Karenin's promise was like hard silk, entangled Anna thinly, and she was willing to be protected in this way.
"What are you laughing at? My dear Pasha," Mr. Prokhov asked curiously.
"Oh, it's nothing." Anna shook her head, but obviously couldn't suppress the smile on the corner of her mouth.
"However, this is the first time I know that Mr. Goldman has a daughter."
Mr. Prokhov's eyes lit up after hearing Mr. Goldman's daughter, and Anna also confirmed one thing at this moment.
"Miss Oria is really very nice, maybe you will never see a better girl than her."
"Do you like her?" Anna asked with a smile.
Mr. Prokhov blushed.
"So, no matter how weird Mr. Goldman is, you still want to stay here?"
"Probably." Prokhov smiled, looking down at the ledger in his hand.
"Miss Oria is really a good girl, Pasha, you will see her later." Mr. Prokhov said honestly.
"Aren't you afraid that I will snatch her away?" Anna said deliberately. Mr. Goldman went to pick up Miss Oria, so there were only two of them in the store.
She thought that Mr. Prokhov had any thoughts about Mr. Goldman. After all, most people can't stand Mr. Goldman's character.
Prokhov was stunned for a moment when he heard Anna's words, and then said nervously, "Will you?"
Seeing the other party's reaction, Anna didn't want to continue the joke either.
"Of course not, don't worry, Prokhov."
"But Miss Oria is really nice." Prokhov seemed to be relieved, but he seemed a little dissatisfied.
"How do you know each other?" Anna asked curiously.
Prokhov laughed again, his eyes looked very innocent, which didn't match his tall and strong figure at all, but it made people think it was quite cute.
"That was last year, in January, when we encountered pirates. I escaped, but I didn't have a dime on me. And I had lung disease at that time, and it was dirty and smelly. I wanted to find a job anywhere. Let’s eat first, but no serious businessman wants me. I wandered in Petersburg for three days, until one day I was so hungry and dizzy, I squatted on the ground, and then she appeared in front of me!”
The man looked as if he saw an angel. Anna thought.
"She gave me something to eat. I was very hungry at that time, and I didn't want to die, so I wanted to give it a try and asked Miss Oria if she could take me in to work and earn some bread money. Miss Oria was a bit embarrassed at first, but then she agreed."
"And then did Mr. Goldman reject you at first?"
"No." Prokhov said with a smile, and gave Anna a somewhat unexpected answer.
"So I said, although Mr. Goldman has a weird temper, he is a good person. He just has a mean mouth. I will help here after I recover from my injury, and Miss Oria has taught me how to read." Prokhov Yang raised the ledger in his hand.
"I didn't know many characters before, but now I'm much better at it."
"Hearing you say that, she is really a lovely lady like an angel." Anna sighed.
"Yes." Prokhov quite agreed with this sentence.
After another hour, a carriage stopped outside the tailor's shop.
"It must be Miss Oria!"
Prokhov said excitedly, and he ran out. Anna followed suit. When he got outside, Prokhov was so excited that he almost stuck to the horse's nose.
The maroon horse was startled, and kicked its hooves in mid-air. The driver stopped it immediately, but luckily he was calmed down soon.
"Why rush out!" Mr. Goldman reprimanded with a raised voice, and after his voice fell to the ground, a sweet female voice sounded.
"Prokhov."
"Miss Oria!" Prokhov shouted excitedly, standing upright like a soldier about to meet the princess.
And when Anna set her eyes on Miss Oria, she was a little surprised.
It's not that Miss Oria is not beautiful, but that she is clearly only a twelve-year-old girl. So, Prokhov doesn't like men, he likes little girls
Anna felt that looking at Prokhov's back now was a bit complicated.
Although Prokhov was a little excited, he might not look so noble on the outside, but in front of Oria, he did not fall behind in that kind of gentlemanly behavior.
Miss Oria came in front of Anna and said with a smile, "You are Mr. Pavel, right? I've heard my father talk about you."
"Good day, Miss Oria." Anna also greeted back.
Miss Oria smiled shyly.
Although her appearance is still very immature, this Miss Oria is indeed like a princess when it comes to dealing with people.
She has silky black hair, finer but thicker. The girl's skeleton is very delicate, and she is wearing a goose yellow skirt today. The material is high-quality at first glance, but there are not many patterns, only some white feather patterns are used for embellishment. Wearing a light-colored coat outside, it looks very warm.
It's different from Mr. Goldman who has always been too lazy to watch people's behavior.
Even if it was just such an ordinary greeting, Miss Oria was used to leaning towards her, her neck was slightly leaning towards the speaker with a slender arc, and a little white pearl earring on the earlobe was slightly exposed, small and delicate.
