I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 186 I Miss You So Much in St. Petersburg and Income and Expenditure
Strictly speaking, Mikhail's expenses during his visit to Turgenev were quite high. Besides basic expenses and helping others, Mikhail did want to buy something else, such as the Russian wolfhound he borrowed from Turgenev. It must be said that it is indeed a good hunting helper, and after spending so much time together, he had developed some affection for it.

Turgenev was not surprised by Mikhail's suggestion, and said to Mikhail, "Mikhail, I would have given it to you anyway even if you hadn't mentioned it! Look, it's only been a short time, and it has already completely taken on your shape! I reckon your commands are more effective than those of my dog, Karataev."

Mikhail: “?”

What inappropriate and offensive language!
"And aren't you planning to go to General Danilevsky's place next? There will probably be some hunting activities there, and having such an assistant would be much more respectable and convenient. Have you been thinking about what to bring with you? I can find you some specialties from our Oryol province."

Regarding his later remarks, Mikhail could only say that Old Turk was right.

When he said these words, Turgenev had already vaguely guessed why Mikhail wanted to visit General Danilevsky. After all, anyone who knew Mikhail would have noticed that Mikhail actually had a "favoritism" towards this general.

After all, a little observation would reveal that Mikhail visited this general's residence far more often than others, and many of these others held more power than the general, yet Mikhail still favored General Danilevsky.

Although some ill-intentioned people in the circle thought that Mikhail was coveting the general's power, Turgenev scoffed at this claim. After all, if he really coveted power, wouldn't Mikhail have shared it with everyone?
And it might even be more effective to go to those wealthy ladies!
Therefore, after eliminating all possibilities, Turgenev naturally guessed some of the truth. However, this truth, strictly speaking, seemed even more unbelievable than Mikhail's covetousness of the general's power. Only when he thought of this did Turgenev realize that Mikhail's identity was actually that of a commoner.

Frankly speaking, at this point, at least within the cultural circles of St. Petersburg, aside from those with deeply ingrained ideologies and malicious intentions, who would still bring up this matter? Turgenev had long forgotten about it, but now, recalling the specific events, he suddenly realized that things were indeed somewhat difficult to handle.

I had assumed Mikhail was completely clueless about love, but he surprised me by launching into something so difficult right off the bat. Turgenev could only sigh, "Truly, Mikhail!"
Although Turgenev tried hard for many days but could not come up with a suitable solution—after all, in those days nobles would rather send their daughters to a convent than do anything that would damage the family's reputation—Turgenev certainly could not persuade Mikhail to give up on such a matter.

Therefore, besides helping Mikhail obtain some presentable local specialties, Turgenev also mentioned, based on some gossip from high society that he had heard and other information he had gathered:
"Speaking of this general, his daughter is indeed in a rather delicate situation. It is said that there is no suitable candidate who matches her family background in the short term. People at higher levels are not suitable, but other candidates are not respectable and do not provide much help to their family. Of course, it is also related to her own lack of willingness."

Even so, there are still quite a few people willing to give it a try, after all, it's said that this young lady will receive a considerable sum of money, so their estate should be quite lively when the family goes on vacation to the countryside in the summer.

Mikhail had, of course, inquired about these things, but he still thanked Turgenev for his kindness. As for the fact that the general's house was very lively now, Mikhail knew even better, since even though he had come to Turgenev's hometown, the general had still sent him a letter a couple of days ago.

The gist of it is: My place is very lively, so many people have come, I have everything here, you should come and have a seat too.

Although the general was a bit pretentious in the letter, the general idea was indeed: "I miss you very much at my estate near St. Petersburg."

Mikhail: “.”

Actually, I miss you a lot in Oryol province too.
Well, saying that would be too hurtful to the general.

In short, Mikhail will stay with Turgenev for a while longer, and then he will indeed be going to sit with the general for a while.

Speaking of money, although the expenses were considerable, when Mikhail had some free time and did some calculations, he found that the money he brought did not seem to have decreased much. In fact, if Mikhail were a little more ruthless, it wouldn't be difficult for the money to increase even more.

The reason for this phenomenon is that many landlords in the countryside also love card games these days. Although winter is generally the peak season for gambling, for some people who love this game, it doesn't really matter what season it is.

In Russia at this time, entertainment was obviously scarce, especially in the countryside. Gambling, a thrilling game, naturally won the favor of many idle nobles and landowners. Pushkin once described in his diary: "The way to pass the time on rainy days is to gamble wildly."

It is worth mentioning that Alexander Pushkin was a famous gambler. His name was directly listed on the "List of Famous Gamblers" by the Moscow Police Department, ranking thirty-sixth. His reputation as a gambler was almost equal to that of a poet.

While the hot-tempered Lao Da is passionate about gambling, his gambling etiquette is indeed poor. When he loses money, he often accuses his opponents of cheating and refuses to pay his gambling debts.

Later, perhaps due to excessive gambling, Pushkin entered a period of clarity and wrote "The Queen of Spades" based on rumors he had heard from others. The novel vehemently denounces gambling for its destructive influence on people's hearts and reflects the moral decay of ambitious bourgeois individuals.

