I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 119 Mikhail's Power and Influence
In short, the family relationships of Russian nobles and ordinary people during this period were patriarchal.

Within religions, the Eastern Orthodox Church emphasizes the sanctity of the family, regarding it as a "mini-church," with the father, as the "patriarch" of the family, bearing significant responsibility for spiritual and moral guidance.

Generally speaking, in relatively conservative and agrarian societies, the family is often an important carrier of many things such as social order and intergenerational inheritance. This is especially true among the nobility and peasant classes, where the continuation, honor, and property of the family are of paramount importance.

For this reason, during this period, the relationship between father and his children and even his wife was largely hierarchical, emphasizing obedience and authority. The father's will was the law, and children, especially sons with inheritance rights, had to obey unconditionally. Challenging the father's authority was often regarded as a great act of rebellion.

From this perspective, whether in the East or the West, the feudal system was basically the same: ruler-subject, father-son, only the emphasis might be slightly different.

However, this is generally true, but sometimes it may vary depending on each person's temperament.

After all, even in later generations, there are still people who uphold certain family order and emphasize their own authority. In modern Russia, there are naturally families that are relatively respectful of their children and have good relationships with them.

In this regard, Nadya's father, General Danilevsky, is a good example.

In terms of typical aristocratic family relationships today, the father-son relationship is often quite distant and formal. The father usually does not directly participate in the daily care of the young child, which is usually the responsibility of the mother, nanny, and tutor. The son will gradually have more contact with the father as he grows up, but the relationship is often based on etiquette, responsibility, and reverence.

Needless to say, the father-daughter relationship is even worse; they have even less contact, and it's usually limited to polite greetings.

However, the general, perhaps because he had relatively few children, or perhaps because of his nature, or perhaps because he was somewhat influenced by European customs, paid considerable attention to the growth of his children and was quite open-minded and close to them on many issues.

Now that only Nadya still lives in their house, the general naturally has more time to interact with her.

As for recently, needless to say, especially after he learned that his daughter was corresponding with the writer he had recently come to admire, he often exchanged views with Nadya on those novels and hoped to get the young writer's opinions on him from Nadya.

It was impossible for him to take the initiative to express his opinion to that young writer. After all, he was of advanced age, and he was, after all, a general who had spent so many years in St. Petersburg, spent so much money, and made so many acquaintances. It was absolutely out of the question for him to be so attentive to a young man.

So he would often say unintentionally:

"I think even the author himself would agree with this view, my dear Nadya, don't you agree?"

"I believe that if this story follows my line of thinking, it will definitely reach a new level. Do you think the author himself would think so?"

"My dear Nadya, listen to my revised version of the opening. Alas, if I hadn't been so eager to serve Russia and the Emperor when I was young, this writer might not even be around today!"

Nadya, who felt something was increasingly off, thought: "???"

When Mikhail learned of the general's comments, he certainly couldn't directly ridicule the man's father in his letter, so he could only offer vague remarks, occasionally praising him for his unique insights.

To avoid embarrassing her father and to maintain Mikhail's good impression of her, Nadya naturally embellished Mikhail's words slightly. However, unexpectedly, besides developing a much stronger liking for Mikhail, the general also suddenly developed a considerable interest in literature at this age. In his words:
"You know, at my age and in my position, there are so many things to do, but so little time. The occasional free time is barely enough to attend a ball or go to the theater to listen to a concert, let alone have the patience to read those long and tedious texts. But recently some writers have written really interesting things, and I tried it and found it wasn't difficult. Maybe I can become famous like that writer with just a little effort."

That would be good too.

Nadya: "."

To this, Nadya could only wish her father success.
So, getting back to the main point, after the latest issue of "Modern Man" was released, the general was probably still thinking about the plot of the last novel. In addition, he didn't have anything too important to do, so he surprisingly read Mikhail's novel with Nadya.

The reason I'm still thinking about it is because of the plot of the last episode. Basically, the honest butler was deeply insulted by the duke, so he insisted on taking the duke to court. But his daughter couldn't suppress a certain impulse and eloped with the duke's son.

The general was quite annoyed by this incident. In addition to rebuking his daughter for her indecent behavior, he also disliked the duke's son.

The novel seems to offer praise in name only, but criticize in reality:
"He is childish beyond his years and knows almost nothing about human relationships; but even if he lived to be forty, he would still be completely clueless. It seems that he is destined to never grow up. I think no one could dislike him; he would win your affection like a child."

However, the general offered his own predictions and critiques regarding this figure:
"Can you really count on a childish guy like that? If you ask me, this girl's life is ruined if she falls for someone like that. If I were to marry my daughter to that kind and pitiful commoner writer in the book, I would rather marry her to him!"

Nadya: "!"

Although she really wanted to say "Really?", she thought about it and realized that things were still unclear, so Nadya didn't have the courage to do so.

It was precisely because of this anger that the general conveyed to Nadya:

"A just general must appear soon! Punish this dissolute girl, but also send her back to her father. As for the duke and his incompetent son, let the emperor confiscate their property and reward this stern general!"

While waiting for the latest content.

It was clear that the general had indeed taken it to heart, and because of the influence of the novel's narrative, his initial stance of equally punishing both sides had shifted to one of favoritism.

