Chapter 58: A New Novel

Fantasies are pleasant enough, but when the three of them arrived at the editorial office of "Notes of the Fatherland," where Kraevsky was currently located, Belinsky instantly felt as though he had been kicked back into reality, and he began to sigh heavily.

Yet at the same time, he had to pull himself together and, just before meeting Kraevsky, try his best to appear relatively normal.

After Belinsky had composed his mood, Mikhail entered Kraevsky's office alongside him, and Mikhail finally got to formally meet this publisher in person.

He was already quite advanced in years; his slightly graying hair was neatly groomed, while the expression on his face was a somewhat affected solemnity and seriousness.

However, upon seeing who had arrived, this publisher quickly broke into an eager and affectionate smile, then stood up to greet the two: "It has been a long time, dear Vissarion. And who is this handsome young man? I suppose I need not guess; who else could it be but Mr. Mikhail Romanovich, who has recently become so famous throughout St. Petersburg?"

In truth, judging merely from appearances, Kraevsky would always strive to appear eager and affectionate toward Belinsky and those writers and poets associated with him; after all, for those sincere and inexperienced young people, what method could be easier to win their hearts and induce them to contribute their talents for free?

But very often, to truly understand a person, one cannot look only at how he speaks; one must also see exactly how he acts.

When "Notes of the Fatherland" was just getting started, Kraevsky had incurred quite a few debts, and under such circumstances, Belinsky and several others enthusiastically contributed articles to this magazine, often accepting not a single kopeck; yet once the magazine truly began to prosper, the remuneration for Belinsky and the others hardly increased at all.

Even after Belinsky married and his expenses increased substantially, the compensation Kraevsky gave him saw only a trivial increase; he still claimed that his finances were tight and that he was burdened with heavy debts, but Belinsky and the others knew very well that by this time, all of Kraevsky's debts had already been paid off.

It was precisely for this reason that Belinsky grew increasingly dissatisfied with this Mr.

However, given Belinsky's character, he had never been skilled at dealing with people, let alone dealing with someone who, at least on the surface, treated him with such eagerness and affection; thus, even though he clearly recognized the other's hypocrisy at that moment, Belinsky could do nothing but exchange polite formalities and engage in some small talk.

And now, compared to chatting with Belinsky, who knew his true nature, Kraevsky was far more willing to spend a bit more time talking with this young man who, though just emerging, possessed extraordinary talent.

If he could win this young man's heart and ensure he continued contributing to "Notes of the Fatherland," would he still need to worry about subscription numbers?

Absolutely not!

Yet for some reason, faced with the eager and affectionate words of such an authority figure in the Cultural Circle, this young man did not seem particularly flattered; he merely exchanged polite greetings and engaged in some small talk.

Although somewhat surprised by this young man's attitude, Kraevsky did not show it; he simply invited Belinsky and Mikhail to sit down, then exchanged a few more polite remarks and told several jokes he considered particularly clever.

Regarding other matters mentioned by Belinsky, he nodded with a smile, repeatedly agreeing with everything Belinsky said in a very gentle voice, and at times even offered some of his own insights on literary issues, which, at first hearing, indeed made one feel he possessed fairly extensive knowledge in these areas.

However, the moment Belinsky brought up the issue of remuneration, a shrewd expression instantly appeared on this Mr.'s face, and the eagerness and affection on his countenance immediately transformed into a hollow solemnity.

"Yes, Vissarion, I ought to pay you the remuneration you deserve; I had intended to deliver it to you personally, but since you have now taken the initiative to ask for it, even though it is somewhat sudden, I am willing to do my best to hand over all the remuneration to you in full."

Mikhail: "?"

What else? Could he possibly not give it all?

Then again, that's correct; there are plenty of people who not only want to earn the money but also expect you to be grateful and indebted to them when they finally pay up.

"Mm."

Belinsky, whose expression was slightly displeased, said nothing extra; he merely nodded, and then he received a amount of remuneration that even Mikhail found somewhat startling.

To be strict about it, the remuneration was passable, at least considerably higher than Mikhail's, but considering Belinsky's core position within "Notes of the Fatherland" and his enormous reputation in the field of criticism, such remuneration was far from being considered generous.

