Chapter 69: Are You Reborn Too?

For the next two days, Ronan spent every morning doing farm work at home, and after lunch, he went over to Zoë’s place to work on his workbench in her "luxurious" studio.

Zoë would guide him through the entire process while simultaneously working on some wood projects of her own.

"Am I holding you back? You can actually go ahead and tend to your own things; I can always come to you if I run into any trouble."

Since Zoë spent the entire afternoon in the backyard, her plate and cup making were bound to be affected, and Ronan was genuinely concerned about this.

"I come out to build things every once in a while anyway." Zoë took off her protective goggles and shook the wood shavings from her hair. "If you leave woodworking alone for too long, it gets hard to 'pick it back up'."

Not knowing what else to say, Ronan just asked out of curiosity:

"What are you making?"

Zoë’s projects were far more advanced than his. Having watched her for two days, Ronan still couldn't figure out what she was working on, other than noticing it involved a great many layers of panels.

Zoë kept measuring and marking with her try square:

"Just some little gadgets."

"Alright then." Ronan lowered his head and went back to crafting his workbench. "Have you ever built a bed or a wardrobe?"

After working at it for the past two days, Ronan had come to a clear realization—this simple workbench consisting of a single tabletop and four legs was the absolute limit of his abilities... and that was even with Zoë’s help.

Building a cabinet or a bed entirely on his own was simply out of the question.

As for the experience points in his system, they had been used a month ago to level up [Cooking]. Back then, by going out to eat and drink every day, he had barely managed to scrape together 500 points.

Once the busy farming season began, Ronan simply had no time to go out. He had even cut down on his visits to the old tavern, and after a whole month, he had only saved up 337 points.

It was already late March, and Easter was less than a month away.

Counting on [Building] to reach level 4 and making the furniture himself would cut things way too close, and he wasn't even certain that level 4 [Building] would guarantee success with beds and cabinets...

Zoë shook her head with a look of regret:

"Never made those."

This was precisely why she had looked so anxious when she found out Ronan intended to make a bed and a wardrobe by himself... she simply couldn't offer him much help with that.

"I’ve only ever made tables, chests, and shelves," Zoë said cautiously. "Even though I haven't built those others, I know they're extremely difficult, especially since we don't have power tools."

Just like Ronan, Zoë was an "amateur" enthusiast who relied almost entirely on manual hand tools.

The reason she had taken up this hobby in the first place was because she was infatuated with the joy of working slowly and using hand tools.

Ronan straightened his back and said with considerable regret:

"Well, alright then..."

If even Zoë had never made them, then there really wasn't much hope left.

"I'll go take a look in Avignon in a few days." Ronan's tone didn't drop; instead, he went back to planing the timber. "Still, I'm going to need this workbench anyway. Who knows, maybe I'll turn out to be a pretty good carpenter one day?"

Zoë was glad to see Ronan wasn't feeling defeated. She smiled, turned around to look for her tools, and said:

"An excellent carpenter also needs some racks to display his tools."

"That's true." Ronan twitched the corner of his mouth.

Zoë’s gaze drifted back and forth across the tool rack mounted on the wall:

"A rack should be easy enough to finish right along with the workbench."

"Huh?" Ronan turned to look at her in surprise.

Having found the tool she needed, Zoë turned back to continue her work:

"I just can't stand seeing you leave your tools lying around on the floor."

"Are you helping me make a tool rack?" Ronan’s feelings were indescribably complex, as if dozens of emotions were erupting all at once, tangling together into a knot.

Zoë waved her hand dismissively without even lifting her head, signaling him to hurry back to work, as it was nothing worth mentioning.

Ronan watched her for a moment before lowering his head to resume his work as well, though an uncontrollable smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"She's being so good to me again..."

[Working with an attractive person of the opposite sex increases happiness by 10 points.]

The hand plane in Ronan’s grip almost flew out of his hands.

...

Perhaps because the system had laid bare his inner thoughts, a guilty conscience began to take hold.

During dinner at Louis’s house that evening, Ronan felt like everyone was acting a bit strange.

Louis seemed to keep glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Could Louis have figured out that he had feelings for Zoë?

