I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 159 A Third-Rank Official and a New Work
In Russia at that time, free love was certainly not encouraged and was generally difficult to exist. After all, strictly speaking, in a period when productivity was not yet developed, the essence of marriage was closer to a commodity exchange, that is, a safer and more blatant marriage of convenience based on the economic conditions and social status of both men and women.

Even though literature, poetry, and many other art forms often celebrate free and beautiful love, when it comes to real life and when people reach a certain age, they become incredibly realistic.

From this perspective, the reason why love has been a topic that has been celebrated for thousands of years may be a kind of psychological compensation mechanism. After all, most people have probably suppressed their feelings about this for thousands of years. Even in modern society, in many places, the essence of marriage is still a kind of cooperation and transaction, but relatively speaking, there are definitely more choices.

During this period, Russian nobles arranged marriages, and the same was true for commoners and serfs. The marriages of their children were entirely controlled by their parents. Some peasants believed that the younger the children, the easier they were to discipline, so they often forced their children to marry young.

Since there was a need for marriage, and men and women could not have too much contact due to religious pressure and morality, the profession of matchmaker came into being. In Russia, almost every village and town had professional matchmakers who made a living by arranging marriages. Most of them were eloquent middle-aged or elderly women.

They were very familiar with the situation of unmarried men and women in the surrounding area and their family assets. They would give advice to the men, recommend fiancées, and, on the men's behalf, go to the women's families to propose marriage.

After entering the room, the matchmaker cannot reveal their identity or purpose of visit. Instead, they claim to be a hunter, pilgrim, or merchant, etc. After a while, they will use flowery words to explain their purpose: "You have a little pigeon, I have a little eagle; you have a little ferret, I have a hunter; you have a daughter, I have a young man. Let's get married. The daughter is a beautiful flower, why is she staying at home?"

Generally, it is the man who takes the initiative to propose marriage. However, if a man is famous and everyone knows that he has a bright future, then the woman can ask the matchmaker to subtly convey their thoughts.

Mikhail was in a similar situation. When Prihria and Dunya were still in their hometown, local matchmakers came to their door one after another, describing each girl and her family as exceptionally fortunate. Some of these women's circumstances were indeed very appealing to Prihria.

However, given their family's current situation, such matters definitely depend on Mikhail's decision. Seeing that Mikhail now has his own career, Prikhlya's purpose in coming here was to encourage Mikhail to consider marriage as soon as possible. If Mikhail had this idea, then she would definitely find a matchmaker in St. Petersburg and arrange several blind dates for him.

However, after the awards banquet, Prihria didn't know how to talk to Mikhail about it.

First of all, Mikhail's career development is too good, almost beyond Prikhlya's comprehension. After all, in the hierarchical Russia, her son is both a commoner and so young, yet he seems to have already reached a very prominent position in the literary world. Even the most experienced matchmaker in St. Petersburg probably doesn't know who to introduce him to.

Secondly, there was the appearance of that young noblewoman whose appearance was so striking that Prikhlya could naturally see some clues. After a fairly pleasant conversation, because the young woman had left a very good impression on her, she asked Panaeva about the young woman's family background out of curiosity.

Then she learned from Panaeva that the girl's father was actually a third-rank official!

For Prihria, who had never even met a seventh or eighth-rank official, such a title was as unattainable as the Tsar's. How on earth did Misha get involved with the daughter of such an official?!

Of course, ultimately, the literary circle is considered a high-end circle these days. For example, Panaev's uncle was a third-rank civil servant, but that didn't prevent Mikhail and Panaev from becoming good friends and collaborators. Meanwhile, Prince Odoevsky was currently a fourth-rank minister of the Imperial Court, and in a few years, he was expected to advance further, becoming a third-rank senator.

However, for Prihria, such an official title still felt like the sky had fallen. After all, even a high-ranking official's title was often only that of a fourth-rank civil official.

Even though Prihria could see at a glance that Mikhail was chatting and laughing with the general, she still found it hard to believe that her son could have such a good relationship with the general's daughter.
Therefore, after the banquet, she did not press Mikhail about the relationship between him and Nadya. After all, such things were difficult to explain, and they were beyond her comprehension. She could neither offer advice nor say much. In the end, she could only look at her son and sigh.

She knew Misha was ambitious, but she never imagined she was ambitious to this extent.
Mikhail's mother and sister didn't know how to broach the subject, and Mikhail himself genuinely didn't know how to explain. After all, saying that Nadya and I were just acquaintances seemed rather insincere, and being good friends didn't seem entirely accurate either.

So rather than explaining, it's better for the three of them to tacitly avoid discussing the matter.

Even without discussing this matter, the banquet itself revealed enough to bring tears to Mikhail's eyes as his mother and sister embraced him. Mikhail could also sense their genuine pride and joy in his achievements.

To resolve some of their doubts, but also to avoid overly agitating them, Mikhail gradually shared his current situation with them over the next few days.

Despite having prepared themselves mentally, Prihria and Dunya were still speechless at the shock of things like magazine income and publishing works abroad. Several days later, they finally began to accept these seemingly outrageous but actually very outrageous things.

