It was already the next morning when Nekrasov received Mikhail's manuscript.
Despite being busy for nearly the entire night with various affairs, upon hearing the name of the sender from the maid, Nekrasov perked up instantly. He solemnly accepted the manuscript and began reading it with voracious hunger.
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Only God knows how much sorrow, excitement, and heartfelt joy for the future of Russian literature he felt after reading 'vanka'.
If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have gone to Mikhail's home at four o'clock in the morning.
Recalling his words and actions after the fact, Nekrasov felt somewhat regretful.
After all, this young man had only completed a short story of a few thousand words. Even if the story was good and stunning enough, showing up at his door, grabbing his hand, and shouting, "A new Gogol is born!" was perhaps too much.
While it brought honor and recognition to a young man, it perhaps also brought him a great deal of invisible pressure.
What worried Nekrasov even more was whether this young man would be swept away by the sudden surprise, to the point where his future writing would become distorted, turning into a mere means of seeking recognition and fame.
Because of this, while full of anticipation for the new story, Nekrasov was also deeply worried.
But this worry did not last long; soon, Nekrasov was sitting at his desk, immersed in the story.
When he came to his senses, Nekrasov first felt a surge of intense bitterness, followed by an inevitable excitement.
He could no longer sit still. He stood up abruptly from his chair and began pacing the room.
"God, my God! No, no, no, there is no God. He might go even further than Gogol! No, no, it's too early to say that now, but who can say for sure about the future?
What should I do now? Belinsky! Yes, I should go find Belinsky!"
After talking to himself excitedly for a moment, Nekrasov, barely regaining his composure, hurriedly took both of Mikhail's manuscripts and rushed outside. Many people greeted him along the way, but Nekrasov was clearly absent-minded, responding only in a hurry.
Once he reached the main street, Nekrasov quickly hailed a carriage driver. After stating the destination and the driver began the journey, Nekrasov finally managed to calm his excited heart.
Looking at the thinly dressed driver in front of him and thinking of the story he had just read, Nekrasov suddenly felt his heart soften infinitely, and he couldn't help but speak up:
"Good morning, sir! How are you feeling today?"
"A bit terrible, sir." Although surprised that a guest had taken the initiative to talk to him, the driver replied loudly:
"The winter in Saint Petersburg has grown colder. In this kind of weather, after I'm done being a driver, there's still a mountain of work waiting for me back home."
Before the abolition of serfdom, many carriage drivers in Russian cities were Serfss from the families of landowners. After all, if one speaks of 'flexible employment,' spare houses must be rented out, and private cars can be used for ride-hailing—so what about spare Serfss?
Naturally, they were used as carriage drivers, apprentices, and various other roles!
Compared to other places, Saint Petersburg was actually slightly better.
After all, the current Tsar Nicholas I could, to some extent, be given a nickname: The Land Giver.
After experiencing the Decemberists uprising, Tsar Nicholas I naturally paid attention to the issues of Serfss and serfdom.
Paying attention was one thing; whether to solve it was another matter entirely.
Ultimately, since Catherine II, Russia had effectively become a country co-governed by the nobility and the Tsar. While the Tsar might have the final say on many matters, if he wanted to touch the nobility's lifeblood, he wouldn't be far from being mysteriously assassinated and sent to meet his ancestors.
In another sense, the Tsar and the peasants were actually the closest allies. To the Tsar, the nobles were rivals and competitors for power, while the Serfss were the objects to be won over and cared for.
To this end, the Tsar had more than once issued orders to reduce the working hours of Serfss, prohibit violent treatment, and mandate that several days of labor per week be paid to the Serfss, and so on.
A considerable number of Serfss also held feelings toward the Tsar similar to those for a father. Firstly, there was the education of love for the country and the monarch; secondly, those who actually oppressed them were indeed the group of nobles, not that god-like Tsar.
But this kind of thing, to put it bluntly... forget it, let's not talk about it.
In short, during the reign of Nicholas I, although he was often hesitant regarding the Serfs issue, some of his activities still laid the theoretical foundation for the 1861 emancipation reform.
Things like: the liberation of peasants must have a transition period, refusing to use redemption to allow peasants to gain personal freedom, liberating peasants without land, and formulating rules for distributing land to peasants under the premise of protecting noble estates.
At this current stage, Tsar Nicholas I had actually already started the 'land-giving' mode in the areas around Saint Petersburg. Of course, most of the time, he was giving away the nobles' land, even though nominally all land ownership in Russia belonged to the Tsar.
Thus, there were already many free people near Saint Petersburg in those years.
Back to the point, with Nekrasov starting the conversation, the somewhat talkative driver began a long series of complaints, mostly about trivial matters in life.
It was clear that he wasn't the kind of Serfs who was crazily abused by a landlord, but he was indeed exhausted by his daily chores.
Despite it being a mountain of seemingly insubstantial complaints, Nekrasov still listened very seriously, occasionally chiming in with a word or two of agreement.
When they arrived at the final destination, both felt they hadn't said enough, but in order to quickly get the manuscript into the hands of dear Visarion Grigoryevich Belinsky, Nekrasov ultimately bid the driver farewell.
When paying the fare before leaving, Nekrasov deliberately gave a few extra kopeks.
Even though he wasn't particularly well-off at the moment.
"Have a pleasant day, sir." While waving goodbye, Nekrasov also pumped his fist: "Please keep faith in the future; the future will get better and better, because someone is fighting for you!
Whether it is Visarion Grigoryevich Belinsky, or Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov!"
Hearing Nekrasov's words, although the driver was a bit confused, he was more than happy to have vented a mountain of things no one usually wanted to hear and to have received an extra fare.
Therefore, he also waved happily:
"God bless you, sir! And He will surely bless those two gentlemen you mentioned. Goodbye!"
After the farewell, Nekrasov walked toward his destination in an exceptionally pleasant mood. As he drew closer, his expression became more solemn, and he even checked if his attire was decent.
Even though the person Nekrasov was going to see now likely didn't have very decent attire or a decent residence.
Finally, taking a deep breath, Nekrasov strode toward an apartment building.