I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 155 What's wrong? You're not coming back to the mountains with me?

Since traveling abroad was indeed very troublesome these days, Mikhail naturally asked Turgenev to submit some other works besides "Around the World in Eighty Days." After all, while works like "Around the World in Eighty Days" were undoubtedly money-making machines, if one wanted to make a name for oneself in Parisian high society, it was certainly necessary to publish some more literary and artistic works.

Generally speaking, after completing this step, a true Parisian writer would most likely then try to seduce wealthy women and hook up with a large number of aristocratic ladies. If he is lucky enough, it would be quite normal for him to be elected as a member of the French Academy or even enter the French political arena.

In this regard, Balzac was quite the authority. It can be said that few people understood the philosophy that "the flower language of steel wool is wealth and forbearance" better than him. Of course, this was also related to his "older woman" complex. As early as the age of twenty-two, he fell in love with a forty-five-year-old noblewoman and successfully made her his mistress.

This noblewoman was indeed very generous; she not only provided Balzac with 45,000 francs to support his business ventures but also helped him pay off his debts when he was heavily in debt. From then on, his admiration for the older noblewoman became uncontrollable, and he even wrote to his sister saying:

"Look around and see if you can find me a wealthy widow... In front of her, boast about me—a fine young man, 22 years old, handsome, with lively, bright eyes, and full of passion! The best husband dish ever cooked by the gods."

In terms of self-confidence, Balzac remained an authority.

However, given his undeniable talent and eloquence, Balzac's love life was quite smooth. Of course, a significant reason for this was that Balzac often scouted potential partners among the female fans who wrote to him. Among them was a Russian noblewoman who was incredibly wealthy, living in a 50000-acre castle in Ukraine and owning 5000 serfs.

Unfortunately, after going through so much trouble to marry her, Balzac's good days were short-lived as he passed away from illness.

Mikhail's desire to make a name for himself in Paris was not, of course, to follow in the footsteps of his brother Balzac; he simply wanted to cultivate some united front value so that he wouldn't be caught in the Tsar's clutches and not know what to do.

However, it must be said that, in the letters Mikhail has received from readers, besides the grumpy guys who say things like "I'll take your life!", there are actually quite a few female fans who are anonymously expressing their opinions on Mikhail's novels or other things.

However, compared to the seemingly overly open-minded French, Russian female readers were undoubtedly much more tactful and reserved. Even their requests for updates were quite polite and subtle. Because of this, whenever Yaroslav, the editor of the magazine "The Contemporary," who was responsible for briefly glancing at reader mail, saw a letter like this, this simple-minded young man, who was solely focused on contributing to Russian culture, would excitedly shout:
"Another letter from a female reader! Mr. Mikhail will be overjoyed to see it!"

Mikhail: “???”

Is this ridiculous? Is this ridiculous?
Because of this incident, Mikhail is prepared to personally take charge of the magazine's affairs. Even if it means facing the angry men's threats of "I'll kill you," Mikhail still wants to defend his reputation.

After all, I've never even held a woman's hand. If I were to be mistaken for a seasoned player in love, wouldn't that be too unfair?

Oh no, I pulled Nadya along while dancing at the ball.
In short, Mikhail is preparing to take on the important task of receiving letters from readers again. As for the letters from female readers, some only need to be read and the recipients do not seem to need to reply. Others require answers to some of the questions asked. Beyond that, there is nothing more. After all, Mikhail is not Balzac, who seizes every opportunity to hook up with rich women.

Moreover, Mikhail has been quite busy lately. The departure of Belinsky, this workaholic, has certainly had a significant impact on the magazine. Therefore, Mikhail has been coming to the magazine office more frequently and has taken on quite a few tasks.

Besides these, there were offline activities. Since aristocratic social salons were very frequent in winter, in addition to the salons that Mikhail used to attend, many more salons were opening their doors to him. One of the more famous salons was the one hosted by Yevdokia Rostopchina, the daughter of the Governor of Moscow.

This noblewoman also had a place in the Russian literary world. She began writing poetry at the age of twelve, and her anonymously published poems even won the praise of Zhukovsky. Due to an unhappy marriage after her marriage, she began to hold salons and create works in St. Petersburg.

For example, her poem "Forced Marriage" denounced the oppression of women by arranged marriages, and her play "Talks" directly alluded to the autocracy of Nicholas I. It was banned because of the line "Truth is the blade that tyrants fear most." Even so, she was only banished to Moscow by Nicholas I and then continued to live her aristocratic life.

This is naturally because her family is both powerful and influential.

At the end of this year, she will likely be sent to Moscow due to script issues, but before that, her salon will undoubtedly remain one of the most famous salons in St. Petersburg, open every Wednesday in winter. First-time attendees must bring original works for critique, while mediocre ones will be ridiculed and eliminated by the hostess's impromptu limericks.

Meanwhile, the first half hour of her weekly salon was reserved for women, who discussed issues such as inheritance reform and curriculum innovation at women's colleges. For this reason, a considerable number of aristocratic ladies and wives attended her salon.

In some respects, she was indeed a pioneer of Russian feminist enlightenment.

Although her salon was famous, Mikhail was too busy with other things to do and needed to eat and sleep, so he didn't really think about going. But since he didn't go, the noblewoman invited Mikhail directly through someone else.