To this, Mikhail can only say that everyone has moments of wisdom; don't mistake a moment for eternity.
Dostoevsky later followed a similar process. Having exhausted all his gambling debts, Dostoevsky signed a limited-term contract with the publisher and, with the assistance of stenographer Anna, dictated "The Gambler" in less than a month.

Fortunately, Dostoevsky not only successfully completed this work, but also found love.

In response, Mikhail casually remarked to Dostoevsky earlier, "Fyodor, you could try writing a book called 'The Gambler' sometime; who knows what good things might happen."

Faced with Mikhail's words, Tolstoy didn't think much of it, only blushing slightly as he muttered things like, "How can entertainment and socializing be called gambling? Mikhail, I will never become a gambler. I might write such a book, but it's highly unlikely I'll become one," which nearly made Mikhail lose his composure. Besides these two, there was another even more outrageous case. Around 1855, Tolstoy and his colleagues in his Crimean office played a card game called "Russian Thirteen Cards" for two days and two nights straight. Tolstoy kept losing, to the point that he eventually lost the house where he was born and which he loved most.

In order to keep the house, Tolstoy sold eleven of his other villages, along with the serfs, lumberyards and horses therein, but even so he still could not get out of his predicament. In the end, the house was sold to a local merchant, and was demolished and sold in batches.

To lose so much in just two days and two nights demonstrates just how rampant gambling was during that period.

It's worth mentioning that if Mikhail has the time, he would indeed like to go to places like Kazan to meet the young Tolstoy and see if he is really as uniquely ugly as he claims.

The two really didn't have much interaction, and Mikhail probably thought the young Tolstoy would have found his visit quite strange.

Returning to the journey with Turgenev, since the two visited many landlords, they naturally participated in some of their card games. If the landlord was a decent person, Mikhail would only play a small hand, and even deliberately let the host win so that the host wouldn't lose too badly.

But no matter what, the win was definitely a small one, which replenished Mikhail's wallet a little.

However, when he encountered landlords who were famous for certain things, Mikhail would also show off his skills. But even after showing off his skills, some new rumors began to circulate. So much so that when Mikhail and Turgenev visited the home of a landlord named Mardali Apollonich, this landlord, who was said to be fond of playing a card game called Pleferance, did not mention playing cards at all.

Even when a friend he had arranged to meet arrived, Mardali hurriedly pulled him aside and said to his bewildered friend, "Let's cancel today's card game! Haven't you heard? A terrible writer has come to St. Petersburg. He's from St. Petersburg, after all. While we were betting 30 or 50 rubles, do you know how much he bet? He started with 300 to 500 rubles!"
And he's in my house today! I've heard he almost never loses; if I entertain him for one night, I might lose my entire fortune.

"Hey, how can you believe such a thing?"

When Maldali said this, his friend shook his head as if he found it amusing: "I've heard the rumor you mentioned, but I've also heard that this young man's card skills aren't as good as many people imagine, and he even bets less than the people on our side!"
"And I've heard that he's won a lot of money, but he's only been able to go back and forth with many people. As a seasoned player in this field, how could you possibly lose to a young man?"

"really?"

Despite some skepticism, the landlord, known for his methods of managing serfs and for his 'fairness,' eventually convened the card game that evening, somewhat hesitantly, at the urging of his friend.

It's worth mentioning that games like Plefrançaise are most commonly played with three players. Due to its clever rules, it's not a purely luck-based gamble, but rather requires precise calculation of the remaining hand types and the opponents' habits.

When the card game began that evening, Mardali quickly noticed that the young man named Turgenev was not participating, but instead looking at his companion from St. Petersburg with a rather excited gaze, as if his companion was about to cast some kind of spell.

When it came time to place the bets, Mardali, as usual, suggested twenty or thirty rubles, and then kept a close eye on the young man who didn't seem to be very wealthy.

In reality, Mikhail's betting was certainly not as wild as rumored. After all, he was on someone else's turf. If he won too much and pushed people to their limits, it would certainly not be a good thing for Mikhail or others.

Therefore, when faced with the stares from others, Mikhail simply smiled and then naturally held up one finger, saying, "That doesn't seem exciting enough. How about one hundred rubles?"

One hundred rubles?!

Upon hearing this figure, Maldali and his friend's expressions changed slightly. Compared to their entire fortune, this amount wasn't much, but it was enough for just one card game.
The bigwig from St. Petersburg is really going all out?!

Although they immediately had doubts, their pride as landlords and elders made them reluctantly agree. However, after only a few rounds, Turgenev watched with great pleasure as the expressions of the two gentlemen changed again and again.

Leaving aside the other gentleman, Turgenev found it difficult to respect this landowner named Mardali. After observing them for a few more rounds, while the two gentlemen were still putting on a brave face, Mikhail had stopped at just the right moment.

After finishing the game, Mikhail, feeling that it was about time, said, "How about we stop here? We have some other things to do."

Although the reason sounded rather lame, Maldali and his friends were actually relieved. While trying to maintain appearances, Maldali quickly saw his guests off.

After leaving behind yet another rumor, Mikhail and Turgenev set off for a new place.
(End of this chapter)