I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 511 The Tsarist Russian Literary World: Saying One Thing but Doing Another

A week later.

Tsarist Russia, Moscow, Central Administrative District, a villa community.

"Yevgeny! Yevgeny! Wake up!"

Kitagawa Hide's voice instantly brought Yevgeny, who was still in a hangover state, back to reality.

"Fxxk! What time is it? Ah—" Yevgeny subconsciously grabbed the blanket to cover his head, but was quickly pulled out of bed by Kitagawa Hide, who was stronger.

“现在是1999年3月29日，莫斯科时间上午7点42分。

"It's getting late, Yevgeny. Today we still have to visit three slums, six welfare homes, and a dozen or so small villages near Moscow."

Kitagawa Hide was incredibly strong; he managed to pull the nearly two-meter-tall Yevgeny out of bed.

"Oh, fxxk!" Yevgeny swore in English again, reluctantly opened his eyes, and slowly got up like a wronged little wife, trying to adjust to the Moscow morning sunlight he had never seen before.

After picking up Kitagawa Hide from the airport last time, the two hit it off immediately. Yevgeny, with the idea of ​​observing his competitor while creating together to improve each other, simply invited Kitagawa Hide to stay in his villa.

Kitagawa Hideya was happy to not have to change hotels every day, so he happily checked into Yevgeny's house with a lot of luggage.

Yevgeny was still single. Aside from conducting research on ancient literature at the "Pushkin House" or engaging in literary creation, he spent his time hosting various banquets and parties at home, often drinking all night long.

Drinking, hunting, and boasting are the three essential activities that no Tsarist Russian can avoid.

After moving into Yevgeny's house, Kitagawa Hideaki was also invited by him to participate in the "Tsarist Russian three-piece set".

Unfortunately, Kitagawa Hide was completely uninterested in this kind of party culture, and drinking was something he absolutely hated. There is scientific evidence that alcohol affects brain function, and Kitagawa Hide, who came from another era, relied on this brain to rise to prominence. He absolutely could not allow his brain to be damaged in any way.

At first, Yevgeny thought Kitagawa was just being reserved, but after spending some time with him, Yevgeny was horrified to discover that his rival was truly self-disciplined—not the kind of self-discipline that was all talk, but a genuine self-discipline that would send chills down the spines of any Tsarist Russian!
I get up at 7 a.m. without fail, then do a five-kilometer jog, followed by a cup of hot coffee and a low-calorie breakfast, and then it's work, work, work!
The Yevgeny family's library, which was rarely opened even once in thousands of years, became a sacred place that Kitagawa Hide visited almost every day after he arrived!
Not to mention literary creation.

Every time Yevgeny met Kitagawa Hide, he found that Kitagawa was either on his way to gather material for his new book or writing it with complete focus.

If Russian writers had even half a volume of works by Hideaki Kitagawa, Russian literature wouldn't have gradually become a marginal part of world literature after the passing of several top literary giants.

Just a few days ago, Yevgeny was still able to muster the energy to keep up with Kitagawa Hide's pace in writing and reading, not wanting to be looked down upon by his rival.

But after three days of this monotonous life, Yevgeny couldn't take it anymore. He completely gave up and gave up, letting loose and returning to party culture.

What's frightening is that Kitagawa Hide is completely unaffected by him.

Sometimes late at night, on one side there's endless clubbing, drinking, and singing, while on the other side there's a quiet desk lamp, a computer, and writing—each without interfering with the other, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

It was under this highly efficient creative process that Hideki Kitagawa successfully completed the setting materials for "Childhood," one of Gorky's trilogy.

Before he officially began writing, he decided to conduct on-site research in cities such as Moscow. He called Yevgeny and asked him to take him from the central administrative region outwards, focusing on the slums, welfare homes, and rural areas near the capital that are easily overlooked.

Yevgeny was deeply inspired by the writer's meticulous and earnest research, which was the first time he had ever seen such a writer. He also became extremely focused on preparing for his own new book.

Unfortunately, such a disciplined life is simply too much for a human to live.

Within two days, he reverted to his old ways.

If he hadn't promised Kitagawa Hide his schedule for today, he would never have gotten off that damn bed!
This is so painful!

After a quick wash, Yevgeny dressed himself and picked up the schedule beside him.

Looking at the densely packed schedule and arrangements, he felt a chill run down his spine, finding it hard to imagine how Kitagawa Hide could maintain his composure under such intense work conditions.

"To be honest, Mr. Kitagawa, your condition reminds me of a Chinese action star who once filmed in Moscow."

