Anna and Karenin went to their bedroom.
Karenin closed the door and was embraced by his wife again.
"I went to Mr. Maillard's house today, and I had afternoon tea with Mrs. Maillard." Anna took the initiative to say that she liked it like this, as if the distance between Karenin and Karenin had completely disappeared, and they were close to each other without any secrets. Everything can be shared.
Karenin finally put his hand on the back of his wife's waist. If it was in the past, he would never have done this.
Such a close distance, not controlled by reason, is a bit stupid to enjoy a kind of warmth.
"And then?" he heard himself ask.
"And then, I heard a lot about you when you were a kid. Some of it was funny, and some of it wasn't so good."
"for example?"
Karenin really didn't understand, or in other words, he never really cared about his impression in other people's minds. Except for those decent and emotional matters, he was actually a little blank.
Karenin has always believed that unless it is politically necessary and he needs to achieve his own goals, it is unnecessary to explore other people's feelings beyond the original interests of his own existence.
"Something about your brother."
Anna felt Karenin's muscles stiffen for a moment when she mentioned the word "brother", and then she heard him say it.
"That's a thing of the past, Anna."
"Yes, I know you can always handle this, but I still feel sorry, I don't know how to describe it, but I just feel that it would be nice if I could get to know you sooner." She whispered.
"If only I had known you sooner, we could have grown up together. Although I'm not smart enough, I can listen to what you want to say. If you don't want to talk, I can tell you..."
That way, you won't be so alone...
Anna still didn't say the last sentence, but she knew that, as smart as Karenin, he must understand.
Anna has always understood herself. She is a little emotional. Her agent once said that there may be no one in this world who can be like her, who can still have a kind heart after encountering those things.
Anna doesn't think that she is a kind-hearted person. She is kind to people but not to everyone. Her love is actually very small, and she only distributes it to one or two people. Now, there may be only one person in this world.
She loves him and depends on him.
This kind of love made her want to find out more about Karenin's childhood, but she was afraid that she would not be able to help it. She felt like she had become a mother in advance, and she would have a lot of thoughts and associations because of each other's every move.
Anna didn't know if this kind of feeling was right, maybe it was a little too clingy, so she asked.
"Alexis, am I going to bother you?"
Karenin let go of his wife. Although he couldn't fully understand his wife's entanglements, in this relationship, he gradually grasped the best way, and, relying on this way, let the two People with very different personalities can gradually follow the same pace.
"I don't know why you have this question. But I thought, I need to confess something to you, maybe it will be useful."
His blue eyes, like cold glass, were looking at his wife, and his slightly thin lips were parted.
"Actually, Anna, although I don't fully understand your behavior sometimes, they are somewhat, peculiar," Karenin said in a more euphemistic way.
"It's not all bad for me, though."
"I have to say, I naturally have my own pace, but I know that for marriage, if two people agree with each other and reach the desire to combine, the husband must change a little bit. If a person's pace If he walks too fast, he'd better go slow. If a husband walks too slowly, he'd better go slow."
"In my previous plan, it was best to start a marriage at the age of twenty-five, or at the age of thirty-five. These two timings are the best. But obviously, at the age of twenty-five I haven't had this opportunity yet, but before I was thirty-five, I met you."
"This is completely different from my original plan. After I agree with your idea, you don't know, it means more to me."
"I still had a lot of time to sort it out in those short days before we got married. I made a choice, and even though it's troubled sometimes because I don't understand your actions, I have to tell you , if you think it's your feelings that might bother me, then I can tell you that it never will."
"You won't understand how grateful I am for all of this," he said in a low voice, seeing the shock in his wife's eyes, and he kissed her forehead.
He hugged her and held her tightly in his arms, his tone was calm but as hard as iron.
"So, nothing needs to change."
"That's fine for now."
After a long time, Anna curled up a small smile at the corner of her mouth. She rubbed Karenin's chin and said, "Meeting you is really the best thing that happened in my life."
Since that day, Anna has completely believed in one thing, that she will really love each other for the rest of her life.
Karenin's work at this stage is mainly to deal with some diplomatic affairs, he is a civil servant.
Russian military officers always look down on these civil servants. When Karenin was still the governor of other places, the officials in the yamen were very united because they had no confidence and fighting spirit.
After Karenin came, their political achievements became very prominent, which further highlighted the incompetence of this group of people.
