I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 163 Honoré de Balzac
While the editors of the newspaper "The Century" chose to measure things with cold, but sufficiently realistic numbers, Turgenev and Belinsky, who had recently seen many doctors, opted to conduct on-site investigations, just as they had done in St. Petersburg.

As a result, the two of them appeared in many bustling cafes and bars in Paris, and it was in these places that one could most directly feel the Parisians' attitude towards the novel "Around the World in Eighty Days".

In the first day or two, readers' reactions often look like this:
"The Century has a new serialized novel. It should have been done a long time ago. The previous novel was so stupid that it was unbearable to read and extremely boring."

"But it is said that this novel is even more foolish, and what is most unbelievable is that it was written by a Russian."

"What? I swear this is the best joke I've heard all year, or is it just that our French writers have been forced to submit to Russia for some reason, and that's why they write novels under such identities?"

"That's very likely, but I'm still unwilling to spend the money. I'll wait and see what others have seen."

"Around the World in Eighty Days? What an absurd name! Is eighty days enough to travel around Europe, let alone the whole world?"

"The timeline is set in 1872. Is the author making a prophecy? Or is he fantasizing about something that might happen in 1872?"

"I don't think I've ever seen a novel like this before."

In the beginning, skepticism and surprise were undoubtedly the most common reactions. However, as people gradually began to accept this novel form, the novel's unique and exciting story slowly drew many people in.

"He's betting £20,000?! Has this Englishman gone mad? That's enough money to live the life of an aristocrat!"

"Only the British could do something so ridiculous. Hey, I like this saying: There is no English, it's just badly pronounced French."

"How did this Englishman suddenly become a money thief? This seems inconsistent with his character as described earlier."

A future world, an eighty-day trip around the world, an extravagant bet of £20,000, the enigmatic identity of Mr. Fogg, and British jokes embellished and modified by Mikhail, along with many other plot points.
Even if some people consider this novel to be a rather crazy fantasy, it is undeniable that it is indeed a fantasy novel with a very exciting story, and this writing style will inevitably make people think about whether such a thing could really happen in the future.

After all, who knows what the future holds?
Some people simply enjoyed it, some discussed the plot, and others developed a strong curiosity about this vision of the future. So, almost without warning, the novel quickly became popular.

In this era, serialized novels had a considerable readership, including political officials and the aristocracy. Some of them initially read the novel for entertainment, but as they read on, the route of traveling around the world made them fall into deep thought.

Whether by coincidence or not, many of the routes described in this novel are precisely the important locations that some countries are currently vying for and strategizing over. Although this is not exactly a secret, the author has managed to string together these seemingly unrelated things and eventually create a route that is enough to travel around the world.

These strategic insights, which cover almost the entire globe, actually came from a novelist?
I don't know if it was a coincidence or if he was overthinking it.
If it's not a coincidence, how could such a person be a damned Russian?
At the same time, for many in the French scientific community, this idea in the novel was undoubtedly a revelation.

Just like the opening of the Suez Canal, this has always been a hot topic in France. By 1846, the French Saint-Simonists had already taken the lead in establishing the "Suez Canal Research Society," which united engineers from many countries to re-survey, overturn the fallacy of water level difference, and confirm the feasibility of directly excavating a canal without locks.

Of course, after this plan came out, Great Britain continued to create obstacles for France as usual, and soon chose to counter it with the "railway construction" plan in an attempt to obstruct the French-led canal project.

As the novel attracted more and more attention, even though some scholars in the novel thought it was an absolutely impossible plan, many engineers in reality still wanted to estimate it based on the information provided in the book. After they finished their estimates, they prepared to send their predictions to newspapers, which, in order to attract readers, would most likely publish the information.

Aside from these, there were no shortage of voices questioning and refuting the novel. Almost every day, other newspapers published new critical articles about the novel, which Turgenev, who had already grasped the state of the literary scene in Paris, found unsurprising.