Today we're going to some rather dangerous slums. Yevgeny chose a large SUV, he'll be driving, Kitagawa Hide will be the passenger, and several muscular, armed bodyguards will be in the back.

During the drive, Yevgeny marveled at Kitagawa Hide's "curly hair" while excitedly gossiping about the Chinese superstar.

"That was a platform nearly three meters high! Jackie had absolutely no safety measures in place. He just jumped off the platform in a flash, and didn't even roll to absorb the impact after landing!"

Yevgeny is also a huge fan of action movies and Chinese kung fu. He can talk about his idol, Jackie Chan, for a long time.

“Jackie is also very popular in Japan; he’s an idol to many celebrities and famous people,” Kitagawa Hide said with a smile.

He wasn't just flattering or agreeing; Jackie Chan is indeed incredibly popular in Japan and South Korea. In Japan, male stars like Takuya Kimura are his die-hard fans.

Even those loud and boisterous yakuza members greatly admire this number one action star in Asia.

Later, when Jackie Chan came to Japan to film "Shinjuku Incident," several major yakuza groups specially blocked the roads and sent people to unconditionally assist his team in filming!

It's important to know that in Japan, even top-tier film studios like the Big Five have to pay hefty venue rental fees and a host of other miscellaneous charges when filming on their turf.

Thinking of the yakuza, Kitagawa Hide recalled the movie script for "Outrage" that he had written in his spare time. He would find some time to ask Nishiguchi Shigeo to take a look, and if there were no problems, he would let Kitagawa Bunyo put it into production.

Outrage is one of Takeshi Kitano's representative works. It was well-received at the box office and received good reviews. It was a good opportunity to repay the favor owed to Shigeo Nishiguchi over the past four years.

“Hehe, Jackie is an international superstar, he’s popular everywhere.” Yevgeny nodded with satisfaction. “It would be great if I could write a script for him next time.”

"It's probably difficult. Jackie's creative team reportedly has its own screenwriters, and there are many talented writers in Hong Kong as well. It would be very difficult for foreigners to write the script."

Kitagawa Hide shook his head, shattering Yevgeny's beautiful dream with the truth.

Yevgeny pursed his lips, wanting to refute, but he knew in his heart that Kitagawa Hide was telling the truth.

After the discussion about the film ended, Yevgeny brought up Kitagawa Hide's new book again.

"Seriously, are you really not considering accepting the terms of the commission from Modern People magazine?"
Being able to publish an article on the front page of "The Modern Man" was something many Tsarist Russian writers would never dare to dream of.

Even I only went three times.

"I asked Yevgeny with a Versailles accent," he said. Before Kitagawa Hideaki entered the Russian literary world, a group of people were on high alert, most believing that this young man had come specifically to cause trouble and that he must be made to leave standing up.

After Kitagawa Hide entered Russia, the literary circles of Tsarist Russia instantly changed their tune. Countless publishers came to Yevgeny's house every day to solicit manuscripts from Kitagawa Hide, and some even went to the "Pushkin House" hoping that Yevgeny could act as a go-between and get Kitagawa Hide's new book published in their magazine.

Among them, the one with the greatest sincerity and the most abundant financial resources was Pushkin's "The Modern Man," founded in St. Petersburg in 1836.

In 1847, under Nekrasov's leadership, "The Contemporary" became the center of progressive Russian literature.

Many famous Russian writers and literary theorists, such as Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, and Dobrolyubov, have served as editors of The Contemporary.

In 1866, due to the impending changes, The Modern Man was forced to cease publication, and it was not until 1966, 100 years later, that it resumed publication.

After its relaunch, Modern Man quickly surpassed all other literary magazines of the time, becoming the undisputed leader in the industry.

Even today, it maintains a superior status in the publishing and literary circles of Tsarist Russia, and only the most outstanding Tsarist Russian writers can publish their works in it.

Yevgeny, who appeared on the front page of "The Contemporary" three times, was indeed in Versailles, and he truly had the talent.

It can be said that the fact that "Modern Man" approached Kitagawa Hide to commission a manuscript meant that Gorky's trilogy was already halfway to success.

However, considering the real situation of "Modern People", Kitagawa Hide decisively rejected their commission.

"Yes. I've already decided to serialize my new book in 'New World'."

Kitagawa Hideaki's statement was brief and to the point, without explaining why he abandoned "Modern Man".

What he found most unacceptable about Modern Man was that it was an advanced publication that combined literature and politics.

