[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-25":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Literary Giant in Russia",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2317200,4531,"Chapter 25: Rising Fame","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-25",25,"\u003Cp>Before receiving Belinsky’s formal invitation, Mikhail had lived for a long time in a tiny room of his apartment, occasionally counting the few rubles in his pocket, wandering the streets and alleys of St. Petersburg, listening to conversations in cafés, and buying various new magazines and street newspapers to read for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, bad luck led him to encounter homeless beggars, child beggars, or prostitutes forced into prostitution to supplement their household income—these people would often cling to him, and after careful observation and painful hesitation, Mikhail would sometimes still pull out a few coins from his already empty pockets to help those who looked utterly wretched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, as a university student and due to his own personality, Mikhail was certainly not a cold-hearted man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But some realities were too cruel—so cruel that one either became utterly cold, nearly ignoring all of it, or plunged headfirst into this seemingly endless path, struggling painfully amid constant ups and downs, hesitating and wavering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This affliction may well be a common one among many Russians today who hold beliefs and compassion; sometimes the pain becomes unbearable, leading them to do absurd things they themselves might not even understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath Russia’s golden age of literature, countless such characters abound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a person cannot be crushed by nihilism—Mikhail, from the future, certainly could not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what, start with what’s right in front of you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After calculating the few coins in his pocket, Mikhail soon entered a period of seclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from daily writing, he mostly used various magazines to understand contemporary Russian social conditions and public opinion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His desire to learn these things was simple: first, to grasp the current situation and determine what he could and could not write; second, to judge the general red lines, so that if he ever truly committed a crime of passion—saying or writing something reckless—he could at least remain Qingxing , staying close to but not crossing the line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in truth, these things changed in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was acceptable one moment could be used as evidence of crime the next—what could you do?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One moment you’re a loyal servant of the state; the next, you’re crushed by some sudden incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In today’s autocratic Russia, the authority to define red lines rested solely in Nicholas I’s hands, so the standards for those lines were naturally absurdly flexible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, it must be said that although Tsar Nicholas I was famously reactionary and autocratic, in matters of the press, he oddly seemed almost liberal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Industrial Revolution, the printing industry had enabled knowledge and information to be mass-produced like other industrial goods; in this era of Russia, publishing houses and magazines appeared daily, and many would collapse the very next day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, accurately counting the number of magazines in Russia during this period was nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These magazines varied wildly in style: some were political, some weren’t; some championed patriotism, others groveled before the “authentic” Paris and London of the West; some were humorous, others introduced natural sciences; some focused on gossip, others on literature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it seemed like you could discuss anything—but try discussing just one of those things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During his magazine purchases, Mikhail had more than once overheard well-dressed young people talking about him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you read ‘Wan Ka’ and ‘Trouble’ recently? Everyone I know is talking about them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I read them—they’re refreshingly original. I never imagined Russian literature could approach things from this angle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After reading them, I felt I learned so much. I’m already eager to write something like this myself—where should I start? What if I begin with the beggars of St. Petersburg? I want to find time to talk to them properly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mikhail, Mikhail—I really want to meet this brilliant new literary figure! How could someone produce such outstanding work right out of the gate? Even Gogol wasn’t this dazzling when he first appeared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He must be a respectable gentleman, born into privilege, well-educated, and filled with boundless compassion for the Russian people!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first remarks were acceptable, but that last sentence was pure slander—Mikhail’s ancestors were pure peasant farmers who tilled land for landlords; by Mikhail’s generation, he’d barely risen from peasant apprentice to ox-and-horse apprentice, and even that only thanks to the tide of the times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original body’s situation was slightly better, but not by much—he’d clawed his way up purely through talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Undoubtedly, with these two stories, Mikhail had already gained considerable fame in St. Petersburg’s cultural circle, but to truly shock all of St. Petersburg and all of Russia, he’d still need more time and effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any era, achieving success through literature takes a long time—but once you do, the prestige is real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Tsar can only quietly persecute you under public pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While reading magazines, Mikhail also came across articles criticizing his two stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In today’s St. Petersburg cultural scene, every publishing house and magazine, desperate for survival and attention, would never let a hot topic slip by—let alone a glaring outlier like Mikhail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, unless in a specific era, voices criticizing society and the times are often the weak side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when history rolls forward and everything has settled into dust can you look back and realize that the dominant echoes are mostly critical voices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why is that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Return to now: you criticize, the Tsar targets you, his lackeys target you, patriotic citizens target you, and the ignorant masses target you—how can you withstand it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And these people have no qualms about speaking—anything goes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, in many great literary debates in Russia, radicals would cry: “It’s over! We must act! All these conservative and moderate types are blind beasts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the conservatives and moderates would retaliate: “These radicals are nothing but a skin disease on the great Russian Empire! His Imperial Majesty must no longer tolerate them—he should immediately send his cavalry and gendarmerie to hang them all!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter’s rhetoric made the Tsar laugh heartily and the nobles nod in approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If given a choice, Mikhail\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind—I’m just a peasant apprentice; how could I sit at the same table as you lot, the noble apprentice managers?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1024,"2026-06-20T14:41:53.633Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","4fbd993ffad5062a61fd3b29441074563719f1ca3cb5881d5a05af26cc8d695b","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-26","my-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-chapter-24",105,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-literary-giant-in-russia-cover.jpg"]