Hungersnot

Kapitel 15

He placed a funnel inside, and without using a measuring cup, he poured the alcohol directly from the large-bellied glass bottle into the funnel. Baldini was quite taken with so many...

I was horrified by his incompetent approach: this guy prepared the solvent before dissolving the concentrate, ruining the perfume-making process.

The procedure was completely reversed, and not only that, he was almost physically unable to keep up! He struggled, trembling.

Baldini was constantly worried that the heavy, pot-bellied glass bottle would fall and shatter; everything on the table...

He wanted to smash it to pieces. "God help the candle!" he thought. "It's going to explode soon, it's going to destroy my house!"

Burn it…! He really wanted to rush over and snatch the large glass bottle from the little madman's hands, but at that moment Grenouille himself…

But it had already been put down, safely placed on the ground, and the stopper was put back in. The light, transparent liquid was in the preparation bottle.

It sloshed around inside—every drop was doing its job. Grenouille rested for a moment, a satisfied expression on his face.

It was as if he had already overcome the most difficult hurdle of the experiment. In fact, the experiment continued, at a pace that was so rapid that Barr...

Dini's eyes couldn't keep up, let alone discern the order of the experiments or any regular process.

On the surface, Grenouille appears to be moving this row of perfume bottles without any choice, rearranging the glass bottles...

Pull out the stopper, smell it for a second, then pour some out of this bottle and drip some into another bottle.

Pour a little more from the third small bottle into the funnel, and so on. Materials needed: liquid tube, test tube, measuring cup, spoon, and stirrer.

Awesome—all these instruments are used by perfume experts in their complex formulation processes, but Grenouille…

He didn't touch it once, as if he were just playing, tapping and patting like a child, adding water, mixing the saliva and trash.

The garbage was boiled into foul-smelling sewage, then the person insisted it was soup. Yes, like a child, Baldini thought to himself.

Suddenly, he also looked like a child, even though his hands were rough and clumsy, his face was scarred, and his nose resembled...

The old man had become lumpy. Baldini had always thought he was older than his actual age, but now he felt he was younger.

He seemed young, only three or four years old, like one of those unapproachable, incomprehensible, stubborn little apes.

These ape-men are said to be innocent; they only think of themselves and want to conquer everything in the world. If people...

To allow them to become arrogant and domineering, instead of using the strictest educational measures to gradually instill discipline and guide them to become like...

Perfect people control themselves like that, and they certainly do. This young man was still a fanatical child; he...

His eyes were as red as fire. Standing beside the table, he was completely oblivious to his surroundings, seemingly unaware of what he was doing at work.

Besides him and the bottles, there was something else in the room. With nimble movements, he moved the bottles to the funnel.

In order to prepare his absurd mixtures, and afterwards he would insist—and indeed believe—that this

It's the finest perfume, "Amour & Psyche." When viewed in the flickering candlelight, this truly unique...

Baldini felt a chill run down his spine when he saw someone operating with such confidence: "A man like him—" he thought.

In an instant, he felt as sorrowful, pained, and indignant as he did that afternoon, gazing at the city bathed in the fiery glow of the sunset—like

There has never been anyone like him before; he is a completely new type of specimen. He could only have emerged from this listless,

A morally decadent era… but he should learn his lesson, this arrogant little fellow! After this farce is over…

Then he will give him a good scolding, making him slink away as if he had come in as a cowardly good-for-nothing.

Yeah, right. Bad guys! It's impossible to associate with anyone these days, because the world is full of bad guys!

Baldini was consumed by anger and a loathing for time, so much so that when Grenouille suddenly threw all the bottles...

He plugged the bottle, pulled the funnel out of the mixing bottle, grabbed the neck of the bottle with one hand, sealed the mouth of the bottle with his left palm, and vigorously...

As he shook it, he didn't understand what it meant. It wasn't until the bottle spun repeatedly in the air that he realized what it contained...

Expensive items rushed from the bottle's belly to its neck like juice or soda, then retreated, prompting Baldini to express his anger and fear.

A terrified scream. "Stop!" he yelled. "Enough! Stop right now! It's over! Put this bottle on the table right now!"

Stop shaking it, you understand? Stop shaking it! I'll go crazy if I listen to your nonsense. The way you do things...

Your methods, your rude behavior, your ignorance tell me you're a half-baked idiot, a barbaric half-baked idiot.

Another extremely unruly little rascal. You don't deserve to be a soda mixer; you're not even capable of making the most ordinary licorice water.

A businessman, let alone a perfume expert! I'm extremely grateful and should be satisfied! But don't come again, you hear me?

No? Don't cross the threshold of a perfume expert again.

Baldini said this. He was about to say something more, when the air around him was already filled with "Amour and Psyche."

The aroma of "crack." This aroma is far more persuasive than words, firsthand experience, or desire. This fragrance...

The persuasive power of Qi is irresistible; it's like the air we breathe, flowing into our lungs and permeating our bodies.

Note that it filled us to the brim, leaving us defenseless. Grenouille has already put the bottle down. The wet perfume...

He removed his hand from the bottle and dried it on the edge of his clothes. He took a step or two back, under Baldini's stern reprimand...

Bring your body together to the left; the slight thud of the impact creates a shockwave in the air, enough to spread the newly acquired fragrance.

