"Huh? You want us to steal perfume?"
Shi Ji was also dumbfounded, rubbing his wrists which were numb from being tied up, and staring at the butler in front of him with a look of utter disbelief.
"Hmph, this is no ordinary perfume."
The butler looked disgusted: "This is the priceless 'Black Mary'! It was the perfume of Marie Antoinette, Queen of Louis XVI. It is said that a single drop is worth a fortune. Just one spray and the fragrance lingers, refreshing and delightful. It was the pinnacle of perfumer Génifique's work. Unfortunately, the French Revolution happened, and Génifique burned the formula during her escape and died far from home. The last few bottles of the original perfume disappeared in the chaos."
Queen Mary was a highly controversial figure in history. She was extremely extravagant, pursued fashion and art, and brought a luxurious fashion trend to the entire aristocratic life of ancient France.
The perfume she used originally had no name. It was a mysterious fragrance that she spent a lot of money and manpower to make just for herself. The name was given to it by later generations, who added Mary's name to symbolize its specialness.
As they listened to the butler's endless introduction, Shi Ji and Lu Xiaokong swallowed hard. They couldn't understand such a luxurious lifestyle, nor could they understand what the big boss wanted this first-generation perfume for.
"It's just a bottle of perfume. It would probably have been put to good use by now," Shi Ji remarked.
Lu Xiaokong glanced at Shi Ji in surprise, seemingly not expecting that Shi Ji also knew physics.
Shi Ji rolled his eyes at his eldest nephew, annoyed: "Is this thing so hard to understand? It's been around for so long, even if you put water in it, it would have evaporated!"
"So only one bottle remains in the world," the butler emphasized.
“The value of these things is all assigned by people; they don’t have much value in themselves, and after so many years, they’ve probably only lost a little bit,” Lu Xiaokong said, looking at the butler with suspicion. “So how can you prove that it still exists, and how can you prove that it’s the last bottle of ‘Black Mary’?”
"You don't need to worry about that."
The butler's expression changed instantly. "Alright, go ahead."
Then Lu Xiaokong and Shi Ji were thrown out of the manor.
"Depend on!"
Shi Ji couldn't help but complain, "They didn't say anything! It's just a bottle of cheap perfume, where are we supposed to find that?"
This is such a big town, filled with perfumes, but they don't even know what perfumes look like or smell like. Where do they even begin to look? Isn't this just making things incredibly difficult for them?
Instead, Lu Xiaokong stood still, pondered for a long time, then turned and walked towards the town ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) center: "Let's go, let's go browse the perfume shops."
Shi Ji immediately followed up with a fawning smile: "Oh, that's great! It seems my nephew has come up with a solution?"
Lu Xiaokong nodded seriously: "Follow the historical stories."
"ah?"
“Since the perfumer Jennifer’s hometown is in this small town, I believe there must be other people who have heard her story,” Lu Xiaokong said confidently. “If someone has heard of her, tracing back along the stories they’ve passed down might just lead us to the final destination of the perfume!”
And this is their only option!
-
"Xiao He, you've arrived!"
Xie Jingshi, who had just finished filming, already knew about Xiao He and the others' flight today. Now that he had finished a scene, he took the initiative to greet Xiao He.
"Yes, you guys are fast! You've already started filming?"
Xiao He glanced at the middle-aged man beside Xie Jingshi and greeted him respectfully, "Hello, Teacher Chen You!"
The middle-aged actor who plays Shi Ji is Chen You. He often plays comedic roles. The "Phantom Thieves" series marked the second spring of his career. Although he is not as popular as before, he was a household name in his early years.
Chen You's personality is quite different from Shi Ji's. Although he is always laughing and joking in the story, he is actually quite serious, even stern. When Xiao He showed him goodwill, he just glanced at Xiao He and nodded.
"This script is quite rich, and time is tight, so we want to start filming as soon as possible to catch the Spring Festival next year."
Xie Jingshi smiled and continued to explain the current situation of the film crew to Xiao He.
At this moment, assistant director Fan Congwen also came over and greeted Xiao He.
The crew of "The Phantom Thieves 2" is relatively familiar, with a high degree of overlap with some of the staff from "The Corner". After all, they are all investments and teams under Director Zhuang Hongyi's company, so it's normal for Xiao He to see these familiar faces. He even saw several staff members from "No Bait" here.
Therefore, although Xiao He was not very familiar with the actors in "The Phantom Thieves 2", he did not feel the awkwardness that one would feel when joining an unfamiliar film crew.
Fan Congwen acted as a go-between, introducing Xiao He to several relatively unfamiliar people in the crew.
The cast of "The Phantom Thieves 2" doesn't have that many big names. The main focus is on the two main characters. Most of the other actors are relatively unknown, but they have acting skills. Only Xiao He, who played a guest role, has seen his status soar after a year of hard work, and his popularity is almost as high as that of the main character Xie Jingshi.
This situation is quite rare, and it can only be said that Director Zhuang had the foresight to sign Xiao He's contract in advance to play a role in the "Phantom Thieves Alliance" series. Otherwise, given Xiao He's current value, he might not have come to continue making cameo appearances.
However, although this is a cameo role, it is almost the same as the main supporting role. Xiao He's screen time has increased significantly, and he even has his own highlights and funny moments. His character is also much richer than before, no longer just a thin hacker image hiding behind the screen.
Xiao He had barely sat down when he was pulled away to get his hair and makeup done.
Just like last time, Xiao He's hair needed to be temporarily sprayed white, and he also needed to have multiple tattoos applied to his body, so his pre-production preparations were more extensive than others, and the preparation time was relatively longer.
When he came out, only a lingering red glow of the setting sun remained on the horizon.
Xiao He was wearing a black hoodie and wide-leg jeans, with a pair of Air Jordans on his feet. He walked with a somewhat dejected air, automatically raised his chin when looking at people, and even his eyes became half-closed dead fish eyes. When he spoke to people, he had an aloof and superior feeling.
Nevertheless, he still looked very handsome overall.
No one knew that he would become the target of exploitation by the two main characters, and would eventually be ripped off by the uncle and nephew, becoming a comedic character with a strong sense of contrast.
The more arrogant you look now, the more pathetic you'll be later.
—In fact, when Xiao He saw the script, he once thought that Zhuang Hongyi had a problem with him.
Of course, Xiao He has to admit that his seemingly aloof exterior contrasts with his comedic side, creating a certain level of public interest and making him a memorable "hacker."
And perhaps because of the "perfume" background, which involves a lot of basic theoretical knowledge of perfumers, the script also added a detail to his character: this hacker is actually a top student, a "chemistry PhD".
Even the final, crucial bottle of "Black Mary" was made by him.
He might not be qualified as the protagonist, but as a legitimate thief, he is very professional.
As for why a chemistry PhD would become a thief—don't ask, the answer is simply to challenge oneself.
