The Perfumer Who Wears the Book

Mrs. Holt is well versed in chatting skills, she is good at listening, and she is also good at initiating topics, and soon Su Xu found that the conversation had been firmly controlled by this woman who spoke aristocratic standard English, and he did not any unpleasant feelings.And this ability needs years of training to reach this level of proficiency.

After a long circle, the conversation finally turned to Mrs. Holt's perfume.

"Oh, of course, this perfume is custom-made." Mrs. Holt showed a smug smile, "The perfumer lives in the town named after my husband's estate, called McCartney. Actually he is A merchant, formerly a perfumer, then a grocer, but he has a talent for perfume."

"So, does he only make perfume for a small number of customers, such as you?" Su Xu asked.

"Strictly speaking, he doesn't choose the client, he chooses the idea he likes," Mrs. Holt corrected. "He will make a flower perfume for the girl he likes for May Day, and do it for a pie." A good cook makes gourmet perfumes, and a herbaceous one for a naughty girl. He makes perfumes purely for fun, and he doesn't make money out of them, often giving them away instead of selling them."

"If I don't offend you, may I know why he chose to create a perfume for you?"

"Oh, there's nothing to hide." Mrs. Holt smiled. "Before he formed a family, he spent most of the year wandering around the European continent. That year, he and the town He fell in love with a girl of his, and when the relationship between the two was not stable, he left the town again. Unfortunately, the girl became pregnant. His parents kicked her out of the house, and no one offered her a job. .”

"You took her in?" Su Xu guessed.

"I must take her in." Mrs. Holt said, "She is my subject. As the Countess of Holt, I must be responsible for everyone in the fief. Besides, she is a good girl. I can't just watch With her in that situation, in a convent for immorality, or on the streets, just... oh, struggling to survive that way. I can't just ignore it and leave her alone."

"Oh my god, I must praise your integrity and bravery." Su Xu was really surprised, "Thinking about the conservativeness of that era, I think you must have been under tremendous pressure."

"It's not that serious. My husband has always supported all my decisions. He is a very kind man." Mrs. Holt waved her hand casually and smiled easily, "In short, I let this child live in the castle kitchen. Helped her, and let her give birth to a child in the castle. And when the child was full moon, McCartney returned to the town, of course, the first thing was to take the girl to the church and get married."

"So, perfume is a gift of gratitude?" Su Xu asked clearly.

"Yes." Mrs. Holt nodded emotionally, as if this past incident reminded her of many memories, "In order to make this perfume, he used a lot of precious spices, which almost made him bankrupt. Of course, I finally He insisted on paying. After that, he settled down in the town and opened a grocery store."

"Let me guess." Su Xu took a deep breath, tasted the fragrance in the air again, and said, "I guess, the theme he wants to express is to praise your nobility, kindness and greatness? This The taste is very warm, very stylish, with a certain sense of distance, but this sense of distance does not make people feel indifferent or unattainable, but makes people feel..." He turned his head and carefully considered the adjectives, " This sense of distance sets off your strength and makes people feel that they can be relied on."

Mrs. Holt's eyes widened slightly: "Oh, this is really... too surprising, I didn't expect this perfume to make you feel so much. Yes, you are right, McCarter This is how Nee explained it to me when he gave it to me. I don't feel as much as you professional perfumers, but, from the first second I smelled it, I knew, It's the best fragrance in the world for me, so I haven't worn anything else for so many years."

"I really want to meet this genius perfumer." Su Xu tentatively said, he really wanted to chat with this master perfumer. He has not seen many master perfumers, and grandpa is one of them. I had a short chat with several world-renowned master perfumers at the exhibition and some perfumer clubs for a few minutes.Perfumers work alone, but communication is also essential.

"Then I'm afraid you will be disappointed." Mrs. Holt shook her head regretfully, "He passed away 20 years ago."

"I'm sorry." Su Xu said a little disappointed, "Then does his child inherit his talent in perfume?"

