I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 2: Vanka

When Mikhail finally arrived at the place agreed upon in a letter, his classmate Dmitriy Vasilyevich Grigorovich was already waiting for him at the end of the street.

As soon as the other person saw him, he came over excitedly, gave him a hug, and greeted him warmly: "Long time no see, Misha! Are you feeling better? God bless you, God knows how happy I am to see you."

"Long time no see, Demi. I'm much better now." As Mikhail had been busy all the time, his illness had not been completely cured. So when the man in front of him who looked like a giant bear hugged him, Mikhail felt like he could hardly breathe.

But in order not to disappoint the other party's enthusiasm, Mikhail still managed to reply: "I'm glad that you are still so energetic."

Another thing that must be mentioned is that although Mikhail was a master's degree student specializing in Russian literature in his previous life, he still thinks that Russian names are really ugly and long, and the various declensions and variations can almost drive people crazy.

Fortunately, he is still half proficient in Russian now, and the rest needs to wait until he absorbs the memory in his brain.

Speaking of names, take his current name as an example, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov. His name is Mikhail, which means the incarnation of God. Romanovich is the father's name, and Raskolnikov is the surname, which is also the family name.

Others can call him Mikhail directly, which is more respectful, or they can call him Mikhail Romanovich. People who are more familiar and intimate with him can call him Misha.

The same was true for the giant bear-like classmate in front of him.

On a related note, although Mikhail was currently a law student, he had to temporarily drop out due to poverty. And although the original owner had always been unsociable and avoided all social engagements, she still had one or two classmates with whom she got along well.

Dmitriy was a good friend he met during school. He came from a landlord family. Normal Russians were already very emotional, but he was a Russian among Russians. He usually cared more about other people's affairs than his own.

Compared to his strong and rugged appearance, Mikhail was handsome, with beautiful black eyes and dark brown hair. He was above average height, slender and well-proportioned. If he hadn't been so withdrawn and hadn't thought too much and was having trouble speaking, he wouldn't have pushed himself into this situation if he had known more people.

These thoughts flashed through Mikhail's mind. When the other party finally released his massive, tree-like arm, Mikhail, who had regained his breath, quickly said, "I've already told you the reason for my visit in the letter. Have you read it? Here, this is my manuscript."

"Of course, my friend. I never thought you had such talent." Dmitriy enthusiastically took the manuscript that Mikhail handed over from his arms. Although he showed great interest, he did not read it directly. Instead, he said to Mikhail, who looked a little haggard:

"Let's go find a bar and have a drink together! And then eat something. Look how weak you are."

"Isn't this bad?" The hungry Mikhail was eager to move.

"Let's go! You're still as polite as before." Laughing and patting Mikhail on the back, the elegantly dressed Dmitriy pulled Mikhail, who was almost beaten to death, forward. "Let's go to the tavern on the street ahead. It's unusually quiet there. This way I can read your novel first. What's your novel? A heroic story?"

"A story about a poor boy."

"Oh?" Dmitri's expression suddenly grew more serious. "Then I'll have to take a closer look. You know, I'm also writing novels about this subject, but I often feel that the poor people I write about are not even one-tenth as poor as they are in real life."

"Ah."

That's right, Dmitriy, who looks like a giant bear, seems to be galloping on the battlefield, but unexpectedly, he also aims to become a writer.

Although he came from a landlord family, he always had great sympathy for the lower classes and did not care about other people's background when making friends. Otherwise, he would not have hung out with a poor guy like Mikhail.

This was a traditional skill among some Russian nobles during this period. Its origins can be traced back to 1814, when Russia resisted Napoleon's invasion. Although many young Russian nobles hated Napoleon's invasion, they came to admire the spirit of freedom and democracy in the Napoleonic Code after learning about it.

After witnessing the vigorous revolutionary movement taking place in Europe and the miserable lives of the lower-class serfs in the country for a long time, the progressive young Russian nobles gathered together to discuss many times and finally made a decision that went against their ancestors.

That is to overthrow the Tsar’s autocracy, liberate the serfs, and establish a country of freedom, equality and democracy.

This was the Decembrist movement that later shocked Russia.

Ordinary people did not understand their behavior. They said, "How strange! When others rebel, it is because shoemakers want to be masters. What do these masters want to do by rebelling? Do they want to be shoemakers?"
Although their actions ultimately failed, their spirit has indeed been passed down in some form.

To this day, Tsar Nicholas I still takes strong measures against these extraordinary people, including but not limited to prohibiting children of nobles from studying in Western Europe, prohibiting the import of books from Western Europe, and stopping teaching philosophy to students in universities.

But it still couldn't completely suppress the revolutionary tide surging in the country. Even the original owner seemed to have joined some kind of group during his college years...

Wait, isn't that me?!

No, buddy! You're practically broke, and you're still doing a job that's going to get you hanged?!

Mikhail's face turned green when he thought of this.

However, as the saying goes, if you want to live a decent life, you have to have some green on your head. Even if the original owner left behind a mess that could lead to the gallows if he wasn't careful, he can't die after all.

Not only will you not die, but you can also have a hot meal in a mid-range pub, including red cabbage soup with plenty of lard and beef, as well as some fried ham and grilled lamb chops. What else is there to think about?

Eat first!
Mikhail didn't know how long it had been since he had a proper meal. Due to the overdue rent, the three meals a day provided by the landlady could be described as just water.

Seeing Mikhail wolfing down his food, Dmitriy, who had already eaten before coming, couldn't help shaking his head. His friend looked really hungry. Fortunately, he was not as proud as before.

While Mikhail was having his meal, even though the tavern was a little noisy, Dmitriy still read Mikhail's novel with great interest. Before actually reading, this giant bear-like man also made a preset for himself in his mind.

Since this is Misha’s first novel, she probably won’t be very good.

So I won't say too much after reading it, and try to be encouraging. If he still has this idea later, then we can discuss it together and make progress together.

With this thought in mind, Dmitriy began his reading.

As for the name,

Vanka

(End of this chapter)