Of course, it's also possible that the general is simply eyeing someone else's wealth. *cough cough*
Because of his anticipation for the continuation of the novel, even though the general was pleasantly surprised to find that there were also short stories, he still couldn't wait to read the latest chapters of the novel.

As for Nadya, she sat down to watch the latest content. While watching, she had to endure her father sighing and slapping his thigh in感慨.

It has to be said that her father has become increasingly engrossed in reading novels lately.

Listening to her father's voice, Nadya gradually became immersed in the story.

Aside from its intricate plot, this novel has a remarkable strength: it vividly portrays the characters' intense psychological states. By following these characters' inner thoughts, readers are drawn into the story and experience a sense of exhilaration after finishing it.

That's pretty much the case with the general. Because of this exquisite writing style, he was even more engrossed in reading this novel than in his short stories, and he found himself unconsciously immersed in it.

In this episode, another storyline of the novel progresses. At the beginning of the story, the protagonist encounters an old man who suddenly dies. The old man seems to have no relatives. After helping to bury the old man, the protagonist moves into the old man's house because of the cheap price.

Several days after the old man died, and even after he had been buried, a young girl came to his door:
"She was a little girl of about twelve or thirteen, short, thin, and pale, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness, which made her large, dark eyes appear even brighter. In her left hand, she held an old, tattered headscarf to her chest to cover her shivering breasts, chilled by the night air. Her clothes were truly ragged. Her thick, black hair was unkempt and disheveled."

"Where is Grandpa?" she finally asked in a hoarse, almost inaudible voice, as if she had some ailment in her chest or throat.

After learning of her grandfather's death, the little girl didn't answer any of my questions. She simply walked out of the room silently and carefully closed the door behind her. It wasn't until a while later that I came to my senses and ran after her.

Then, a sound was heard in the corridor on the fourth floor:
"The little girl was right here in the corner, her face turned toward the wall, sobbing softly without making a sound."

But when "I" asked again, she simply ran away, leaving the reader with some suspense: why was she unwilling to answer others? What was her situation?
Upon seeing this, Nadya couldn't help but think of the very young maid that Mikhail's family had hired. According to Mikhail, this little girl was incredibly hardworking, to the point that Mikhail felt embarrassed to leave the house dirty.

Recently, it seems that Mikhail has been trying to teach the little girl to recognize more words.

Besides recording these social realities presented in the novel, Mikhail seems to genuinely want to do something about them.

So, back to the novel, the little girl only appears briefly. The rest of the story is what the general was longing for. Unfortunately, no brilliant or heroic figures appear. It only tells the story of how much pain the father, who suffered humiliation but loved his daughter deeply, felt after learning that his daughter had eloped with the son of his enemy.

Even under these circumstances, his wife, out of love for their daughter, still wanted him to forgive her. But even as he agonized over his longing, he still said, "No, no, never, never forgive!" He cried out in a hoarse, choked voice, "Never! Never!"

In the current Russian literary scene, very few writers can write about such subtle and intense emotional changes so movingly, but Mikhail, barely in his twenties, clearly achieved this. So much so that, although the general was somewhat disappointed, he still couldn't help but slap his thigh upon reading this passage, and at the same time, he couldn't help but say to Nadya:

"This is so well written! I must admit, I would need to spend some more time to achieve the same effect."

Nadya: "."

The following section describes the girl's plight after eloping. Their situation was dire; their money quickly ran out, forcing them to live in even smaller houses and eventually find low-paying jobs. Meanwhile, the duke's son, secretly squandering a great deal of money, indulged in pleasure-seeking with his companions and was unfaithful to the girl.

Even though this girl was very jealous, she always forgave the Duke's son after he childishly admitted his mistakes.

Even if there seems to be such a reason: "For this kind woman, forgiveness and pardon are infinite happiness. She seems to have discovered a special, exquisite and beautiful virtue in the process of forgiving Alyosha."

But after reading this part, the general still said with some confusion, "My dear Nadja, I must admit that there are often such people among the nobility, but why does this girl have such an attitude? Is this a special kind of psychology? Or is it to make women refuse to forgive and tolerate through such an image? Such thoughts are rather unusual."

However, I still have to admit that this duke's son really disgusts me. Some things are done, but why does he regret them and waver? Like I said before, if I encountered someone like this, I'd rather my daughter marry the kind writer in the novel. His love has betrayed him, yet he's still working for all of them.

What a fool, but it always makes you feel a little more at ease to associate with someone like that.

Hearing her father say those words again, Nadya's heart trembled once more.

It's clear that Mikhail's novels have indeed influenced some people's views without them realizing it. Did he have any prior plans regarding the impact of his book's content on his own father?

While Nadya was unconsciously thinking about this question, the general had already finished reading the rest of the content in one go.

Some questions were answered, but some new questions arose as a result.

So he couldn't help but say to Nadya, "God, it's almost next month again. I'm already thinking of having people search his house! We're sure to find something! Maybe I can try to continue writing it? The more I think about it, the more it itches. It's a pity I didn't discover this kind of fun when I was young, otherwise Pushkin and Gogol would have been called the second Danilevsky!"

Nadya: "."

Something's not right, it's getting increasingly wrong.

In this situation, should I find a doctor for my father?
Or you could try Belinsky; he knew his father fairly well and was never one to mince words when commenting on other people's writings.
(End of this chapter)