Mr. Goldman's arrangements are always so prompt.
After Anna made that request, it was only the third day, and he made arrangements.
Of course she knows why, parting is always inevitable, but she still hopes that time can go slower.
They haven't had a serious conversation yet, but Ana knows that the last thing a proud person needs is sympathy and, well, self-righteous help.
She was sitting in front of the dressing table, touching a string of pearl necklaces in her hand. She thought about it, then sighed and put it down, and chose another skirt instead.
A little turtleneck, a touch of color, very pretty.
She was about to switch on, but Karenin stopped her.
"What's wrong?" She looked up suspiciously.
"Change it to another one," the man said.
Anna was a little puzzled, Karenin would never express any opinion on such matters.
Karenin held her by the shoulders and made her look at herself in the mirror before saying, "Ana, a tight neckline is not good. You are anxious."
After he finished speaking, he picked up the pearl necklace that Anna had discarded, smoothed it out carefully, and put it on Anna carefully.
Anna couldn't help touching the front of the necklace, she looked at them in the mirror, her heart gradually settled down, but she still couldn't help asking: "No matter what happens, at least you won't leave me, right? ?”
Karenin didn't use any rational words to tell Anna, all she said was stupid, he just, when she needed it most, calmly gave her the answer she wanted most, and also, the most authentic answer.
"Yes."
After hearing this, Anna took a deep breath. She couldn't help turning her side slightly, leaning her cheek against her husband's palm.
Those thick and slender fingers, slightly callused, rubbed against the delicate skin of her face, which was uncomfortable, but, after all, it was real, which made her feel at ease.
She is like a fish leaving the aquatic plants. After losing those entanglements, she doesn't feel very happy, but a little scared and uneasy.
"I don't like parting."
"I don't like change either. Although I know there are more good changes than bad ones."
"I don't have many things that belong to me, Alexey. But if I hold on too tightly, I'm afraid I'll lose them sooner."
"I always hope that the connection that has been established with great difficulty will last longer."
"But life is always like this, Anna." Karenin gently raised his hand, stroking Anna's cheek. He let his wife seek his arms like a baby, and he would always allow it, despite his inexperience.
He is always willing to do his best to answer her puzzles and relieve her anxiety. As long as he has, as long as he can do it, he is not afraid to try.
"I understand." Anna said softly.
She closed her eyes and felt that she was now like a small boat floating on the sea, even the mast was shaking. She tried hard to balance, but didn't know if it was really achievable. Until there is a big ship right in front of her, it doesn't even say anything, just let her see, then, many times that is worth all the reassurance.
Karenin, her husband, as long as he was here, where Anna could see him. Her anxiety was always relieved.
That's why she loves him. Even if you already understand the truth, if there is someone who tells you in such a calm tone, and besides that, provides you with a hug and a harbor, then even the things you once feared will always be overcome.
In the evening, Anna discovered the fact that sometimes such coincidences do happen in this world.
Just like now. In the big hotel in Petersburg, before Anna was seated, she was taken aback when she saw the man across from her. It wasn't that long ago after all.
"You are..."
The man also froze for a moment, then remembered, he got up and smiled. Compared with the cramped day that day, he looks more relaxed now, his whole person is like the breeze after the rain, with a harmless warmth.
"You know each other?" asked Mr. Goldman, raising his eyebrows slightly. He was wearing a slim suit and looked a little thin, but his eyes were still bright and possessed a unique arrogance.
A person like him seems to be naturally suitable for the vast stage of Petersburg. No one would have imagined that this man, who seemed to be created for freedom and casualness, chose such a bound road. But not for long, they both know.
Anna blinked her eyes, let the trace of sadness go away with the wind, and then she laughed: "A little story."
"Would you mind sharing it with us?" Mr. Goldman said, and Liebo's lips slowly picked out a non-malicious smirk, which was more entertaining and interesting than the usual meaning of the smile itself. dramatic.
"After all, it's always good to start with a story."
"Will you tell or shall I?" asked the Mr. Strahov mildly. Very gentlemanly.
Anna glanced at the other party in surprise, and then said, "Can you come?"
Herr Strahov nodded, and he began to tell the little episode. At the end, he even looked at Miss Oria specially, with a smile on his face.
"I thought that brooch would suit you best, and I probably think so now, but I didn't expect you to like this one better."
Anna followed Mr. Strahov's gaze and looked at Miss Oria. She had already worn the brooch today. It is in the shape of a swan, simple but full of romance.
Miss Oria gently stroked the swan's neck, then raised her eyes and smiled: "I like the story you told."
"Actually, it was suggested by my daughter Galina." The tone was gentle, and there was a little sincerity in the eyes that did not belong to this age.
Miss Oria looked at the little girl and said firmly again: "I like it."
The little girl blushed a little, smiled shyly like a doll, and then whispered: "I hope you can like my dad more in this way."