According to common sense, people with principles like Karenin would probably be severely squeezed out, but in fact, Karenin handled the relationship in the yamen with ease, of course, on the surface.
Those mediocre officials stupidly accepted Karenin's overtures. They believed in Karenin without thinking about why. Such people were harmless, but Karenin knew that such people could easily be provoked. They are inconspicuous roles in the official system, but they are also huge cornerstones. It is very necessary to win over them.
The other kind of people are a little clever, and they are very deceitful. On the surface, they may call you brothers and sisters, and you can talk about half a lifetime of friendship after a glass of vodka, but this kind of person is also the most ruthless. So it needs to be treated with caution.
In mid-January, Karenin received a diplomat from Germany, and his wife also came.
Mr. Massage was a bit fat, but he was tall, so he looked passable. Contrary to people's stereotypes of the excessive gentlemanliness of the British, Mr. Massage's somewhat round face is really pleasing to the eye. Under the thick eyebrows are a pair of very energetic brown eyes, which are not easy to fool. . But the conversation is kind.
And his wife, Mrs. Massage, was a tall woman. The latter's hair is dark blonde, her face is long, her nose bridge is a bit narrow but very tall, she looks like the kind of person who can easily focus on one thing, when she smiles, there are a little lines around her mouth, but she doesn't Makes you feel old.
The performance of the couple seems to have nothing to do with reserve and reserve. At least, although Mrs. Massage looks like a noble lady, and she also tries her best to maintain this image, her husband always makes it intentional or unintentional. An image suddenly collapsed.
These things will not be discussed one by one.
Karenin had done some research on Mr. Masach and his wife before.
He knew that they were married three years ago. This Mr. Massage was only twenty-seven years old. He was just an ordinary diplomat on the surface, but his personal fortune was huge. This involves some sensitive areas.
Most people want to curry favor with this person, but this person has a weird personality, he looks very friendly, drank several bottles of wine with you, and said all kinds of heartfelt words, but if you really want to ask him for it A little benefit, you can know that you will get a lot of ridicule.
Just like now, the conversation between them is quite pleasant, but when it comes to some issues, both sides are insisting on it calmly. Seeing that it was almost twelve o'clock, Karenin simply changed the subject and took the opportunity to invite them to have lunch together. The Masachs readily agreed.
Karenin had explained to his secretary before, asking him to book a restaurant in advance, but he did not ask for the specifics of the restaurant. After all, if this kind of thing needs him to consider, he still needs a What does the secretary do.
Although Vorobev's character is not very good, and he is somewhat mercenary, he is indeed a smart person. After receiving Karenin's instructions, he immediately settled the matter. The result was just as good as he expected. Karenin was very satisfied with this.
In officialdom, Karenin still prefers smart people to stupid and honest people. Although this type of people tends to be more cunning and less loyal. But as long as you don't want to tame a fox in a whimsical way, make it as loyal as a wolf dog. Give the fox enough bait, and in the short term, he will always do what you want.
When they got to the dining room and sat down, Karenin saw Mrs. Masachs whisper something to her husband, and Mr. Masachs said to Karenin with a private smile.
"Dear Mr. Karenin, my wife is very curious about where you bought this scarf."
Karenin glanced at his scarf, the dark blue scarf with his initials embroidered with silver thread at the end, it was the one Anna gave him.
Karenin told the other party: "Actually, I didn't buy it from anywhere. This scarf was woven by my wife."
Both the couple were a little surprised, especially the Mrs. Massage.
Men may not pay much attention to these things, but after all, Mrs. Massage is a member of the upper class circle in Germany. What they come into contact with the most on a daily basis is clothing and other things. As for herself, she likes this kind of unique things the most. , so she can fully see that the craftsmanship of this scarf is top-notch.
Whether it is the color matching or the intricate and low-key textures, the design of the entire scarf can be said to be very beautiful.
"I saw that the silver thread seemed to be more than just a pattern." Mrs. Massage pointed out.
"My wife said it was my initials, if you're curious."
Mrs. Massage again marveled.
"What a brilliant idea!" she said. "I've never seen anyone embroider their initials on a scarf before. I know a lot of nobles who embroider their family coat of arms on a silk handkerchief." Up, but a scarf? I've never seen such an ingenious idea, let alone a little bit of typography."
"I'd love to touch it, if you don't mind," said Mrs. Massage.
