"What's the matter?" Karenin asked.
Anna shook her head, the expression in her gray eyes was as fluffy as the neck of a gray pigeon.
Karenin had often seen this look in his wife, and at first he thought it was due to Anna's nature, but later she discovered that he alone was honored by it.
got windy.
The spring wind was not warm enough, and the bushes were swaying, and some shiny blueberries stumbled and fell into the soil because of the gust of wind.
"The wind is picking up," said Karenin.
He held a small rattan basket in his hand, and naturally took Anna's hand with his free hand, looked away, and said, "Let's go."
Anna responded.
When she was walking, she suddenly turned her head to look at her husband, and said, "I hope I can be like this when I get old, and come to the countryside together, and you accompany me to pick some berries."
"You're still young, Anna," said Karenin non-romantically. A person like him can't imagine that kind of day.
Anna smiled and said nothing, she was always willing to tolerate her husband, and didn't complain about his unromantic words. Petersburg was her husband's battleground, and she was happy to accompany him. So she hummed a song, and from time to time picked off some catkins stuck to her skirt.
When they went back, Anna took the basket.
"Blueberry pie is fine, isn't it?" she asked with a smile.
Karenin nodded, then hesitated and said, "Do you need my help?"
Anna smiled and shook her head: "Sasha will help me. Go and do your own business." She could see that Karenin's mind had already turned to work a little bit. After all, he had passed the time since he left. Haven't processed work for hours.
"you sure?"
Anna blinked. She held the basket in both hands, then looked at her husband carefully, and finally said: "I always feel that you are a bit strange these days."
"where?"
She recalled it seriously, and then said: "I think you seem to be very accommodating to me."
"You're too sensitive, Anna." Karenin said, then he nodded, and said a little awkwardly, "Since you don't need it, I'll go to the study to handle some business. If you need it, please call me anytime, Anna. " Then he left with a "stable" pace.
Anna looked at the back and tilted her head. She was still thinking about it when she went into the kitchen and handed Sasha the basket.
"What's wrong with you, ma'am. Did the blueberry take your soul away?" The cook chuckled, took the things neatly in her hands, and washed them in the water.
Those blueberries were stained with water, and they looked even more crystal clear in the hands of the cook's plump white hands, making them lovely.
Anna picked one up, looked at it carefully and ate it, and said, "Sasha, don't you think Mr. has been very accommodating to me recently?"
"Recently?" The cook made a surprised expression, and then smiled, "I think it's always been like this."
Anna looked a little surprised.
After picking the blueberries, Sasha tilted her head and said, "In my opinion, although Mr. is not the type to please women and he is not young anymore, he is better than most of the men in Russia."
"Can you talk more?" Anna helped the cook and took out a glass container with blueberries in it. She was always happy to hear other people talk about that man, especially things she didn't know.
"Other hostesses don't like their servants talking about their master's affairs, but you are welcome." The cook smiled and shook her head, grabbing a handful of flour. With years of experience, she can accurately calculate demand even without those rich wives' small scales.
"I'll do it," Anna said, in a cheerful, almost flattering tone.
The cook stepped aside to break the eggs.
"It's not easy for a woman to survive in this world. Those girls who die at birth are lucky. Those who survive like us will have no less troubles in this life. So, when you are a girl, marry People must be on the lookout. Those who are long, good-looking, and smooth-talking are not acceptable, but what should we do, who can resist the sweet words of the bastards like the winner?" The cook snorted and beat the eggs vigorously white.
"It's really not easy." Anna responded with a smile.
"Oh, you are different, madam, you are the most intelligent woman I have ever seen," said the cook brightly.
"You are a rare beauty, smart, and the daughter of a wealthy family. You are so lucky. If you are my daughter or relative, I will worry about you."
"What are you worried about me?"
The cook wiped her hands and looked at Anna and said, "Why are you worried about you?" The cook laughed loudly, "My dear lady, women must not be too smart, otherwise those self-righteous men will not be able to stand it."
"Men!" She shook her head, and began tending the stove.
"That's why you are different, sir. You are really blessed." The cook finally concluded, and Anna lowered her head and smiled sullenly.
It's not that she doesn't know these things, but it's very different if someone else tells them.
"Of course, if it were another woman, life would be different again." The cook was using a sieve to get some cornmeal.
"There are always people who are dissatisfied. For such a person, even if you give her exactly the same thing, the result is completely different. If you want to have an excellent husband like Tianma, don't blame the hardworking mule you found now. Once you find a Pegasus, don’t blame him for being too tall to let you ride him. After all, you can’t let one person take all the benefits, and God is just a eccentric old man!”
"What's more, few women can stand him." The cook winked her eyes as she passed by Anna.
Anna laughed: "Do you like him or hate him?"
"Me? Oh, my wife, your husband pays me regularly, and I'm not ungrateful."
"He likes you too. You have been in this family for so long."
"Of course he wants it. I knew he was not an ungrateful person when he was not as tall as the oak tree in the yard." The cook joked, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes stretched out.
"Sometimes you are really scary."
"Me? Scary." Anna asked puzzled.
"Yes, my lady, there's no one in this family, not all of Petersburg, who can be as frank as you. Not to mention that the gentle and kind person you've been talking to us all day is our sir, God. Ah, those new maids are probably quite frightened."
Anna giggled: "Alexis isn't scary, but sometimes he's a little cute."