After hearing this, Oria didn't blush like a teenage girl, but approached Galina, and whispered a promise in the little girl's ear. And although Anna couldn't hear what Oria said, judging from the little girl's shining eyes, it must have satisfied her thoughts.
She looked up at her husband, and after the latter felt her gaze, Karenin gently took Anna's hand under the table, and then let go.
He did it so naturally that Anna, who was a little surprised, froze for a moment, and soon, a smile appeared on her face again.
When she looked up at Mr. Strahov and Miss Oria again, she found that she noticed more things. Like those inquiries and the meeting of eyes, although a little jerky, but Mr. Strahov, who is much older than Oria, did make the former show a comfortable look.
When returning home, Anna sat in the carriage and suddenly sighed: "Although Mr. Strahov is not the best, perhaps for Miss Oria, he is indeed the most suitable."
"Like that brooch."
"He's a guy whose clothes are of high quality, not the latest, but they're in really good shape and look comfortable. He gave his daughter brand new clothes from top to bottom, and he chose the neckline The fabric that is most suitable for children is clearly modified on purpose."
Anna paused, and then looked at Karenin and smiled, because the other party held her hand gently just like before, and what Anna had to do was to make this gesture more intimate.
The slender fingers and the big hand were intertwined, and in a place where no one was watching, Anna knew that Karenin would always allow such intimacy.
"Alexey, a mild-tempered person like him, doesn't have much pursuit of material things, but he asked us about the brooch. It can be seen that he really cares about Miss Oria."
"But he didn't succeed, did he?" Karenin said calmly.
Anna blinked her eyes. She knew that Karenin didn't know the answer. What he did was, in his own way, gently unraveling a little melancholy that was entangled in her heart.
She raised her other hand to cover the clasped hands, like a game of twisting knots when she was a child, pretending that there was such a string, fluctuating with her fingertips in the air, and untied it every time she said a word. Open a knot.
"But he has worked hard. If he must use various methods to get it, then such a powerful person, I think, is not so suitable for Miss Oria. But," Anna raised her head and smiled, "although he gave up Definitely got it, but also picked another one-of-a-kind gift for her."
"On this point, Mr. Strahov and Miss Oria are really very similar!"
"Love may only have one form, but marriage, after all, has multiple ways of operating, isn't it?"
"I agree with you on this point, Anna." Karenin thought for a while and then said.
"A marriage managed with care will never be too bad, even if they are not so compatible at the beginning. But the reason why love survives in marriage is only because in the long time, as long as the person who walks fast is willing to wait, Those who walk slowly are willing to step up, and in the end, they can walk side by side." Anna said.
She was still in a slightly leaning position as she said this, and so was her husband.
I don't know when this habit started. It became so natural that even Karenin himself didn't know that his most accustomed posture was to face people face-on.
It's not just a matter of manners, it's more of a matter of control.
His official position determines that this posture is the best point of view, and his character also determines that almost no one can make him deflect his body before this marriage begins. In an uncomfortable but willing posture to listen to words, to answer, to move time away from public property, and to penetrate into another person's life.
"If I really want something, will you try your best to get it for me?" Anna asked suddenly.
"Within reason, yes."
When Anna heard her husband's answer, although it was expected, she still laughed.
"I'm telling you, Alexey." She leaned close to the other party, almost touching the other's lips, breathing carefully, staring into the other's blue eyes, and tried to joke in a sweet tone, "Down Once, if you're going to get a lady's kiss, you'd better change the answer."
"Tell me, you will do everything to get it for me."
"The warrior can win the heart of the princess not because of how handsome he is, but because of his courage to do everything for the other party."
Then after she finished saying this, she pursed her lips on purpose, and lightly nibbled on the man's lower lip. Just when she was about to let go with satisfaction, the man raised his left hand to wrap around her waist.
Anna's waist is very thin, thanks to those exercises, she is a little stronger than when she first came, and her skin has become better. No one has been there yet, but a husband always knows.
Karenin tightened his arms, raised his right hand, and stroked the skin beside his wife's ear. The skin there was delicate, like the best suet, and it would be very sensitive after being stroked carefully.
After feeling a slight trembling sensation from the other person's skin, the husband slowly slid his right hand down. Finally, it rests on the side of his wife's neck.
His thumb rubbed against his wife's delicate collarbone, and the position of the tiger's mouth delicately brushed across the tender shoulders.
He didn't say anything during this process, and such an abrupt action made Anna startled, so that she couldn't do anything except let the other party do whatever she wanted.
The air is so still, it seems as though the molecules have slowed down.
The sound of the carriage sounded outside, as well as the shaking caused by the rolling wheels, but in the eyes of the man, Anna felt that time seemed to stand still.
At this moment, she felt that even her own life was frozen. Under such gaze, she felt that she was like an exquisite work of art being carefully played by the other party.
"En." She softly uttered a syllable, almost unconsciously, but it didn't seem to break anything.
The man didn't seem to be disturbed, and his gaze was still meticulously admiring the skin on the side of Anna's neck. After a long time, when Anna herself felt hot, she finally heard Karenin's voice.