After they gradually accepted these things, Mikhail talked to them about how they should live their lives from now on.

Mikhail's mother and sister had originally planned for his mother to continue doing odd jobs to supplement the family income, and his sister to do the same. After all, the cost of living in St. Petersburg was quite high, and even though Mikhail earned a considerable amount, they should plan ahead. But now, Mikhail first looked at Prikhlya and said, "Mom, your health is getting worse and worse. You should rest at home. If you ever want to go anywhere, just let me know."

Then she looked at her younger sister, who had almost sacrificed her marriage, and patted her hand gently, saying, "Dunya, just live freely and happily according to your own ideas. Whatever choice you make, I will support you wholeheartedly."

Upon hearing Mikhail's words, the quiet and earnest young woman seemed momentarily bewildered. To live freely and happily—what a luxury that is in this day and age!
Even noble ladies have to serve the interests of their families, and ordinary people will face even more troubles. But Dunya can naturally feel her brother's sincerity, and given his current financial situation, it is not just empty talk to let her live according to her own wishes.

So, what should one do after gaining freedom?

This is also a luxurious question that deserves careful consideration.

After a day or two of being in a daze, the young woman suddenly couldn't help but think about her brother's plans abroad.
What the future holds is still unknown. After resting for several days, Mikhail was busy with his previously agreed-upon business: attending Madame Rostopchina's literary salon. In fact, Dostoevsky had already used the fame brought by "Poor Folk" to attend this lady's salon. When Mikhail asked him for any precautions, Dostoevsky answered without reservation:
"The salon's hostess, Madame Rostopchina, is indeed renowned for her talent and beauty, Mikhail, you'll surely agree once you meet her! However, as the rumors say, first-time attendees must bring original works for critique, while mediocre ones will be ridiculed and eliminated by the hostess's impromptu limericks."

She has very high standards in this regard, and her criticisms of others are very sharp. I once met two unfortunate gentlemen who turned as white as snow after she finished speaking.

Therefore, I suggest you bring your best original work; anything even slightly inferior won't do. Also, there are quite a few noble ladies and young women in her household. Don't laugh, but when they were staring at me, I was trembling all over, and I almost fainted. You'd better be mentally prepared.”

Old Dosto continued rambling on and on, and just as Mikhail was listening intently, Old Dosto suddenly shouted:
"No! Why am I telling you all this? Mikhail, you are Mikhail! Whether it's an original work or a noble lady or a noblewoman, how could any of this be difficult for you? Impossible! You can handle all of this with ease!"

Mikhail: “???”

What a repetitive string of words.
And to be honest, I've probably met far fewer noble ladies and young women than you have.
Although it was a bit difficult, Mikhail did figure out what was going on, so all that was left was to keep his appointment on time.

Dostoevsky, perhaps feeling that he would have the opportunity to hear Mikhail's new work, immediately said that he would definitely attend the salon as well.

Mikhail was indifferent to this, but similar incidents had long since become a major problem for Mrs. Rostopchina without her realizing it.

So much so that while Mikhail was speaking these words to Dostoevsky, in a luxurious and spacious mansion, Lady Rostopchina, with her deep chestnut curls and grey-blue eyes, was still helplessly listening to the servants' report:
"Madam, Madame Sophia and Madame Catherine also wish to attend your literary salon. Their servants are waiting outside for your reply."

"Tell their servants that there are too many guests at this salon, and we simply cannot accommodate them all. If they are interested, they can ask them to come again next time."

After giving such a helpless reply, Mrs. Rostopchina couldn't help but rub her forehead. Her literary salon, despite its great reputation in St. Petersburg's cultural circles, had always been treated coldly by the upper class.

The reason, of course, is that the ideas she promoted in her salon did not conform to the current public opinion. For example, extremely bold topics such as breaking down class prejudices, reforming the curriculum of women's colleges, and even women's autonomy in marriage were all discussed in her salon.

In this situation, how could there possibly be many visitors?
The salon turned out to be quite unexpected. Not to mention the significant increase in male guests, the noble ladies and young women who usually avoided her literary salons for various reasons were now actively expressing their desire to attend. Could there be anything more bizarre than this?

After a little thought, Mrs. Rostopchina quickly realized where the problem lay. Without a doubt, if there was anything special about her salon this time, it was the young poet whose fame was growing, but who rarely showed up.

While calling him merely a poet might not be entirely accurate, he was undoubtedly best known for his poetry in St. Petersburg's high society, and his few love poems had long been popular among many noble ladies and young women.

Many people rarely see him at various gatherings, and due to their social status, they are unlikely to invite him to their homes. Under these circumstances, with Mrs. Rostopchina's literary salon serving as a legitimate window, many people immediately became interested in seeing the poet.

In this situation, Mrs. Rostopchina felt helpless and genuinely annoyed. These people avoided the issues that were truly worth discussing, yet they came all the way here for a poet. What kind of behavior was this?
But despite her anger, when she thought of those poems that were truly treasures and deeply touched the depths of the human heart, she realized they weren't so difficult to understand after all.
So, will we be able to hear new poetry this time?
Thinking of this, even Mrs. Rostopchina, who had seen many storms, couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.
(End of this chapter)