It is somewhat similar to official media journals in China, and to Bungei Shunju, which Kitagawa Hide disliked the most in Japan.

These kinds of journals are often closely linked to the state government, and their editorial departments are filled with a large number of managers from the state's cultural and tourism departments.

When they read a novel, their primary consideration is whether the novel's political leanings are correct; secondly, they consider whether the novel's publication will benefit the current regime's stability; and only lastly, they consider the novel's literary merit and commercial appeal.

To put it bluntly, you have to be "political" enough to get published in this kind of magazine.

The Gorky trilogy mainly discusses the living conditions and social status of the lower classes in Tsarist Russia in the 1870s and 1880s.

Whether that period was good or bad, the judgment of writers is useless; it takes the politicians to decide.

The problem is that the current Tsarist regime has not yet figured out whether that era was good or bad for the overall history of Tsarist Russia.

The abolition of serfdom was a direct threat to the fundamental interests of most Russian nobles, and even Emperor Alexander II was assassinated as a result.

Even Yevgeny couldn't say how many descendants of ancient nobles still remained in modern Tsarist Russia.

If Kitagawa Hide publishes a novel like this in "Modern Man," and the political winds change, the novel being taken down and banned is a minor matter; whether it can even leave Tsarist Russia is another question entirely.

He was unwilling to take such a big risk for a little bit of resources and money.

The new literary magazine "New World," which gradually emerged in the 80s, perfectly suited Kitagawa Hide's needs.

If you want something high-class, it's one of the top five literary magazines in Tsarist Russia, which is enough;

When it came to terms with compensation, after learning that "Modern Man" was vying for talent, "New World" immediately offered a terrifying buyout price of 10 billion rubles (about 40 billion yen), plus a sincere offer of 15% of the revenue from Russian film and television productions.

In terms of attitude, the representative from *Modern Man* was the deputy editor-in-chief, a relatively arrogant high-ranking official from the Tsarist Russian cultural department, while the representative from *New World* was the son of the publishing house's behind-the-scenes boss, a future big boss who was a sure thing.

However, in Yevgeny's view, the novel was published once in "The Contemporary" far more often than it was published ten times in "The New World".

“Well, then I can only wish you good luck.” Yevgeny breathed a sigh of relief. “Anyway, I’m sure it will be published in ‘The Contemporary.’ I heard that their editorial department was arguing fiercely about whether to give you or me the front-page spot next month, with you as a competitor.”

Yevgeny, who was "re-entering the court" for the third time, was definitely at a disadvantage compared to Kitagawa Hide. If they were both published in "Contemporary Man," the front page position would most likely go to Kitagawa Hide.

Kitagawa Hide smiled: "Wouldn't it be better to highlight our differences by publishing them separately? I still remember the harsh words you said to me after we left the airport."

"Haha! Forget those stupid things! I don't want to compete with an extreme madman!" Yevgeny joked with a laugh.

Amidst laughter and conversation, the large SUV smoothly left the central administrative region and arrived at their first destination—

The Nizhny Novgorod slum, located near the outskirts of Tsarist Russia.

Nizhny Novgorod is the capital of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in Tsarist Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers, 418 kilometers from Moscow. With a population of 130 million, it is the fifth largest city in Tsarist Russia and the residence of the President of Russia's Plenipotentiary Representative in the Volga Federal District.

This city is also where Alyosha's maternal grandfather lived in the novel "Childhood".

Nizhny Novgorod is now an industrialized metropolis in Tsarist Russia, but in the 1870s and 1880s, it was one of the poorest cities in Tsarist Russia.

Nizhny Novgorod is 418 kilometers from Moscow. Kitagawa and his companion couldn't travel back and forth between the two places in one day, so they chose to go to a small slum in Moscow where the Nizhny Novgorodians lived.

After the large SUV drove into the slum, Kitagawa Hide almost thought he had come to Asakusa, Japan.

The same poverty, the same destitution, the same poor public security.

What's even more absurd than the Asakusa neighborhood is that the people in the Nizhny Novgorod slum seem to live in the last century, with their lifestyles completely different from those in nearby Moscow.

"How is it? Do you have a new understanding of what I said at the airport that day?" Yevgeny had seen this kind of situation many times, so he didn't show any emotional fluctuation.

"Um"

Kitagawa Hide's mood suddenly became much heavier.
"Yevgeny, I want to go down and take a look."

"Go down and take a look?! Are you crazy?!" Yevgeny exclaimed in shock.

(End of this chapter)