Chapter 5: Sister

A female landlord and a male tenant; perhaps because he had seen too many things like that before, Mikhail once thought this sounded like a somewhat ambiguous pairing, but now, he could only say that seeing a Russian female landlord would make one behave……

After all, the bitter cold of Siberia has blown upon the Slavs for over a dozen centuries, and the suffering of the lower classes has continued for nearly a thousand years; it would be one thing if only the environment were harsh, but the upper classes even called them "grey cattle," driving them at will.

To survive in such an environment, having only a strong will to live and a tenacious spirit is not enough; one must also possess a robust physique.

Whether man or woman.

Indeed, many times, Russian women play a more important role in life than men.

And when it comes to specific matters, a sturdy female landlord can truly carry a rowdy drunkard out and throw him away, and can truly loosen the bones of a tenant like Mikhail who owes rent, or even deliver a heavy punch.

So the three of them really stayed quiet for a good while; only when they finally heard no more noise from the landlord's side did Mikhail and the other two begin to speak quietly about the matter.

But when they began to talk about Mikhail's novel, Nekrasov still couldn't help feeling a bit excited:

"Mikhail, I intend to recommend your novel to Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky! Do you know him? If he sees your novel, he might be even more excited than I am.

But you know, a big shot like him has many things to deal with in his daily life, and I cannot just meet him whenever I please.

So how about this? Can you write one or two more novels like this? If he finds them suitable, he might even write a review for you personally, and then you will directly ascend to the Russian literary scene! Let us together spread 'Naturalism' far and wide!"

The 'Naturalism' mentioned by Nekrasov is, in later terms, Critical Realism.

Undoubtedly, this will be the main trend of literature in the coming era.

As for who Belinsky is, let that be put aside for now; speaking only of the present, undoubtedly, Belinsky is the current leader of the literary scene, wielding enormous influence in the literary world through his outstanding critical essays.

If one could truly obtain a review from him, it would be no different from ascending to the literary scene in a single step.

So, did I just get Dostoevsky's famous script?

Despite his surprise, facing the other's proposal, Mikhail certainly could not refuse.

So after a brief discussion, the three agreed on a time and place; immediately after, Dmitri and Nekrasov took their leave.

Nekrasov has been in the spotlight recently, and wanting to achieve a great career, he has not spared himself these days, accumulating quite a number of affairs.

Dmitri, not wanting to disturb Mikhail who was about to begin new writing, left a sentence:

"I look forward to your new work, my friend! When you have time one day, I will truly ask you for advice on writing matters."

After that, he also left.

After seeing the two off, Mikhail first went to find the landlord Pavlovna; before the other could open her mouth to say anything, Mikhail took out several rubles and handed them over:

"I will repay some first, Pavlovna; I promise I will settle the rest as soon as possible; please grant me a little more time."

By the way, before Dmitri left, Mikhail again shamelessly borrowed some money; even if the future is bright, one must first endure this period of time.

"I was originally prepared to report you to the police today." After taking the money and counting it, the burly woman before Mikhail's eyes finally looked much better: "For God's sake, I will grant you a little more time."

Having roughly solved the rent problem, before Mikhail could resume writing, Nastasya, the landlord's only maid and cook, came over.

Nastasya came from the countryside; she was no longer young, very talkative, spoke a lot, and the food she made was often hard to swallow.

Now she came over and directly handed a letter to Mikhail:

"Your letter; I paid three kopecks to the postman on your behalf."

In the current Tsarist Russia, postage was often paid by the recipient.

A letter?

After being slightly stunned and thinking of something, Mikhail gave the money to this maid, then took the letter and returned to his own room.

Upon opening it, he saw it was from Mikhail's mother, sent from their hometown.

"My dear Misha, I have not corresponded with you for two months, so I feel very distressed; sometimes at night, thinking back and forth, I toss and turn unable to sleep. However, for my silence which was forced upon me, I suppose you will not blame me?

You know how much I love you: you are our only relative—Dunya and I—you are everything to us, our entire hope, our expectation.

When I learned that because you had no money, you have not attended university classes for several months, and that your teaching fees and other income have completely ceased, how sad I was. I have only one hundred and twenty rubles a year in pension; what can this money do to help you?

The fifteen rubles I sent you four months ago, you know yourself, were borrowed from a local merchant with this pension as collateral……"

Regarding this family letter, for some reason, a very complex emotion was spreading within Mikhail's heart.

As for the content of the letter, in short, although many situations have arisen in the family recently, they can finally 'bring good news' to him now.

It is roughly that they can finally send him a little more money.

Mikhail's father was a minor clerk; after losing his job, he drank alcohol all day long, and finally, like many people, fell in the cold Russian winter.

The mother is already old; besides the pension, she has no other way but mortgages and loans.

And Mikhail's sister, in order to send him a little money, went to work as a governess for someone else, but thereby suffered endless harassment; in the end, she was instead turned against by the employer's wife and driven out in front of many people.

Now, forced by helplessness and out of concern for Mikhail's situation, Mikhail's sister Dunya is now prepared to marry a forty-five-year-old civil servant; as for the purpose……

"We have already risked sounding out Petrovich. He spoke very cautiously; he said, of course, he cannot do without a secretary, let alone that it is better to pay the salary to one's own relative than to an outsider, provided this relative is competent for the post (would you not be competent?!),

But he immediately expressed doubt: your university studies probably will not allow you time to work at his office.

This conversation ended there, but Dunya now thinks of nothing else but this matter. She has been in a state of frenzy for several days now, having formulated a complete plan……"

It can be seen that although Mikhail's mother described this matter very optimistically and as very likely, this forty-five-year-old civil servant has actually been vague all along, giving no definite answer.

And Mikhail's sister is indeed a beautiful and intelligent child; yes, she is probably only seventeen years old this year.

"For three years, we are about to meet, about to embrace each other tightly! When Dunya thinks of the scene of meeting you, she beams with joy and is extremely excited; once she joked that even for this alone, she would be willing to marry Petrovich!

Now everyone knows this news, so my credit has suddenly improved. I am certain that Ivan will now feel at ease mortgaging my pension, and might even lend me seventy-five rubles; in that case, I might be able to remit twenty-five or even thirty-five rubles to you."

After reading this letter, while Mikhail's mood was complex, he once again realized that his current situation seemed very similar to that of the protagonist in "Crime and Punishment".

Of course, at this point, saying anything else has little meaning; after all, life is right before one's eyes; let us first stop this typical marriage of taking advantage of a vulnerable situation.

Anger surged up, but was quickly suppressed by Mikhail.

At this point, solving the problem is the urgent priority.

Other matters must wait for a while; for now, let us first write a reply letter to the family to explain the situation.

Mikhail sat down again before the tattered desk, picked up a pen, and prepared to change the fate of his current sister.

Regarding the prices and the purchasing power of the ruble in Russia during this period, I have looked up many sources, but it seems there is no most accurate answer.

Therefore, taking a relatively close figure, roughly one ruble equals one hundred kopecks, and one ruble is approximately equal to two hundred yuan today.

Of course, purchasing power is not easy to convert, but it can be roughly estimated; in reality, the situation is even more complex, with distinctions such as gold rubles and paper rubles.

If any big shot has more accurate information, please feel free to share it; thank you very much.

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(End of this chapter)