"You will have plenty of time later, go in now, Oria." Mr. Goldman frowned and moved his fingers on Oria's neckline, so that the skin exposed to the cold air could be wrapped by the coat.
"Yes, let's go in first, it's too cold outside." Mr. Prokhov nodded in agreement. Only Anna felt the temperature outside again, and then felt that it wasn't very cold, but she didn't care, and followed Mr. Goldman and the others. went in.
Prokhov originally wanted to carry the luggage to Miss Oria to the bedroom on the second floor, but was stopped by Mr. Goldman.
"Wait here!"
Like a big dog that has been scolded, Mr. Prokhov handed the luggage to Mr. Goldman dejectedly.
"Father." Miss Oria looked at her father disapprovingly.
Mr. Goldman said nothing about it, but let Miss Oria follow.
"I'll come down later." Miss Oria said to Prokhov, then looked at Anna again, and gave her an apologetic smile.
Looking at the other party's slow and gentle footsteps, Anna couldn't help wondering, did she act like an emperor penguin on weekdays? Look at the other party's slender waist, it seems that one hand can wrap it around. The shoulders are delicate and the back is straight.
Although this Miss Oria does not have much similar appearance to Mr. Goldman, her demeanor is very close. That kind of temperament has nothing to do with the expensive clothes she wears, it is completely exuded by herself.
Thinking about it carefully, this is obviously just a twelve-year-old girl, her face is not fully opened, it is a little round, and there are one or two harmless freckles on the tip of her nose, but her big eyes are very bright. The eyelashes are long, curled up, and the end of the eye is naturally curved, as if smiling all the time.
No wonder a man of integrity like Mr. Prokhov couldn't help having evil thoughts.
Anna looked at Prokhov, who was still staring at the empty aisle that was empty.
"Prokhov, although I really sympathize with you, I can also understand why Mr. Goldman is so mean to you sometimes."
Pedophilia is a disease, it really needs to be cured!
Prokhov was a little confused at first, and then he came to his senses. He said with some embarrassment: "It's not what you think."
"Don't think about it, Pavel." Prokhov said dryly.
He blushed: "I just want to stay here, I won't do anything to Miss Oria."
"Don't you like her?"
"I like her, but I like her, but I don't like her..." Prokhov couldn't say it. He was obviously such a big man, but he was shy about such things. Finally, he said with a straight face: "Pa Sha, your thoughts are really dirty."
Anna blushed and said, "I'm so dirty! It's obviously you who said it."
"I didn't say anything. I just like Miss Oria, and I just want to stay here." Prokhov said seriously.
"Don't you want to marry her?" Anna asked tentatively.
Prokhov froze for a moment, then touched his nose and smiled, "Ah, I can't think that far."
Anna hesitated and said, "You seem a little irresponsible."
Prokhov patted Anna on the shoulder, his broad hands didn't use much strength.
"It's good that you know, but don't worry about it. Didn't you come to Mr. Goldman to learn the craft?"
Anna looked at the man in front of her a little strangely. Generally speaking, among the two of them, Prokhov was the big guy with a softer heart, and he was the one who knew everything about any problem.
So, Anna guessed, was it because Prokhov knew that Mr. Goldman might never agree to this marriage
Although Mr. Goldman has no title and is just a tailor, he is considered a rich man after all. In this era when the concept of family status is very strong, for an orphan like Prokhov who has no money and no rights, few daughters of good families will marry him.
Thinking of this, Anna decided not to say any more.
Although she thinks Mr. Prokhov is a good person, from Mr. Goldman's point of view, it is completely reasonable not to choose the former.
When going back in the afternoon, Anna first finished her homework for the day. Karenin had a visitor at eight o'clock, so she waited until the visitor left before going to him.
"Don't you need to do your homework today?" Karenin has recently become accustomed to replacing Anna's messy exercises with homework, and sometimes he himself would be a little dazed, wondering whether he would marry a child or a wife.
"I'm done." Anna also said smoothly.
She pulled up a chair and sat across from Karenin's desk. They were still in the same study where Karenin received his guests.
Anna looked at her husband with wide gray eyes, and asked, "I want to ask a question."
Karenin looked at her.
Anna said slowly, "I mean, if I was just a poor girl, would you still marry me?"
"Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?"
"I," Anna opened her mouth, and then said a little discouraged, "forget it, Alexei. Forgive me for asking such a stupid question."