Around. No more. Baldini, though still furious, shouting and cursing, with each breath he took...

The less outward display of anger has internal support, the less it is supported. He sensed he had been refuted, therefore he

His words, in the end, were nothing but empty rhetoric and grand pronouncements. After he fell silent, and remained silent for a while, he had already...

There was no need to listen to Grenouille's words: "It's done!" He already knew that anyway.

Nevertheless, even though he was now surrounded by the heavy smell of "Amour and Psyche" from all directions,

He walked to the old wooden table and examined it. He pulled a snow-white new handkerchief from the left pocket of his coat and...

He unfolded the bottle and used his long dropper to dab a few drops of perfume onto it. He placed the small handkerchief on his outstretched hand.

Swing your arm around your nose to let the fragrance circulate, then with a skillful and graceful movement, sweep it under your nose while...

He inhaled the fragrance. He let the aroma waft out in waves, then sat down on a stool. Earlier, he had been...

His face, which had turned a deep, liverish color from anger, suddenly turned pale. "Unbelievable," he muttered.

He muttered to himself, "God is my witness, it's unbelievable!" He brought his nose to the small handkerchief again and again.

Sniffing, he shook his head and muttered, "Unbelievable!" This truly is "Amour and Psyche," without a trace of...

Without a doubt, it's "Amour and Psyche," a hatefully exquisite blend of scents, imitated so precisely.

Even Pellisier himself couldn't distinguish it from his own products. "It's unbelievable..."

The great Baldini sat on the stool, huddled up, his face pale, holding his little handkerchief in his hand.

His appearance was comical, like a young girl with a cold wiping her nose with a handkerchief. At this moment, he was completely speechless.

He no longer said "unbelievable," but instead nodded slightly, gazing intently at the perfume in the bottle.

After emitting monotonous "hmm, hmm, hmm... hmm, hmm... hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm..." for a while, Gray...

Noye walked over and silently, like a shadow, to the table.

“This isn’t a good perfume,” he said. “It’s poorly formulated, this kind of perfume.”

“Hmm, hmm, hmm,” Baldini said. Grenouille continued, “If you would allow me, Master,”

I'd like to make some improvements. Please give me a minute, and I'll use it to make a decent perfume for you!

“Hmm, hmm, hmm,” Baldini said, nodding. This inclusion was not because he expressed approval, but because…

He was listless and helpless at this moment, only able to say "uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh" and nod at everything. He continued...

Nodding and muttering "hmm, hmm, hmm," as Grenouille began preparing the mixture for the second time, the second time adding the alcohol from...

The mixture was poured into a large glass bottle and added to the perfume already in the bottle. The second time, it seemed to be done regardless of the order.

He didn't intend to interfere when the flavoring from the small bottle was poured into the funnel, regardless of the quantity. Until this preparation process...

As the prologue neared its end—this time, Grenouille didn't shake the bottle, but rather gently swirled it like he would a bottle of French brandy.

The bottle—perhaps he considered Baldini's sensitive feelings, or perhaps he thought this perfume was more expensive—

—Only then, as the perfume was being mixed and swirled in the bottle, did Baldini snap out of his numb state. He stood...

She got up, still covering her nose with a small handkerchief, as if preparing to resist a new attack on his heart.

“It’s done, Master,” Grenouille said. “Now it’s a pretty good perfume.”

“Yes, yes. Very well, very well,” Baldini replied, waving his free hand in refusal.

"Would you like to examine it?" Grenouille continued, his voice laced with ambiguity. "Don't you want to examine it, Master?"

“Wait a minute,” Baldini said, “I don’t want to examine it right now… I’m thinking about something else.”

Let's go now! Follow me!

He picked up a candlestick, walked towards the door, and went into the shop. Grenouille followed behind him. They came...

He walked down the narrow corridor leading to the servants' entrance. The old man shuffled toward the small door, unlatched it, and opened it.

He stepped aside to let the boy out.

“Now may I work for you, Master? May I?” Grenouille asked, already standing…

On the threshold, it curled up again, its eyes filled with anticipation.

“I don’t know,” Baldini said. “I need to think about it carefully. You can go now!”

Then, Grenouille suddenly walked away and vanished without a trace, as if swallowed by the darkness. Bardi

Niren stood there, staring blankly at the night sky, holding a candlestick in his right hand and a small handkerchief in his left, looking like someone with a nosebleed.

The man was filled with fear. He hurriedly bolted the door. Then he took the protective handkerchief off his face.

He stuffed it into his pocket, walked through the shop, and returned to the factory.

The fragrance was so exquisite that Baldini's eyes instantly filled with tears. He didn't need to examine it; he simply...

Standing by the workbench, I inhaled the fragrance from the mixing bottle. This perfume is truly beautiful. Compared to "Amour & Psyche," it's like...

It's like the contrast between a symphony and a violin playing a lonely, chaotic tune. And that's not all. Baldini closed his eyes...

He saw the most exquisite memories awaken in his heart. He saw himself as a young man in Naples at dusk.

He wandered in the garden; he saw himself lying in the arms of a woman with dark hair, and saw the rose bushes on the windowsill.

A shadow fell, and a night breeze blew past the windowsill; he heard the birds being driven away singing, and the distant sound of a small tavern on the dock.