Low, calm, but not allowed to refute.
"I will not be a warrior, Ana, but your kisses must be mine."
Anna stared blankly at the person in front of her.
Under the refraction of light and shadow, his brown-blonde hair looks like needle pricks dropped on moss in the pine forest. After falling off, it is soaked by rain, and after re-evaporating the water vapor, it has a different kind of softness.
He should be someone who would never say these words, but he really did. Anna knew, of course she knew. Because those eyes, which always like to look at her calmly, are indeed slightly lowered at this moment.
Under the cover of the slender eyelashes, they looked like shrubs in a dark forest, blocking all the expression of the master.
Such words, if it is a child, usually ask without fear with a pair of big round eyes with his head raised. If it is an adult, if he has a tenacious personality, he probably has some kind of strong order, and if he has a gentle personality, he usually has a gentlemanly request.
But none of this applies to Karenin.
He didn't restrain himself, didn't blush, his tone was calm, his voice was deep, unreasonable but possessive.
This was originally a joke, and Anna knew that Karenin, who was as smart as her, must have known it, but he just said so. Like a request.
Karenin almost never asked for anything from Anna, in the real sense.
His identity, status, and everything he owns made him used to being called a giver, instead of getting something from others, things that have nothing to do with work, but only to satisfy his selfish desires.
But in this joke, he asked Anna.
Anna was used to giving. At the beginning of her unlucky life, in order to make her life better, she was used to giving and giving. She should have gotten used to it until she met Karenin.
After getting married, she tried her best to give the other party what she had, but she knew in her heart that these were actually nothing.
In this era, her appearance, her wealth, did not really belong to her. She will never be able to become that kind of big woman, unable to change this era, and there is never much she can do. And what she has, the most precious, is nothing but wholehearted feelings.
She was just "giving" at first, never thought that one day, Karenin would "ask" her.
This made her feel that what she had was really such a precious thing. To be cherished and valued so much that even a man like Karenin needs to "ask" her.
"You always," she laughed softly, eyes a little misty, "moved me so easily, Alexei," she said softly, as if words were scarce , After thinking for a long time, I still can't find a better alternative word.
Anna raised her hands, she held the man's cheek, and cast her most precious eyes.
At this moment, the age of fourteen is between them, like the dew on the leaves in the morning, glowing with crystal light, as if it will hinder the sunlight from shining on the leaves, but in fact, as long as there is enough time, the dew will But it's trivial. There will always be a point in time when they will be absorbed by the leaves and become nutrients for the leaves to grow. In a certain season, a small flower will bloom tremblingly on the tender green stems and leaves to express their respect for the sun. grateful.
"In the past, I thought, to this world, I was so ordinary, even a little humble, small, fragile and helpless, as if when the wind blew, I would lose my direction. Sometimes, I really felt that It will be a little sad. But now, as long as I exist in your eyes, I feel that the whole world is not so important."
"Alexis, you are my husband and you make me feel so happy, so of course you can ask me to be yours only, just as I ask you to be mine forever."
Belonging is an belonging word.
There is no lack of happiness and laughter in Anna's life, but this word alone is missing.
No matter how close you are, in the final analysis, as an independent individual, a person can claim another person to belong to him without any burden, and only marriage has such a sacred right.
You belong to me and I belong to you. Equal but compatible, more and more traces of happiness have been derived in the years of going around.
And no matter how beautiful these romantic and emotional words are, they are usually not as real as the softest kiss at the time.
Like Karenin, her husband.
Anna thought: He treats the laws and justice of this world with rationality, he is calm and strict, and ordinary people usually stay away after seeing all this, judge him as a cold person, and dare not go forward Go and touch him lightly. In fact, as long as you do that, you will find out what a soft place this rational man keeps in his heart. Like a meadow kissed by the spring breeze, like a sparkling lake on a sunny day, like the first flower poking out its head after the snow melts on a high mountain after a severe cold, a little lonely, not very beautiful, but strong , so that people who see it can't help but smile. Although there are few, it is an unexpected scene after all, which makes people feel surprised but full of emotion.
The author has something to say: Give Mr. Yu some love, thank you for the reward!
"Andre's Flattered" Small Theater
Not long after little Bambi learned to speak, Andre came on vacation
Andre: Call me brother
Bambi: giggling
Andre: [Overjoyed, tell everyone] He will call me brother!
Anna tugged on Rakalenin's sleeve: [whispering] Do you want to tell him...
Karenin: [Contemplation] He won't believe things without evidence, right
Ten minutes later, Karenin, holding Bambi in his arms, pointed to a corgi in front of Andrei and asked
Karenin: What is this
Little Bambi: [sucks his finger, behaves well] giggling
Andre: ...
Karenin: He is still young, and after he learns to say a word, he will yell like this when he sees everything, so I usually teach him to call him daddy and then teach him to call him brother, because he doesn’t usually come into contact with this word ==
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