Sylvie lowered her voice and said:

"These reporters are not easy to communicate with. The village chief asked me to remind you to be careful when you interview them later."

"What do you mean by poor 'communication'?" Ronan asked, tilting his head.

You are bad at "communication".

Is there anyone who is worse at "communication" than you?
Sylvie leaned close to Ronan's ear:

"As soon as they arrived at the castle, they commented that it was not as big as the one in Laxter Village and that the facilities inside were old, which made everyone feel very embarrassed."

Ronan also lowered his voice:
“Aren’t these media hired with money?”

Sylvie stamped her feet:

"Of course we spent money, and a lot of it! They definitely wouldn't dare to write anything wrong, but the things they said during the process were very infuriating. The village chief was afraid that they would ask you some difficult questions, so he asked me to remind you."

There weren't many customers, so the pink wine they brought wouldn't be sold out. Ronan simply enjoyed the whole bottle by himself and drank from the bottle. "Tell Blanco not to worry. I won't be troubled by them."

He had studied with Louis for several hours last night and had gained some insights into this.

Sylvie snatched the bottle from his hand:

“Stop drinking!”

God, when will these farmers stop drinking wine as water?
She became increasingly worried about the village chief's 'revitalization' plan.

Do we really want to put all our eggs in one basket on this guy who snatched the bottle back?
Ronan took the wine away from Sylvie, spread his hands, shrugged, and finally curled his lips.

Sylvie walked away angrily.

Fortunately, Blanco did not agree to allow old Carl and other Lourmarin "veterans" to participate in today's event.

If they heard these reporters belittling their beloved Lourmarin, they would probably hit these guys on the head with their crutches!

The castle is not as good as Lacoste's.

The market is not as big as the one in Mena village.

The houses are not as distinctive or pretty as those in Roussillon.

There is no such thing as the unparalleled mountain views of Gordes.

We are Lourmarin
Blanco seemed to have aged several years, and said to Sylvie beside him:

"Go tell Ronan that the reporters will be at his place in ten minutes."

Sylvie got so angry at these reporters that she had several more breast nodules:

"Village Chief, do we have to 'push' Ronan out? It would be better to spend money to renovate the castle instead of making him a feature."

Blanco waved at her and told her to hurry up:
"There are countless castles in Luberon, but there is only one Chinese from Paris. Go!"

Sylvie looked up to the sky and sighed, then trotted away.

"There's really nothing good to see here." A young woman wearing sunglasses put down a plate from a stall.

Today's activity is a 'paid commissioned article'.

In fact, the media welcome this kind of cooperation.

It is only natural to spend money to get things done.

The client sends what he wants to express and takes some beautiful photos. These professional writers beautify and polish them and then publish them, and everything goes smoothly.

But this time, the client insisted that they come to Lourmarin with their cameras and video cameras, and arranged a full morning of sightseeing activities for them.

Including the round trip journey, it will take a whole day.

They had received all the 'information' from the Lourmarin government, detailing what they wanted the tourists to see.

What you write will be the same whether you come or not, so why waste time?
They would rather sit in a comfortable office, drink coffee and listen to beautiful music.

"What we have here is available everywhere else," another man in a blue shirt said to Blanco.

Blanco's tone was not very friendly:

“No village is exactly like another village. They are always different and have their own characteristics.”

"But what is the characteristic of Lourmarin?" the woman with sunglasses asked, turning back.

Suddenly, everyone heard a vendor shouting loudly at the same time.

"Sir, Miss, Madam, would you like to try the specialty pink wine of Provence? I swear it's something you can't taste anywhere else!"

(End of this chapter)