"That's what you think. Remember what I said, my good lady, don't say that about your husband in front of those young girls. Little girls are no less curious than those stupid children." The cook reminded.
"I don't believe it, but thank you, Sasha, I only tell you these words." Anna said sweetly.
The water boiled, and Anna took the tea out of the study and walked towards Karenin's study.
She knocked on the door and got permission to go in.
Unlike before, when Karenin saw it was her, he did not continue to immerse himself in his official duties, but kept his fingers pinching the document, looked at her with blue eyes, and finally asked: "Is there something wrong? Anna .”
"Just a cup of tea for you." Anna gestured to the things in her hand with her eyes.
Karenin stood up and said as he walked, "I'll do it."
"Sit down, I'll bring it over," Anna said.
Karenin stood for a while, then sat down as promised.
Anna put down the tea, she was still standing opposite, did not leave, and put her hands on the edge of the desk, propped up, half leaned down, her gray eyes were wide open, and seriously looked at her husband sitting opposite.
"What's wrong?" Karenin was a little uncomfortable. Then he found his wife laughed, her eyes seemed to be filled with stars.
"I just discovered a terrible secret." She said pretending to be mysterious.
"What?" Karenin frowned.
"I found out that there is a person who is very nice to me recently." Anna stood up straight with her hands behind her back.
"Who?" Karenin frowned, and his blue eyes looked at his wife seriously.
Anna felt that Karenin was carefully capturing her expression. She was so happy in her heart, but she showed all her patience and did not smile.
"I told you, it's a secret." She said deliberately. Even blinked pitifully.
"I can have a little secret of my own, right?" Then she added, "Until I'm willing to tell you, huh?"
This pathetic request seemed like a soft threat.
Mr. Karenin, a high-ranking Russian official, never accepts other people's threats. Even if his head is held up by a gun, he will not change his expression. Come here and reverse this unfavorable situation.
He has seen too many professional political opponents and killers, and threats are as natural as croissants and tea in the morning, but there has never been a word that really accidentally "killed" Karenin in his heart. It lightly hit the deeply hidden weakness.
Karenin's heart was almost shaken by his wife's words.
He felt that sentence was like a curtain, which was pulled down quickly without warning.
This is not allowed by rule.
Even the cunning politician should have a reminder, not to be stripped of a license so suddenly.
The rapid changes in Karenin's mind were not deeply expressed in his facial expressions.
From the point of view of ordinary people, the tall man was only silent for a few seconds, his sharp eyes were meticulously scanning his wife, and then his reaction was nothing more than pursing his lower lip . In the end, he nodded slightly: "Naturally."
"We are husband and wife, and honesty is what we agreed upon. But * is equally important. If you ask me, I will naturally agree to this right that belongs to you."
If an ordinary person hears this, I am afraid that he will be full of joy, even proud. Look, how sensible my husband is. But these words reached Anna's ears, as if they were deciphered by a private translator.
Anna could almost imagine that in that place, the awkward gentleman used his calm and self-possessed voice, controlled the trembling tone, and then said: "Well, if this is what you asked for, you can take it."
"I really won't miss this." The villain emphasized, "After all, you only gave me such a pass temporarily. From a legal point of view, this is private property, and the gift is not permanent. And I am a Very contractual and law-aware citizen, I certainly don't take it seriously. When I was deprived of this right, I understood that it was just normal seizure and restitution. It had nothing to do with my own morals."
"It's normal, logical and doesn't imply any personal emotion."
After feeling this, Anna felt that what she did was too bad.
Her originally high-spirited eyes changed, and she became guilty. She felt that she had done something bad. She made a self-righteous joke with a serious person.
She was almost carried away with indulgence.
"God, I'm so sorry, it's not true, I just wanted to say, that's you, Alexie."
"Everyone can see how good you are to me, but I'm not the first to find out. When I found out, I really felt very happy, so I couldn't help but want to see with my own eyes how much you have You care about me." Anna explained.
She stepped forward, gently held Karenin's hand, and said with a little guilt and a little shyness: "Well, you will forgive me for getting carried away, right?"
"You will, won't you?" She put on that pathetic look again.
Karenin closed his eyes and finally said: "I hope I don't."
"It's not funny." He hid his delight with a reprimand.
"Yes." Anna nodded sharply, very well-behaved.
"I know it's bad, and I won't be… so often anymore," she said, slyly giving herself a little leeway at the end, and getting a slight frown.
Things slipped to the point where Karenin was out of control.
There are many reasons, mainly his wife.
Karenin looked at the wife in front of him who was smiling cutely at him, and thought: It seems that understanding a wife is more difficult than any political problem.
The reason is that it cannot be controlled.
The most fundamental reason is that the latter uses the brain, while the former uses the heart.
This small episode did not seem to have brought much change to the daily life of the Russian senior official couple, but if you savor it carefully in the days to come, you will find that it even means a very big progress.
Because whether you are a man or a woman, what couples need to understand is that you may never know what the other person wants, but you can try to give it, and let him understand what you are giving.
A long time later, after studying the history of this official, someone couldn't help but sigh his luck.
A man like Karenin who is not used to expressing his love happens to have a wife who will tolerate his shortcoming.
She may not be so perfect, and she has many obvious shortcomings after careful counting, but at least in this point, no one can be more suitable for this strict and rigid gentleman than her.