I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 156: Wealth and honor do not return home, just like walking at night in brocade clothes

Strictly speaking, Mikhail's ability to have money to spend and even do other things is a recent development, occurring only in the last few months. A few months earlier, Mikhail and his family were, simply put, a bankrupt ordinary family.

Although Prihria receives a small sum of money each year, their family's debts have far exceeded that amount. Even moneylenders are no longer willing to lend them money, since they have practically nothing left to mortgage. Otherwise, Mikhail's sister wouldn't have had to sacrifice her marriage to get some breathing room.

These debts are certainly a heavy burden for ordinary families, and during the time that Mikhail's mother and sister lived in St. Petersburg, because the time was a little longer, rumors even spread in their hometown that the family was trying to escape their debts.

This was not uncommon in Russia. Dostoevsky later began a four-year exile in Europe to escape debts. He completed works such as "The Idiot" and "Demons" and only returned to Russia after his debt situation was alleviated.

Of course, this time, Dostoevsky might not necessarily go into exile in Europe because of debt. Even if he did go into exile then, he might take a trip around Europe and find Mikhail's shadow everywhere. If that were the case, it would be a piece of cake for Mikhail to help Dostoevsky.

Returning to the present, for an ordinary Russian family, debt evasion is undoubtedly a very serious accusation. On the one hand, they will be severely punished by law, and on the other hand, it will be a terrible blow to the family's reputation.

It was after learning about this rumor from letters from friends back home that Mikhail's mother and sister rushed back to their hometown.

After they returned home, before those who knew them could be surprised by their improved health and obviously expensive clothes, they were even more shocked to discover that this mother and daughter, who had always lived a frugal life to support the university student studying in the capital, had suddenly paid off all their family's debts.

When they inquired further about the reason, the answer they received was utterly absurd.

You mean that your son, who knows nothing but studying, not only published his articles in literary magazines that only noblemen could access during his leave of absence from school, but also made friends with many nobles and partnered with them to start a publishing house, so your commoner son is the boss and all those noblemen are just working for him?!
Moreover, those arrogant noblemen are very respectful to your commoner son, and they even take the initiative to greet him when they meet.

Are you kidding me? !

Frankly speaking, this is so absurd that it can no longer be treated as a joke; this mother and daughter have simply lost their minds!
In short, after hearing their answers, Prihria and Dunya's friends and other acquaintances looked at them with utter horror.

After all, even nobles are divided into ranks. Nobles from small places like theirs are already unattainable in the eyes of many people, but compared to the noble lords of St. Petersburg, what are they?
They're just a bunch of stinky out-of-towners!
The people of St. Petersburg are the real bosses!
Is it appropriate to use these men as stepping stones in your son's story?

Prihria had actually anticipated this situation. Although she was indeed very proud of her son and couldn't help but share the story with others, she probably would have thought that someone else was using this ridiculous story to humiliate her son if they had told her about it.

So when Prihria left, she took several magazines with her as evidence. Although these acquaintances did see the familiar name in the magazines and saw that the old woman had paid off all her debts almost instantly and even had spare money to renovate their old house, many people were still skeptical. Some even turned the story into a joke and spread it around.

Just as the joke seemed to be spreading, a young master from a well-known local noble family took a leave of absence from St. Petersburg University, where he was studying, and returned home for some reason. Since they were not from the same social class at all, no one really wanted to ask him for any confirmation.

But no one expected that this local nobleman would take the initiative to visit the mother and daughter who had been living in poverty not long ago. During the visit, he nervously wrung his hands and said in an excited tone, as if he were about to burst out, "A genius! Such a great genius! I was once so close to him?!"

When he said this, the people in his area only found it somewhat incomprehensible yet impressive. But when he told others, "Yes, he has a very good relationship with the president of our university, and many important figures like Duke Odoevsky and Count Sologub, as well as many others, highly regard him,"

Those present then understood everything.

They've already gained the favor of dukes and earls?!
So the old woman wasn't just blindly praising her son, but was actually telling the truth?!
After the excited landlord's son left, Mikhail's mother and sister's friends and acquaintances remained strangely silent for a long time, then almost swarmed forward, and then proceeded in earnest:
"I even held him when he was a little boy!"

“I could tell he was extraordinary when he was very young, and that he would definitely achieve great things in the future!”

"Your Excellency Prihria, could it be that your family is really going to produce a hereditary noble in your generation?!"

After the news spread and was confirmed again, in addition to the excessive enthusiasm of friends and acquaintances, many people came to inquire about Mikhail's marriage, and some even brought it up directly.

These days, noble ladies might have the opportunity to personally inspect and select their partners, but other families don't have so many rules. In many cases, arranged marriages are based on mutual benefit. The people who come to Prihria to talk are not ordinary families, but rather merchant families and clergy members who are not as good as nobles but slightly better than commoners.

It was obvious that, aside from Mikhail's supposedly growing fortune, they also saw in this young man the potential to join the ranks of the truly privileged class.
During that time, Prihria's family truly became the most talked-about family in the area.

Just thinking about that period of time brought a radiant smile to the face of this elderly woman, who had endured the hardships of life and society. Even as they neared St. Petersburg, she remarked to her daughter, "Dunya, Misha really should have come back with us, but he's just too busy. Sigh."