And if Belinsky still had a family to support, this sum of money would require even more careful budgeting.

After paying Belinsky's remuneration, Kraevsky, who had deliberately handed over the money in front of Mikhail, then turned his gaze toward Mikhail and said gently:

"Dear Mikhail, I assume Vissarion has already spoken to you about the matter? Regarding your poem, we are willing to publish it in the magazine and pay you a sum of remuneration. If you have a new novel, we would welcome that as well; I am willing to increase your remuneration further. How does that sound?"

To be honest, if Mikhail's poem had not become so popular among the upper echelons of St. Petersburg in recent days, Kraevsky would truly have prepared to pay according to the price from last time, but for the sake of those noble lords, he might as well raise it slightly.

So now, raising his remuneration time and again, while also letting him roughly know Vissarion's remuneration, combined with such an affectionate and natural attitude—how could he possibly refuse?

"I apologize, Mr. Kraevsky; my visit to you today was also specifically to discuss this matter," Mikhail said with an apologetic tone. "Another magazine has already approached me; one hundred rubles for this poem plus a new novel. I was just about to agree to their offer; I have been somewhat short of money lately."

Kraevsky: "?"

Upon hearing Mikhail's words, Kraevsky immediately began quickly calculating in his mind; although such remuneration was indeed somewhat excessive, considering the poem's popularity within high society and his own highly popular novels, Kraevsky soon reached a conclusion in his heart that this deal would not be a loss.

But! It was still far too different from the price he had planned to offer.

"You know, Mikhail,"

After his brain spun rapidly for a moment, Kraevsky returned to his solemn state: "There are very few magazines in St. Petersburg more open and inclusive than our 'Notes of the Fatherland,' and young people must consider their future development more; it is our 'Notes of the Fatherland'..."

After Kraevsky rattled on for quite a while, Mikhail's expression did not change in the slightest; he merely sighed and said, "I know everything you've said, but I can barely afford to eat anymore. Alas."

Kraevsky: "?"

But why do I feel your cheeks are plump and your face glowing with health?

After pondering for a long while longer in his heart, and seeing that Mikhail's attitude showed not the slightest change, then thinking about the recent sharp surge in the magazine's subscription numbers, Kraevsky's face twitched; ultimately, he switched to an affectionate tone and spoke:

"I understand, Mikhail. How about this then? Our magazine is also willing to pay the same price, but could we first ensure the quality? If it is nearly identical to your previous quality, we would even be willing to offer higher remuneration!"

Higher was impossible, and most likely, he could still press it down a bit.

How could novels like those from before be written so casually?

But one still had to say it that way.

Seeing that Kraevsky had already spoken thus, Mikhail appeared to hesitate for a long while, and only then nodded to agree to the matter.

Once this matter was settled, Kraevsky no longer had much mood for conversation, while Belinsky and Mikhail also chose an opportune moment to take their leave from Kraevsky's office.

After they had walked for a while upon exiting, Belinsky could not help but speak: "Mikhail, did a magazine really approach you and offer such a high price? Although your poetry and novels are indeed worth that amount, the publishers of the major magazines in St. Petersburg are each notoriously stingy."

"Someone did approach me, but they certainly did not offer such a high price."

Mikhail shrugged his hands and said, "However, it was indeed not far off; I simply exaggerated the figure slightly."

"... Perhaps I really should learn from you."

"It is a very simple method, Vissarion; one must always try to reclaim the money one deserves."

"Yes, but I still didn't expect that upon meeting this Mr. Kraevsky for the first time, you would truly adopt such an attitude. When you were criticizing him behind his back, I thought you were merely venting your grievances."

After sighing with emotion for a while, Belinsky suddenly thought of something else and looked at Mikhail with some excitement: "And you mentioned your new novel; do you have another novel about to be published? I have long been your loyal reader! What is this one about?"

"You will know very soon, dear Vissarion," Mikhail said with a smile. "This is a very interesting novel."

These two chapters together exceed five thousand characters, so this should count as a slight bonus update (doge head).

Once again, many thanks to the big shots "kiniko," "Dong Kong," "svchost. exe," and "jamesxu-SBZ" for their donations; thank you very much!

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(End of Chapter)