I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 117 The Secret Police's Surveillance and an Ordinary College Student

Strictly speaking, the number of students at St. Petersburg Imperial University is not large. The fundamental reason for this is that the government has always been cautious in controlling the number of university students. These university students are indeed high-quality talents who are likely to inject fresh blood into this vast empire, thus making the empire more prosperous.

However, the ruling class, led by Nicholas I, argued that nothing mattered. What was more important than the stability of the foundation of imperial rule?
As a result, the number of students has never been large. Among these students, a considerable proportion graduated from Orthodox secondary schools with extremely strict ideological control. Meanwhile, as early as the 1930s, students from non-aristocratic backgrounds entered universities, thus the enrollment rate of aristocratic children was declining. By the 1940s, there were even more university graduates from Orthodox secondary schools of lower-class officials and lower-middle-class citizens.

However, this situation was actually relatively good, since the number of students in a grade was at least close to one hundred. After 1848, the restrictions on university admissions were further increased, and the Tsarist government began to try its best to artificially reduce the number of students from non-noble families admitted.

As Minister of National Education Uvarov said in a secret directive in 1848: "When the desire for education grows universally, how can we be complacent? We must not allow this excessive desire to undermine the national class system to any extent, nor can we allow a tidal wave of the desire to acquire rich knowledge to be stirred up among the youth."

As a result, in 1849, the Department of Philosophy at the Imperial University of St. Petersburg admitted only two students to its first year.

Returning to the present, due to the Third Bureau's direct infiltration of universities, secret police were directly deployed to infiltrate campuses as students and teachers, regularly reporting on "suspicious individuals" and "dangerous remarks."

At the same time, there is also the role of the student supervisor, who is directly appointed by the secret police system. The student supervisor has the right to approach any student and give them opinions at any time, such as criticizing students for not carrying swords, not buttoning their uniforms properly, or having hair that is too long and should be cut, etc.

Therefore, the atmosphere in universities is often oppressive, and teachers and students dare not speak carelessly. However, they still have a lot of time to study, think, and even come into contact with all kinds of books, so new ideas and concepts will inevitably sprout in their minds.

Yevgeny was one of them. However, compared to some of his classmates, he had the status of a nobleman, so he inevitably viewed many issues differently from his classmates. However, he didn't think much of this difference. Sometimes he even felt that it was proof that he was more intelligent.

After all, how could those classmates who didn't receive a good enough education from childhood possibly have the same ideas as him in certain aspects?

Meanwhile, because of his noble status, he didn't have to work hard like some of his classmates to graduate or even get a medal of excellence. He could just graduate step by step and start directly as a tenth or even ninth-rank civil servant. At that time, I will change our Russia!
Let's make Russia great again!

In the university, there were quite a few young people who shared the same ideas as him, or rather, they were the most influential group. They had lofty ideals and believed that they could change their environment. As aristocratic youths, the academic supervisors would not be too harsh on them.

However, the reason why the school supervisors didn't criticize such young people was quite simple: Russia has its own traditions, and there's no such thing as a little kid off the street. They'll know after a couple of years in office!
Such words should certainly not be spoken aloud, but the school supervisor does not pay much attention to these aristocratic students. On the contrary, the students who are not from aristocratic backgrounds are becoming more and more unruly, and these are the ones who need to be more closely watched.

It was precisely because of this advantage that occasionally, aristocratic students like Yevgeny would dare to do some outrageous things, such as being a little late for the first class in the morning just to queue up to buy a copy of a magazine that was currently very popular in St. Petersburg.

Of course, in a university with strict rules, this kind of thing cannot be done often, so Yevgeny and his group discussed sending one person each month to buy as much as they could, and then everyone would come back and pass it around to look at.

They were quite generous in this regard; anyone could watch, though it might take a while.

University students from commoner backgrounds generally wouldn't dare to look at things in class, as obtaining their diplomas was of paramount importance to them. However, for aristocratic students like Yevgeny, they didn't need to worry about such things to a certain extent, but they also couldn't be too blatant.

So on the day the latest issue of "The Modern Man" was released, Yevgeny, who was among the first to line up to buy the magazine this month, was naturally a little late for the first class in the morning. Fortunately, the teacher was not strict, and in order to see the articles in the magazine as soon as possible, he specially found a seat in the back row.

Since there were not many seats left, he looked left and right and could only sit down next to someone he didn't seem to recognize. This unfamiliar young man had dark brown hair and black eyes. Although the other person seemed to have a nice impression, Yevgeny, who was only interested in reading the novel, didn't think much of it. He nodded in greeting and opened the latest issue of the magazine.

Even though he really wanted to turn to the serialized novel immediately, Yevgeny glanced at the table of contents out of habit, and once he did, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

A new short story! There also seems to be a review article!
My God, He is so diligent!
Overwhelmed with emotion, Yevgeny wanted to applaud, but considering that they were in a classroom, he restrained himself. After a moment's consideration, he turned to the page with the short story.

Every single one of his short stories is terrible!

Yevgeny still remembers how he felt when he first read those novels: sympathy, pity, and an irresistible urge to change everything! They were all the same people, even if they came from different backgrounds and had different educations, so why did some people receive such treatment?
This is why his pre-existing thoughts have grown stronger and stronger, to the point that they have now become a strong sense of responsibility. This sense of responsibility has made him determined to be a good official in the future and to change some things.

However, this novel seems to have something new:
"My colleague, the Greek teacher Belikov, died in our town just two months ago. You must have heard of him. He was quite peculiar; even on the sunniest days, he would wear rain boots and carry an umbrella."