If you want to know why, you have to go back to the poem "I will take you back from all the earth and from all the heavens" that Mikhail brought out. Since Mikhail brought it out, this poem has been widely circulated among the noble ladies and wives of the Russian upper class. Some people criticized it for going against tradition and being too bold, while others greatly admired and respected the sincerity and determination in love that the poem conveyed.

Mrs. Rostopchina was clearly the latter. Even when she first heard someone read the poem, she was inevitably surprised by its boldness and unusualness. However, after careful reading and appreciation, she praised the poem on many occasions.

From this perspective, Mikhail's literary reputation was truly not far from resounding throughout Russian high society.
Since he had been invited, Mikhail thought about it for a moment and agreed to go in a few days. On the one hand, it would be good to show his face in front of these progressive nobles, and on the other hand, Nadya might also be present at such a salon under the supervision of her guardian, so it would be nice to meet her there.

Prior to this, Mikhail was preparing to award his own magazine's literary prize, while also discussing with Pletnyov, the rector of St. Petersburg University, about finding an auspicious day to distribute the scholarships sponsored by Mikhail.

The former involves combining readers' opinions, having the magazine editors vote, and finally having Mikhail, the owner, make the final decision. It is currently in its final stage. The latter, however, needs to be carried out discreetly. Given Nicholas I's attitude towards universities, he would prefer fewer and fewer university students. Therefore, even though the current environment is relatively relaxed, it is best to keep a low profile and avoid making a big fuss.

While dealing with these matters and expanding into new businesses, Mikhail also increasingly realized that he might really need to develop his own team or organization.

After all, Mikhail has a lot to do next. Just in the field of literature, he needs a lot of people to develop translation and publishing businesses in Paris, London and other countries. He can't keep bothering his friends in this regard, and he himself is too busy to handle everything.

While Mikhail may not know much about other areas, he is aware of some major events and groundbreaking technological innovations. Given this information, why not seize the opportunity to invest?
With more money, more things can be done, but at the same time, this also puts Mikhail's ability to judge people and his organizational skills to the test.

Some things ultimately need to be handled by professionals. Although Mikhail knew that valuable information, how to use it well was indeed a considerable challenge. And if some information was handed over to unsuitable people, who knows what Mikhail might say in his later years: "What? Not coming back to the mountains with me?"

It can only be said that some things become more difficult as you go on, and Mikhail can only say that he is working hard to learn and strive to make progress, so as to lay a good foundation for some things.

Putting everything else aside, it will at least expand the scope of this literary prize to a certain extent. Speaking of which, in a few years we can start investing in the Nobel Prize. Of course, it's just an investment; I don't mean to use explosives.
As for who to choose, Mikhail is still considering and observing, since this kind of thing is too difficult for an ordinary college student like him.

In short, while Turgenev was enjoying great success in Parisian social circles, Mikhail was busy in St. Petersburg, juggling current affairs with planning for the future, and even getting less sleep. One day, at his own dining table, Mikhail couldn't help but remark to his maid:

"I'm so worn out by work! Mila, don't you think I've lost a lot of weight lately?"

"Mr. Mikhail, you mean this?"

Faced with Mikhail's remark, the young girl hesitated for a while before finally speaking honestly: "I think you seem to have gained a little weight, but it's not really noticeable. I only noticed it because I observe you closely."

Mikhail: “???”

Is this ridiculous?

Well, I'll just go hunting and hiking with Turgenev in the summer. Maybe I can even witness the birth of "A Hunter's Notes". As for hunting or using guns, Mikhail really doesn't know if he has any talent for it. He can only say that he'll know when he tries.

With this thought in mind, Mikhail continued to eat.

While Mikhail was eating and resting at home as usual, a carriage was slowly making its way to St. Petersburg on a main road not far from the city.

Although the worst of the weather had passed, the carriage was not traveling too fast for safety reasons. Despite the smooth ride, the hearts of the composed and earnest young woman and the elderly woman sitting inside were constantly pounding. As a result, they would frequently peek out to check the road conditions and inquire when they would arrive in St. Petersburg.

As they drew closer to St. Petersburg, the old woman's face couldn't help but glow with happiness. At the same time, she excitedly discussed her son's current situation with her daughter: "Dunya, do you think that magazine that dear Misha invested in earns every month? Every time we come home, Misha sends us at least one or two hundred rubles, and he doesn't seem to be under much pressure."

In that case, I bet he's earning at least two or three hundred rubles a month now!

At this point, the old woman was startled by her own bold guess, after all, this figure was more than twice what she could earn in the past year.

"It should be more than that. It seems that my brother only sends us this much money each time out of caution. Besides, he also said in his letter that the magazine is doing quite well."

After careful consideration, the dark-eyed girl arrived at a conclusion that seemed unbelievable to her, but she still boldly declared, "I estimate that I should earn five or six hundred rubles a month!"

"It's unbelievably high, I can't believe it at all."

Despite Prihria's continued shaking of her head, she couldn't help but smile.

Since they left when Mikhail and his team had just taken over "Modern Man" and were heavily in debt, and given that communication was not very convenient and the matter was not discussed in detail, they could only make simple inferences based on some details.

These figures alone made them feel like they were dreaming.

After a pleasant discussion, they were already bursting with things to say and were getting closer to St. Petersburg. They were eager to tell Mikhail about their experiences back home.
(End of this chapter)