Paris's literary industry is highly developed, naturally bringing authors immense fame and profit. Parisian writers are practically begging for a piece of their minds – how could a foreigner possibly gain anything? Therefore, Turgenev is undoubtedly more concerned with how much money this novel can earn for Mikhail. Under the original contract, the price of such a novel is almost equivalent to a middle-class Parisian family's annual income. Now, seeing the growing number of readers specifically interested in this novel, there's no doubt that once it's serialized and published as a standalone book, it will generate another huge income.

Judging from the current trajectory of Mikhail's novel, it seems to be aiming entirely for the success of Dumas, who, in turn, made a fortune from his novels.

It's said to be worth hundreds of thousands of francs!

Even if we conservatively estimate it to be 200,000 francs, that's nearly 50,000 rubles, almost equivalent to the output of 500 serfs for a year, which is more than enough to buy two estates in Moscow!

Even in France, if Mikhail hadn't been so extravagant, he could have lived a carefree life for ten years.

Of course, for a top-tier rich kid like Turgenev, whose family had more than five thousand serfs, this amount of money, while not enough to leave him speechless, was enough to make him envious for quite some time.

After all, it was uncertain how long it would take to receive his family's money, and even if it were eventually distributed, Turgenev would have to divide it among his brothers and relatives. While the money he received would certainly ensure a comfortable life for him, he still couldn't forget the questions he had asked Mikhail earlier:
"Mikhail, how many more popular novels like this can you write?"

Because Mikhail seemed to be busy with other things at the time, he casually replied, "There are many more, I could publish several a year, but there's really no need for that unless I need money urgently for something."

Turgenev: “?”

In an emergency, can one readily convert written words into rubles?

Based on Turgenev's understanding of Mikhail, if Mikhail's lifestyle hadn't changed, he could probably have stayed home and slept soundly after writing a few books. However, after discussing financial matters with Mikhail once, Turgenev was quite surprised to find that Mikhail's expenses were actually higher than his own.

However, after learning the specific purpose of these expenses, Turgenev was deeply moved and immediately said that when he received his inheritance, he would donate 10,000 rubles to support Mikhail's charitable work.

Of course, although the future looked bright, the money would probably not reach Mikhail's hands until the end of that year or the beginning of 1846. As for whether it would be deposited in a bank in Paris or Mikhail would come to collect it, exchange it, and take it back to Russia, that would depend on Mikhail's own decision.

In that case, buying a property in Paris would actually be a good option. After I, Turgenev, receive my inheritance and move abroad, I might just come and visit Mikhail.

While Turgenev was dreaming of such a future, he was still busy with other matters. If nothing unexpected happened, in another month or two, Turgenev, who had almost run out of money, would return to Russia, while Belinsky would go to another place to continue his treatment and recuperation.

Turgenev believed he had almost finished the task Mikhail had given him, and finished it quite well. However, there was still one small loose end left, which would complete the task once it was finished.

When he comes to Paris again, Mikhail will probably come with him. Although Mikhail is not here now, there are already many rumors about him in Paris. I wonder what it will be like when Mikhail arrives in person.
In order to finish the story, and also because the novel "Around the World in Eighty Days" was becoming increasingly popular in Paris, Turgenev, who had been wandering around Paris for a long time, finally set foot in a top salon that he had never been to before, namely Madame Girardin's salon, on the recommendation of Alexandre Dumas.

When Turgenev arrived at the appointment on time, dressed smartly, he soon noticed a gentleman staring at him with ill intent. After seeing the gentleman's clothes and appearance, Turgenev was quite surprised.

In this top-notch literary salon, the gentleman was dressed only in a brown coat, the buttons haphazardly fastened, his shoelaces half-undone. When his short, stout body sank into the armchair, the chair creaked dangerously.

Even so, many people present still looked at him with considerable respect. Having made eye contact with this gentleman, and seeing that the man didn't seem to recognize him, Turgenev quickly introduced himself. After a long pause, the gentleman, whose gaze held a hint of displeasure, finally announced his name with a touch of arrogance:
“I know you, the spokesperson for that mysterious writer named Mikhail, and I am Honoré de Balzac.”

(End of this chapter)