Throughout the reading, although Yevgeny tried to remain calm, a smile kept creeping onto his face. Unable to applaud or cheer, he could only look at Professor Nikichenko, who loved to talk at length about truth, goodness, and beauty, with a disdainful gaze.

Although his contemptuous gaze was so obvious, the professor on the stage seemed very distracted and did not dare to look at Yevgeny at all. Occasionally, he would glance at him, but he would quickly look away and try to pretend that nothing was wrong.

At the same time, he kept looking outside the classroom, as if afraid that someone would suddenly barge in.

Seeing the professor's reaction, Yevgeny quickly lost interest in showing contempt for him and instead turned to thinking about the humorous and satirical novel.

The image of the man in the case needs no further explanation; you can see this kind of person everywhere in Russia!
So what is the author's intention? And can I, too, be considered a person trapped in a shell?
Yevgeny pondered these questions for a while, and although he had not yet come to a definite answer, he could no longer resist the urge to continue reading. Out of curiosity, he involuntarily turned his attention to the commentary.

After reading just a short while, he was already captivated. "Eugene Onegin" and "A Hero of Our Time" are undoubtedly two of the most popular Russian works in recent years, and for college students, they are known to everyone.

Because of the similarity in name to Onegin, Yevgeny valued these two works even more and believed that he had a fairly good understanding of them.

Then Yevgeny couldn't help but think: "A fledgling critic who has never written anything like this before, and if I were to write about these two works, perhaps I could do no worse than him!"

But what does "superfluous person" mean here?
Was it because these two protagonists lacked firm ideals and their behavior was quite inappropriate? As the reading progressed, Yevgeny's questions were quickly answered one by one through his calm arguments, seemingly without any profound insight into attitude or direct conclusions about the core of the characters.

Almost speechless, Yevgeny watched as a brand new and complete picture unfolded before his eyes. There have been many reviews of these two works, but this was truly the first time that the perspective of "The Superfluous Man" was so convincing!
However, problems soon arise. According to the article's description, is it even necessary to guess which group the "superfluous people" refer to? Is the "superfluous people" here a form of condemnation or encouragement? And if they truly cannot break free from their environment like Onegin, what should the progressive young nobles do?
All these questions came rushing in at once, leaving Yevgeny in a state of utter confusion and even beginning to feel pain. Because he urgently needed to talk to someone, he immediately handed the magazine in his hand to the stranger next to him and gestured for him to quickly look at a certain commentary article in the magazine.

Some questions don't even need to be asked. Is there any magazine more popular among college students than "Modern People" these days?

After Yevgeny did this, the young man sitting next to him seemed to be stunned for a moment, but after hesitating, he still took the magazine. However, he did not read the specific content of the article in detail, but simply flipped through it and put the magazine down.

Seeing his indifferent attitude, Yevgeny almost became angry, and as if sensing his reaction, the young man explained, "I know some people in the literary world, and I have already read this article."

"Oh?"

Hearing this explanation, Yevgeny's anger subsided considerably, but before he could ask what the other party thought of the article, he couldn't help but ask, "What have you been thinking about?"

"So, sir, have you met Mikhail Romanovich?"

Upon hearing this question, the dark-eyed young man was momentarily stunned. Although he was slightly embarrassed, in order to spend the rest of his university life discreetly, he still answered, "No, I've never seen you before. What's wrong?"

"I've heard that he's a student at St. Petersburg University for a while now, and I even heard recently that he's planning to continue his studies. Is that true?"

"It's very likely."

The dark-eyed youth's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

"I want to see him."

Upon hearing this answer, Yevgeny couldn't help but take a deep breath. He thought about the article he had just read and the rumors before speaking: "I often argue with some of my classmates. Many people say that he is aloof and doesn't like to interact with others. There are also rumors that he is despicable and vicious, not only betraying his former employer but also having illicit relationships with many noble ladies and young women in high society."

I thought it couldn't be; he must be a noble gentleman, adept at observing things others can't see, possessing a keen mind.

"Yes."

Seeing that Yevgeny had spoken a fair word, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, but still replied, "I can't tell you exactly what it's like."

"Yes, I've never seen it before."

As Yevgeny spoke, the class ended before he knew it. Unbeknownst to him, Professor Nikichenko was walking briskly towards them. Before Yevgeny could exchange further thoughts with this amiable young man, Nikichenko had already reached them and, in a low voice, said quickly:

“Mr. Mikhail Romanovich, please come out for a moment, I have something to say to you.”

Yevgeny: "?"

Before Yevgeny could react, the young man sitting next to him stood up. After smiling and nodding at him, the young man followed Nikichenko out. Upon seeing this, Yevgeny was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

After a long while, a thought slowly rose in his mind: "An ordinary college student."

Meanwhile, after Mikhail and Nikichenko left together, Nikichenko immediately approached and asked in annoyance, "Mr. Mikhail, aren't you a law student? Why are you in my class?!"

"I've heard that some of your classes are quite good, so I wanted to come and audit one of them."

Thinking about what had happened in class, Mikhail added, "I actually wanted to listen carefully, but the gentleman next to me wanted to ask me a few questions, so we talked for a while."

"It doesn't matter."

Nikki Kwanko's wrinkled face twitched violently before he whispered, "It's said that your article angered some people. In short, someone reported what you did during your leave of absence to the academic supervisor, who seems to be considering you a dangerous person. You'd better be careful from now on."

Mikhail: “???”

Please God, distinguish between loyalty and treachery!
The future is uncertain, but right now I really haven't done anything!
Why would a university treat a student who just wanted to experience university life and maybe learn some law on the side?
Mikhail's university life seemed to have encountered some setbacks right from the start.

(End of this chapter)