Chapter 49: Dust Settles

Since it was a long-awaited reunion, Mikhail naturally spent a very long time chatting with his mother and sister, bringing up almost everything worth mentioning.

He spoke of the cherry orchard where Mikhail and Dunya often played as children, recounted the changes in the lives of their neighbors, and discussed those times that were somewhat bitter yet filled with hope...

To be honest, in today's Russia, it is actually very difficult to hear much positive news; in such an era, even though many people's lives are already hard, they could at any moment become even harder due to some other unexpected event.

And if it were just that life was hard, it would be one thing, but for many Russians, they are not only suffering but also clearly recognize that they are suffering; in other words, they rarely numbly endure it, but instead face their suffering sincerely.

Just like the vast number of serfs in Russia today, even if their thinking is indeed narrow and can be called ignorant to some extent, they are not completely unaware of their situation; in just these few years, the number of serf uprisings in Russia each year has been nearly in the thousands.

The harsh living conditions and geographical environment have, to some extent, shaped the character of this nation; the long winters and the awareness of suffering have also squeezed emotions like a volcano into the hearts of the Slavs.

Reflected in reality, the Orthodox Church is the most ruthless among the branches of Christianity; drunkenness and violent incidents are rampant in society, and whether men or women, Russians often have their own distinct personalities, intense emotions, and act without considering the consequences.

And reflected in literature, this emotion is even more prevalent; in "Quiet Flows the Don," the characters seem to fear neither life nor death, whether war, disease, or birth, aging, sickness, and death all seem to have become ordinary trifles.

Other works like "War and Peace," "Resurrection," "Childhood," and so on, seem to show that whether great figures or small ones, each has their own pain and misfortune, constantly reflecting on something, yet despite enduring countless hardships, what they ultimately get seems to be only pain.

Even if they return to religious redemption, has their heart truly found peace?

And who can say that the characters under Old Dostoevsky and Old Tolstoy truly found happiness at the grand finale?

So what is truly bitter and humiliating is that life does not end with a reward for the suffering endured, not with a spectacular finale like an opera, but with death.

This is the fate of most people in many eras.

In short, if they chat about reality for too long, Mikhail's mood and that of his mother and sister would inevitably become heavy; therefore, when the conversation had progressed enough, Mikhail promptly ended the topic.

After all, since it is a long-awaited reunion, let such a joyful mood last a little longer.

As for where to have his mother and sister stay for this period, Mikhail quickly calculated a sum in his mind and immediately produced twenty rubles to hand over.

To be honest, since he started writing, Mikhail hasn't earned much, but fortunately, he is frugal enough; plus, having recently found an organization, he saved a lot on food costs, and he also won quite a bit playing cards with Belinsky and others.

Thus, at the moment he handed over the money, Mikhail smiled quite calmly and said:

"Mother, Dunya, take this money first; I know a decent inn, so you can stay there for a while. If there are any other expenses during that time, just tell me; I still have plenty here."

Hmm, besides continuing to write manuscripts, I also have the Dmitry reserve fund, the Nalimov Panayev reserve fund, the Turgenev limited-edition reserve fund, Belinsky and Nekrasov... ah, forget it, forget it, they are all poor brothers; those two don't count as reserve funds.

While Mikhail was calculating this, his mother looked very happy and immediately believed Mikhail's words, whereas his sister Dunya looked at Mikhail with a slightly suspicious gaze and said:

"Brother, do you really have that much money?"

"Of course, I am very rich." Mikhail's eyelids twitched slightly: "Give me a little more time, and I can buy half of St. Petersburg!"

"Alright, alright." Looking at her brother, who had suddenly become fond of boasting, with a bit of a headache, this quiet girl nodded and said: "You are already an adult; I hope you have a clear plan for your financial situation, otherwise you might still need someone to help manage it. If you don't have anyone for now, I am willing to do it for you."

Mikhail: "………"

If you manage it, won't my underwear be completely exposed...

"Got it, let's talk about it later, let's talk about it later." He laughed it off to temporarily brush the matter aside; soon, this reunion after three years finally drew to a close in a warm atmosphere.

And Pyotr Petrovich, whom Mikhail and the others had mentioned several times, was at this very moment wandering the streets with an indescribable mood.

More precisely, he strongly doubted whether what he had seen and heard a few days ago was really true.

Since he had seen such a scene at Mikhail's place last time and written such words in the letter to Prakhriya, Pyotr Petrovich could not help but pay attention to the literary magazine "The Fatherland Notes."

Therefore, on the day the latest issue of this magazine was released, this elderly gentleman hurried to a nearby bookstore to investigate for himself.

Originally, he wanted to see if Mikhail's name appeared in the magazine, but because there were simply too many people in the bookstore, he instead heard that annoying name from other people in the shop first:

"Does this New issue have a new work by Mikhail Romanovich??"

"Yes, I've been looking forward to it for a long time!"

………

After listening to those two short stories with considerable irritation among the young people, although Pyotr Petrovich felt they were terribly bad, seeing the enthusiastic reactions of the young people around him, Pyotr Petrovich's heart sank to the bottom.

No matter how terrible he thought they were, with the clamor of these eyeless young lads now, the words he wrote in the letter suddenly became completely invalid.

Their family's financial situation would soon improve; the words in his letter would undoubtedly cause great resentment from that family given the current scene, plus the young writer's clear opposition.

In short, Pyotr Petrovich felt that his wish to find a well-bred young lady who worshipped him to the extreme would most likely be in vain.

The timing was clearly good, and the lady fully met Pyotr Petrovich's requirements; how did it suddenly turn out this way?

Indeed, just as some newspapers criticized, in these days, anyone dares to write!

Although these past two days he had been complaining in his heart and to people he knew, and indeed felt unwilling to accept it, when Mikhail's family began to renegotiate this matter with him, facing the suddenly firm Prakhriya and Mikhail's deep black eyes, Pyotr Petrovich still softened.

And when Mikhail clearly listed the things he had done and other reasons, even though Pyotr Petrovich was quite tolerant of himself and very good at defending himself, in the end he could only be left speechless and quite awkwardly dissolved this engagement that had only a verbal agreement.

Any further entanglement seemed meaningless; it was better to maintain the last bit of dignity.

(End of this chapter)