Léa’s smile was exceptionally bizarre.

As for Vieri, he couldn't even eat properly, keeping his piercing gaze locked on Ronan the entire time.

Ronan could only keep his head down and stuff his face, too afraid to look at anyone.

Léa suddenly coughed twice, and Louis cleared his throat:

"Is the process of making the table going smoothly?"

Louis asked while looking straight at Ronan, knowing full well that his precious daughter wouldn't give him any openings to pry.

"Very smoothly, almost done." Ronan’s knife and fork finally got a chance to catch a breather.

In about two more days, his workbench would be complete.

The tool racks Zoë was making were progressing at roughly the same pace.

Léa couldn't help but frown.

Why so fast?

Shouldn't they be trying to drag out the time they spent together... working on it for a month or two?

She shot a look at Louis, who spoke up once again:

"A workbench is quite important, you mustn't rush it. It needs to be sturdy while remaining practical. I suggest building a few cabinets and drawers underneath for storage so it's more convenient to reach things."

Léa threw a punch into the empty space beneath the table.

Louis truly earned his living with his mouth and his brain—that reason was absolute perfection!

"Storage won't be necessary—" Ronan glanced secretly at Zoë. "Zoë helped me make a tool rack."

Léa cast a sideways glance at Zoë, who was quietly eating her meal as if the matter had nothing to do with her.

What is wrong with you?!

Vieri joined the army of retention:

"Should we take mobility into account? How about installing a few wheels?"

Vieri wasn't clear on the situation between Zoë and Ronan.

He simply wanted Ronan to stay until the weekend so he could spend a couple of days hanging out with him.

Ronan hurriedly waved his hands:

"No, no, as long as it's functional, that's enough. My parents are coming to Provence for Easter, so I need to make some preparations to welcome them. I won't have time to build anything complicated."

Zoë turned her head to look at Ronan.

Ronan had never mentioned this matter to her before.

Louis was somewhat surprised as well, but quickly said with enthusiasm:

"Is there anything we can help with?"

Ronan thanked them for their kind intentions:

"No need, I'll just head into Avignon to buy some furniture and pick up a few daily necessities."

"The bed and wardrobe you wanted to make, are those for your parents?" Zoë couldn't help asking.

"Yes." Ronan spread his hands helplessly. "But looks like I'll just have to buy them instead."

Léa sighed with profound satisfaction:

"Wanting your parents to use things you made with your own hands—what a considerate and filial child."

Ronan offered an awkward chuckle.

And a thoroughly impoverished child, at that.

...

The next afternoon.

When Ronan arrived at Zoë’s woodworking shop, he took off his coat and routinely reached for his protective gear.

Having forgotten to wear these items on several occasions, he had received quite a severe lecture from Zoë for it.

"Put those on later, come here first." Zoë stopped Ronan in his tracks.

Ronan walked over and found two complex blueprints spread out in front of Zoë.

"What is this?" Ronan leaned in close to get a better look.

"Blueprints for a bed and a wardrobe," Zoë said, keeping her head down.

Ronan raised his head in alarm:

"You drew these?"

Zoë shook her head:

"No, I asked the old carpenter in the village for them."

Ronan guessed the reason behind Zoë’s actions.

The previous evening, Léa had spent the entire time circling around the theme of "Ronan's parents coming to Provence."

Since Ronan hadn't had the heart to explain the harsh reality of the situation, they had naturally assumed the bed and wardrobe were gifts from a son to his parents whom he hadn't seen in months.

He was deeply grateful that Zoë had taken the matter to heart as well, but neither his skill level nor his available time permitted such an undertaking.

"The time is just too tight, buying ready-made ones is much safer, and besides—" Ronan shrugged helplessly. "Besides, I still can't build those yet."

There were far too many mortise and tenon joints on those blueprints.

Zoë bit down on her pencil, a glimmer of anticipation in her pale blue eyes:

"What if I work on it with you?"

Ronan stared at her for a long while, making sure she had no intention of joking whatsoever.

A ridiculous thought flashed through his mind—does Zoë happen to have a reincarnation system of her own?

And is the system's mission to farm my affection points?!