"No, none of them." Mrs. Holt said, "One has become a lawyer, one has become a dentist, and the other has inherited his father's business and opened a bigger grocery store."

"Supermarket?" Su Xu smiled, "Mr. McCartney is really a successful father."

Mrs. Holt also laughed: "Although I can't introduce your experience in exchanging perfumes with McCartney, I think I can do something else for you. Although he never made a living by perfumery, he likes Record his own experience in perfumery. I was very interested in perfumery, and he lent me his perfumery diary, which was very helpful.”

Perfume experience?Su Xu couldn't help but get excited.The experience of a perfumer is the most valuable knowledge, but under normal circumstances, no one will pass this kind of thing on to others.

"Can I watch?" Su Xu asked cautiously, holding back the excitement in his heart.

"I can write you a letter of recommendation for McCartnett's son," said Mrs. Holt. "He keeps all his father's things. Of course, I can't guarantee that he will lend you."

"You are so generous." Su Xu said solemnly, "You don't know how important this is to me, and I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to be so polite." Mrs. Holt said nonchalantly, "I would be very happy if there was another better perfumer in this world. If you are not in a hurry, I want to go back to my room and change my clothes before dinner." It’s time to write this letter of recommendation for you.”

"Of course, it depends on your schedule." Su Xu said.

For the next few hours, Su Xu accompanied the old countess in the garden and chatted. During this period, her granddaughter came to this corner to look for her grandmother.Mrs. Holt happily introduced her granddaughter Natalie to Su Xu, hoping that he could guide her granddaughter in choosing perfume from a professional perspective.

Su Xu naturally knew everything, and finally he handed his business card to Mrs. Holt: "If you want, I can make a custom perfume for your granddaughter. But I'm afraid it will have to wait until the end of the year. Getting ready for the Draeger perfume fair in November."

"Grandma, aren't you going to that perfume show too?" Natalie asked.

"Yes, dear." Mrs. Holt said, and said to Su Xu, "It seems that this year can finally have something new. I am looking forward to your work."

"Thanks for your support."

When it was time to change clothes before dinner, the three of them headed home, preparing to return to the hotel.Su Xu asked the two ladies to go first, but when Natalie turned around, he saw a butterfly tattoo on her back.Unlike her conservatively dressed grandmother, Natalie wore a backless dress that left most of her back exposed, and the lifelike butterfly was right between her shoulder blades.

Su Xu took a deep breath. He remembered that Miss Natalie Prescott, if she guessed correctly, was one of Shen Jiarui's three thousand harem.The book describes the butterfly tattoo on the back of this young lady in great detail, so Shen Jiarui called her Madame Butterfly.

The strange thing is that he remembers the characteristics of Shen Jiarui's lovers in the book, but he can't remember the identity and occupation of this Miss Prescott anyway.Shen Jiarui's women had few ordinary characters, the most common ones were pampered ladies like Zhao Xiaoxuan, and among the rest, some were entrepreneurs, some were gangster bosses, some were killers, and there were spies and secret agents.The plot of that book was too ups and downs, the women who followed each other were like dungeon bosses one by one waiting for Shen Jiarui to solve them, and they would be thrown aside soon after they were solved, and there was almost no chance to appear on the stage.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked after hearing Su Xu's voice.

"Sorry." Su Xu immediately turned his eyes away, no matter what the girl was dressed in, he dared not stare blankly at the girl's back like this.

Natalie laughed at Su Xu's "see no evil" look: "Please, are all you Asians so shy? You saw the tattoo on my back, right? I don't look like I would The girl with tattoos on her body scares you?"

"My sweetheart, I really hope that this ugly insect pattern can be washed away." Mrs. Holt said helplessly, "What happened to the children now?"

"Grandma, this butterfly is not ugly!" Natalie protested, "My friends say it is very beautiful!"

Su Xu smiled and followed behind the grandparent and grandson, listening to their argument all the way until they broke up in the hotel corridor.