"Mom, I don't think my brother will necessarily like those things."

Despite the quiet girl's words, a similar smile appeared on her face: "And I always felt that my brother might be used to these things by now."

"Yes, he must have met a lot of important people while he was in St. Petersburg."

At this point, the old woman opened up completely: "And I've already politely declined all the people in my family who wanted to introduce their daughters to Misha. After all, who can't you meet in St. Petersburg? Besides, even in St. Petersburg, Misha's previous kind landlady has introduced her family's assets and her daughter to me more than once!"
Her family's assets were truly substantial, and her daughter was as capable as she was, but she wasn't really a good match for Misha. Other people in the apartment also wanted to introduce Mikhail to potential partners; they were all St. Petersburg residents with jobs and property there.

The old woman had given a lot of thought to her son's marriage, but given their family's current situation, it was ultimately up to her son to decide. Even in her wildest and most outrageous fantasies, she never imagined that her son could marry a noblewoman, even one from a minor noble family.

Rather, her son's goal for the next decade or so should be to try and become one of these minor nobles. With this in mind, Prihria and Dunya finally arrived at their stop.

They had barely landed when they soon saw a simply dressed young man waiting for them somewhere, with a somewhat nervous young girl beside him.

Their gazes pierced through the crowd and landed on the young man. Soon they stepped out of the crowd and embraced him tightly.

After they separated, Prihria looked at the little girl next to Mikhail and asked, "Who is this child?"

"Her name is Mira. I asked her to help take care of my daily life in my current home."

"That's it"

Although she was a little puzzled as to why Mikhail didn't hire a mature maid, Prihria didn't think too much about it. She just looked at Mikhail with a hint of heartache and said, "Dear Misha, you look like you've lost a lot of weight. You must have been very busy lately."

Mikhail: “?”

So I've lost weight?

Whom should I believe?
Upon realizing this, Mikhail couldn't help but look at Mira, only to find that the little girl was also looking at him. Under Mikhail's gaze, the little girl blinked, seemingly saying nothing, yet it was as if she had said everything.

Mikhail: “.”

I still believe in my mom.
After talking for a while, the group boarded the carriage. As the carriage traveled, Mikhail's sister seemed to remember that Mikhail had been sending them money, and asked with some concern, "Brother, you've sent us seven or eight hundred rubles so far. That must be a lot of money for you, right? So apart from paying off debts and buying some necessities, we haven't really touched it."

To be honest, considering security concerns, the money Mikhail sent home was actually one of the smaller expenses he'd had in recent months. If you factor in debt repayments, various other miscellaneous expenses, and the upcoming awards banquet, Mikhail would probably have spent five or six thousand rubles in the end.

How come someone as poor as me spends money so lavishly?
Fortunately, the income is not bad either, especially after the novel "Around the World in Eighty Days" is published in the newspaper, the economy is expected to improve a lot.

Actually, if you really want to calculate it, this awards banquet was quite expensive. In the beginning, Mikhail only planned to hold one within the circle of "The Contemporary".

Unexpectedly, upon hearing about this, Prince Odoevsky immediately expressed his enthusiasm and said that he would also attend, since he had never heard of such a novel thing as a literary prize before.

Prince Odoevsky's move was certainly well-intentioned. As an authority in St. Petersburg's cultural circles, his presence significantly elevated the award's prestige. Then, other friends inquired about it, and Panaev's friends seemed quite interested. And for some reason, even Krajevsky, the owner of a rival magazine, wanted to join in the fun. Mikhail guessed that this man was probably there to plagiarize ideas.

In the end, even seasoned readers of "Modern Man" like the General seemed to want to get involved.
In this way, Mikhail's newly created prize seems poised to become the most prestigious literary award in St. Petersburg and even in all of Russia.

However, this would significantly increase the expenses, requiring them to pool their money with wealthy families like Panayev.

While thinking about this, Mikhail also answered his sister's question: "Don't worry, the magazine is quite profitable and can fully support my daily expenses."

"So, brother, how much money do you make each month? Four or five hundred rubles? Isn't that a bit too high?"

"Let me calculate it."

First, there's the profit from "The Contemporary," then the profit from France, and if we act quickly, we might even be able to sell it to Britain.
In the end, Mikhail gave a conservative answer: "Two or three thousand rubles a month?"

"How is this possible?"

When Dunya heard Mikhail say that, she thought he was joking: "If we really calculate it that way, your annual income is almost equivalent to the real estate income of a middle-class nobleman for several years!"

"That seems rather unlikely."

Mikhail smiled slightly and did not continue the discussion on this issue. As the conversation went on, Mikhail's mother and sister learned about the awards banquet that "Modern Man" magazine might be holding next.

Perhaps thinking that such a banquet could reflect the current state of her brother's career, the quiet young woman asked, "How many people do you estimate will attend?"

"It doesn't seem like there are many."

After thinking for a moment, facing the curious gazes of his mother and sister, the simply dressed young man simply shrugged and then jokingly replied, "If you include some gentlemen from high society, it's probably more than half of the cultural circles in St. Petersburg."

(End of this chapter)