She said to herself: "If I were a poor girl, maybe a peasant girl who kept geese, we would never meet. Even if I did, I would not have the money to dress myself up nicely. I have no chance to learn well." Culture. Even if I don’t know where I learned the things of high society, but I still have no money, no status, and the probability of us getting married is basically infinitely close to zero.” She finally came to a poor conclusion , and sighed.
"Thinking of this fact, I feel physically sad." Anna sniffled, feeling her nose was a little sore.
"You may marry a noble lady who is not very beautiful, but rich and has a title in the family. She may not be as good-looking as I am, but at least she will be a decent wife. Well done, but also men with no money...”
Karenin originally thought it was a bit funny when he heard the first half of the paragraph, but later he heard his wife say that he might marry another man, and told her rationally that if the hypothesis his wife said was true, then there was indeed a high probability that it would be This way. But there is nothing in this world, if not
"Anna." Karenin called his wife by name.
A certain lady who was immersed in an inexplicable emotion finally raised her head to look at her husband again.
Karenin looked at his wife who was already teary, and his mood, which was not so good, disappeared. I feel a little helpless towards my wife as usual.
"There is no if. You are my wife and we are married."
"You are marrying me." Karenin emphasized.
Anna looked at her husband, from his well-groomed hair, to the straight bridge of the nose, and finally to the thinner upper lip than the lower lip.
"You are not as handsome as my husband in Ruoli." Anna laughed suddenly, wiping away her tears.
"Appearances are only appearances," said Karenin.
"Most people can't do this." Anna muttered.
"Just like most people can't really achieve anything in their careers."
Anna thought for a while, then nodded: "You're right. I'm sorry, I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a little sad. Maybe you can write down this day, I sometimes have this low tide period, then Usually it happens when…”
What is it, Anna didn't finish, but suddenly blushed a little.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing." Anna lay prone on the table, trying to find a hole in the ground right now.
Karenin was a little worried, and he frowned.
"Anna."
"It's really nothing." A muffled voice came from under the arm.
Karenin got up and wanted to pull his wife, but suddenly he seemed to understand something.
This Russian high-ranking official has faced many storms and waves, but even so, he still became a little cautious. Ten seconds later, Karenin walked up to his wife, bent down and asked in a low voice.
The little head nodded.
"Can you go out first?"
"You need to take a bath, Anna." Karenin did not agree to his wife's request, and he had completely calmed down at this moment.
"I'll tidy them up. Now, I'll take you to the bathroom and I'll get you a change of clothes. It's nothing, Anna." Karenin comforted his wife in a low voice.
His voice was steady and calm, and his wife, who was trying to dig a hole to bury herself like a groundhog, finally raised her head.
Karenin picked up his wife and didn't look at her. After confirming that Anna was fine, he carried him out of the study.
He closed the bedroom door, and usually at night the servants would not enter his study without Karenin's permission.
In the bathroom, Anna took a shower and changed her clothes. She spent fifteen minutes just now to calm down.
After all, this kind of thing is embarrassing. She just lost all face. It was an embarrassing thing that took at least three days to calm down, but Karenin told her not to wash for too long outside.
When I went out the door of the bathroom, I saw that there was no one in the bedroom.
Anna was a little relieved, and she simply crawled into the bed, her shameful heart really needed comfort.
Then the door was opened, and Karenin came in, holding a bowl of brown sugar ginger soup in his hand.
"Drink this first, Anna."
"How do you know this?" Anna asked.
"You asked Sasha to do it, didn't you?" Karenin replied, and then handed Anna the warm brown sugar and ginger syrup.
"You..." Anna felt a little moved, and the previous embarrassment automatically rolled into some corner.
"Drink it, you need to go to bed early, Anna," said Karenin.
"What about your official documents?" Anna asked after drinking. Karenin took the cup and put it on the table.
"Tomorrow I will get up an hour earlier." He covered Anna with the quilt.
"You can go and read the official documents, and leave me alone, Alexei, I have nothing to do," Anna said. But Karenin was unmoved.
"You are more afraid of the cold. The weather is not warm." After Karenin finished speaking, he tucked up Anna's blanket and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
With the faint candlelight, Anna looked at the small cup and smiled happily.
She knew that instead of entangled in the impossible past, it is true to enjoy the ordinary warmth of the present. Like this, when she is stupid, you can tolerate her and not criticize her harshly.
In a daze, Anna felt that Karenin had returned.
She grabbed each other, a dry and warm hand took her, wrapped her around her, and let her fall into a warm embrace.
"Even if it's infinitely close to zero, it's still possible, Anna."
I don't know if it's real or a dream, but Anna heard such an answer anyway. From a less handsome, less romantic, somewhat serious, but more lovable Russian guy.