Karenin felt a little embarrassed, but fortunately Mr. Massacchi stopped his wife.
He deliberately said to his wife in a dissatisfied tone: "What are you talking about, do you think I will allow you to touch other men's scarves?"
Mrs. Masach blushed a little, and she apologized to Karenin.
"Look at me, I just can't take my eyes off these delicate gadgets. Please forgive my rudeness." Her eyes lit up a little because she saw something of interest, and at this moment, her The face became more vivid, and even the originally unrefined facial features became more beautiful.
The sparkling eyes reminded Karenin of a person, so he said the following words almost unconsciously.
"You don't need to apologize, it's nothing, madam," said Karenin, moderating the conversation.
The German diplomat with a round face suddenly raised an eyebrow and said: "My wife has this hobby. Sometimes if she meets something she likes, she completely forgets me as a husband. So I It's always inevitable to remind her."
Mrs. Massage blushed and stared at her husband, who looked at him innocently.
"Did you forget that when we took Bond for a walk on the streets of London last month, you lost me and Bond because you were obsessed with those clothes from the gypsy girl?" The round-faced man looked Very dissatisfied.
"You know I don't know the way. Bond had a cold and a stuffy nose that day, and his sense of smell was like Mrs. Riley. She couldn't tell the difference between white pepper and black pepper, otherwise we wouldn't have eaten so much darkness." Cooking. To be honest, I even suspect that the poor impression of our food in the UK is simply caused by Mrs. Riley. And Bond and I trust you so much that we didn’t even bring my old housekeeper with us. Before me, he was always my guide."
Mr. Masage seemed to have been opened to complain, and he frowned, like a big-bodied woman in the slums in her forties, and started digging up old scores.
"To be honest, what's the use of studying them, and you don't plan to wear them for me to see..."
"Enough." Mrs. Massage finally couldn't bear to stop her husband, she hissed, "This is not at home."
Mr. Massage closed his mouth, looking aggrieved.
At first, Karenin was a little surprised by this Mr. Massacchi's openness to reveal his love for his wife, but his subsequent chatter made Karenin understand. After all, he has been engaged in political conversations for so many years, so he is still very good at turning the topic back to business.
Mr. Masachs secretly approved of Karenin's calmness, but to tell the truth, he meant what he said.
His wife is amazing, isn't she!
Although she lost herself and Bond for a walk, they can still go back by themselves!
... It's just that it may take some time, but now he can find someone to take him to the police station within half an hour!
That afternoon, Karenin reconsidered today's matter in his office. He carefully considered how to finalize this matter to his satisfaction.
He also told this to Vorobiev, but the latter said: "To be honest, sir, I don't think that Mr. Masach is special. I saw him drink a lot at the noon banquet. Wine, I also found out that this person likes to collect wine. I think we can give him some snacks."
Karenin glanced at his secretary, because at this moment, his evaluation of Vorobyev's intelligence dropped a lot. However, he did not directly criticize his subordinates, but said calmly: "Think about it again, maybe you have better suggestions."
Vorobyev left Karenin's office with an unhappy expression.
Looking at the door, he thought with some resentment in his heart, and said conceitedly: "What is the difference between me and him, in terms of talent, I will not succumb to him."
"Of course, of course you are." A shrill voice in Vorobyev's mind echoed him, so at last he raised his hand in satisfaction, and gently smoothed the hem of his uniform to make it smoother. Be more upright.
He proudly left the door of Karenin's office, not really paying attention to Karenin's words.
Behind the door, Karenin only thought about Vorobev's affairs for a while when he left, and then his mind turned to Mr. Masach again.
For the time being, Karenin didn't come up with a better idea. He looked at his pocket watch, and it was ten minutes later than the usual time to get off work, so he didn't delay any longer, packed up and was ready to go home.
After Karenin came home, Anna noticed that the other party seemed to have something to say to her.
"What do you want to say to me?" Anna asked with a smile. Seeing that Karenin was a little stunned, she felt a little satisfied.
"I like the feeling of being able to guess what you're thinking." She still smiled.
Karenin told his wife what had happened during the day, and he conveyed the compliments of the Masachs on Anna's workmanship.
Anna blinked and asked, "This diplomacy is very important, isn't it?"
"Yes." Karenin said, and then wanted to change the subject. He couldn't talk too much about work to his wife. But his wife suddenly laughed.
"I have an idea."
"What?" Karenin asked.