1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 99 I want to talk to all of you
Ronan asked Mr. Jacques to take him to Louis's house.

As soon as Leah saw Ronan, she asked in a joking tone:

"Is the busy man back?"

The plan to buy melons has been delayed again and again, why is Ronan suddenly busy?

Ronan touched his head awkwardly and changed the subject:

"Where's Zoe?"

Leah smiled and pointed to the backyard:
"Zoe is in the woodshop."

The woodworking shop is a magical place.

There seems to be a kind of magic here - every time Ronan sees Zoe here, he thinks she is more beautiful and his heartbeat speeds up.

Some people say that men are most attractive when they are working hard.

Ronan thinks Zoe is more charming when she is working hard, especially when she puts her hair up, revealing her fair and slender neck and collarbone.
He shook his head.

I drank a little too much today.

Zoe was wearing noise-cancelling headphones, and she only noticed it when Ronan walked up to her.

"Why are you here?" She stopped what she was doing.

Ronan handed her the plate he bought from Apte:
"I saw a special plate in Apt that I thought you might like."

Zoe took off her headphones and glasses and looked at him carefully:

“It’s fired from ochre ore deposits.”

She suddenly raised her eyebrows and looked at Ronan:
"How much did it cost?"

The extraction of ochre ore deposits is very complicated, and the price of this plate will not be low.

Ronan felt dizzy. He sat down and looked back at Zoe with his head propped up:

"What is ochre ore? It's been a while since you told me a story."

This was the first time Ronan gave Zoe a gift. Zoe put it down reluctantly, but when she looked up, she found that Ronan's face had an unnatural blush and she could smell a strong smell of alcohol:

"How much did you drink?"

"Quite a lot." Ronan said with a pout.

Astrid drank so much that it was like she was risking her life.

Zoe sat on the bench next to Ronan and obediently told the 'story':
"Legend has it that long, long ago, the Archangel Gabriel fought a desperate battle with a group of fallen angels. Their blood dyed the soil red, and ochre has been in the world ever since."

Zoe's gentle voice and the pleasant wood aroma lingering around his nose made Ronan's body relax all of a sudden. He simply put his head down on the table and stared at Zoe:
“Is ochre the same as red soil?”

Zoe turned her head and met Ronan's eyes:

"There are actually 24 shades of ochre, but the most famous is the red ochre in Provence, which is all around Roussillon."

Ronan complained:
"You said you would take me on a spring outing to Roussillon."

Zoe suppressed her laughter and asked him:

"Would you like to go to Vieri's room and get some sleep?"

She now believed that Ronan was really drunk.

He was trying hard to fight his eyelids.

"No." Ronan moved his head a distance towards Zoe, almost touching her arm, "You continue to talk about ochre."

Zoe's tone became softer:

"Ancient humans used ochres to paint murals, and they were also prehistoric 'cosmetics' used to smear on the body."

"And then?" Ronan closed his eyes and asked vaguely.

Zoe lowered her head and looked at him seriously:

“Ochre mining in Provence started relatively late, in 1780.”

Soon the surroundings became quiet, with only Ronan's weak but steady breathing as the sound could be heard.

Zoe slowly raised her head, then looked down at Ronan with a smile.

She looked at it for a long time.

Look at his eyes, look at his eyebrows, look at his nose, look at the mouth that she has coveted for so long.

Zoe, who has a fanatical pursuit of aesthetics, has to admit that Ronan is really handsome.

This appreciation is without any racial distinction.

She raised her hand and touched Ronan's mouth.

Ronan really fell into a deep sleep, and Zoe touched him several times but he didn't wake up.

"You, you, dare you drink so much next time?" Zoe smiled and tapped Ronan's lips a few times, her face full of pampering. Suddenly, she heard the sound of something falling at the door.

When I looked up, I saw Louis, half-opening his mouth, with an open magazine at his feet, through the gap in the door of the woodworking workshop.

Zoe's hand shook and poked into Ronan's mouth.

When Ronan opened his eyes, all he saw was Zoe's back as she fled in panic.

Then he touched his tooth and found it hurt a little.
Ronan followed Zoe out of the woodworking workshop and saw Louis standing at the door.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked dazedly.

Louis covered his forehead with his hands, with undisguised fear in his eyes.

my daughter
Do not!
Why did she let me see her enjoying playing with Ronan?

I'm not mentally prepared yet!!
Ronan slept at Louis's house until dinner time.

Zoe asked him to stay for dinner, and Ronan naturally did not refuse.

But Louis felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he had lost his soul.

"What's wrong with you?" Ronan asked worriedly.

Louis' condition got worse, and he sighed one after another.

"Nothing." He lowered his head to eat, not daring to look at Zoe or Ronan.

Ronan put down his knife and fork:
"I'm done eating."

"Is it not to your taste?" Leah asked, looking at the food on the table.

Ronan touched his lips and said:
"No, it's just as delicious as always, but I don't know where I touched it, my gums hurt a little, and I can't eat it anymore."

Louis also put down his knife and fork, stood up and left the dining area:

"I've eaten too."

Louis was in a bad mood, so Ronan left quickly after dinner.

Zoe, feeling guilty, volunteered to see him off.

"Do you know Lacoste Castle?" Ronan asked Zoe.

Zoe nodded:
"know."

Ronan asked expectantly:

"Then tell me the story of Lacoste Castle."

Zoe looked at Ronan with a complicated expression:
"Are you curious about this?"

Ronan nodded vigorously:

"Yes."

He was extremely curious, why did everyone treat Astrid so strangely?
Jacques said she was a bit like her ancestors, so Ronan tried to find out about her ancestors.

Zoe opened and closed her mouth several times but didn't utter a word, as if she didn't know how to speak.

Ronan looked at her and smiled:

"It's okay, take your time, there's no rush."

Zoe asked Ronan:

"Have you ever heard of a movie called 120 Days of Sodom?"

Now it was Ronan's turn, he opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say.

This movie was made in 1975 and should have been available in 1986, but it later became the most banned film in the world.

(I won’t go into science here, for fear of entering a small dark room)
"I have heard of it." Ronan said matter-of-factly.

Zoe looked to the other side:
"This film is adapted from the novel of the same name written by the Marquis de Sade, the owner of the Château de Lacoste. The novel reflects many of his own experiences and special preferences."

"Ah?" Ronan almost fell.

Astrid she?!
After seeing Ronan off, Zoe returned home and immediately said to her family in the living room:

"I want to talk to you guys."

Leah and Louis looked at each other and couldn't help but become nervous.

Zoe rarely spoke to them in such a serious tone. The last time was when she informed them that she was not going to study law in college but art.

Vieri picked up the magazine and returned to his bedroom.

It was not convenient for him to "watch" on such occasions.

But Zoe sat on the sofa and called Vieri:
"You stay too. I want to talk to all of you."

(End of this chapter)