The action takes place in Moscow and takes place in several time plans: the mid-1930s, the second half of the 1940s, and the beginning of the 1970s. A scientist, literary critic Vadim Aleksandrovich Glebov, who agreed to buy an antique table in a furniture store, arrives there and, in search of the person he needs, accidentally runs into his school friend Lyovka Shulepnikova, a local worker who has gone down and seems to be drunk. Glebov calls out to him by name, but Shulepnikov turns away, not recognizing or pretending not to recognize. This greatly aggravates Glebov, he does not believe that he is guilty of something before Shulepnikov, and in general, if you blame anyone, then it’s time. Glebov returns home, where he is waiting for the unexpected news that his daughter is going to marry a certain Tolmachev, a bookstore seller. Annoyed by the meeting and the failure in the furniture, he is in some confusion. And in the middle of the night a telephone rings him - the very Shulepnikov is calling, who, it turns out, nevertheless recognized him and even found his phone. In his speech, the same bravado, the same boast, although it is clear that this is another Shulepnikovsky bluff.
Glebov recalls that once, at the time of the appearance of Shulepnikov in their class, he painfully envied him. Lyovka lived in a gray huge house on the embankment in the very center of Moscow. Many of Vadim's classmates lived there, and it seemed that a completely different life was going on than in the surrounding ordinary houses. This was also the subject of Glebov's burning envy. He himself lived in a common apartment in Deryuginsky Lane near the "big house". The guys called him Vadka Baton, because on the first day he entered school, he brought a loaf of bread and gave him slices of those he liked. He, “absolutely no one”, also wanted to stand out with something. Glebov’s mother at one time worked as a ticket agent in a movie theater, so Vadim could go to any film without a ticket and even sometimes play buddies. This privilege was the basis of his power in the class, which he used very prudently, inviting only those in whom he was interested. And the authority of Glebov remained unshakable until Shulepnikov arose. He immediately made an impression - he was wearing leather pants. Lyovka held on arrogantly, and they decided to teach him a lesson by arranging something like a dark one - they pounced in droves and tried to pull off his pants. However, the unexpected happened - pistol shots instantly scattered the attackers, who already twisted Levka. Then it turned out that he was shooting from a very similar to the real German scarecrow.
Immediately after that attack, the director arranged a search for criminals, Lyovka did not want to extradite anyone, and the case seemed to be hushed up. So he became, to Glebova's envy, also a hero. And as far as cinema is concerned, Shulepnikov Glebova also outdid: once he called the guys to his home and scrolled them on his own movie camera the very action movie "Blue Express", which Glebov was so fond of. Later Vadim made friends with Shulepa, as they called him in the classroom, and began to visit him at home, in a huge apartment, which also made a strong impression on him. It turned out that Shulepnikov had everything, and one person, according to Glebov, should not have everything.
Glebov’s father, who worked as a chemical chemist at a confectionery factory, advised his son not to be seduced by friendship with Shulepnikov and less likely to be in that house. However, when Uncle Volodya was arrested, Vadim's mother asked his father through Lyovka, an important lump in the state security organs, to find out about him. Shulepnikov Sr., having secluded himself with Glebov, said he would find out, but in turn asked him to tell the names of the instigators in that story with the scarecrow, which, as Glebov thought, had long been forgotten. And Vadim, who himself was among the instigators and therefore was afraid that this would eventually come up, called two names. Soon, these guys, along with their parents, disappeared, like his apartment neighbors Bychkov, who terrorized the entire district and once beat Shulepnikov and Anton Ovchinnikov, another of their classmate, who appeared in their lane.
Then Shulepnikov appears in 1947, at the same institute where Glebov studied. Seven years have passed since they last saw each other. Glebov was evacuated, starving, and in the last year of the war he managed to serve in the army, in parts of airfield services. Shulepa, according to him, flew to Istanbul with a diplomatic mission, was married to an Italian, then dispersed, etc. His stories are full of mystery. He is still the birthday of life, arrives at the institute on the trophy BMW, presented to him by his stepfather, now another and also from the authorities. And he lives again in an elite house, only now on Tverskaya. Only his mother Alina Fedorovna, a hereditary noblewoman, has not changed at all. Of their other classmates, some were no longer alive, while others were crushed to different ends. There was only Sonya Ganchuk, the daughter of the professor and head of the department at their institute, Nikolai Vasilyevich Ganchuk. As a friend of Sonya and the secretary of the seminar, Glebov often visits Ganchuk all in the same house on the embankment, to which he has longed for dreams since school years. Gradually he becomes his here. And still feels like a poor relative.
Once at a party at Sonya, he suddenly realizes that he could be in this house on completely different grounds. From this very day, as if by order, it begins to develop in Sonya completely different than just a friendly feeling. After the celebration of the New Year at the Ganchuk cottage in Bruski, Gleb and Sonya become close. Sonya's parents do not know anything about their romance, but Glebov feels some hostility on the part of Sonya’s mother, Julia Mikhailovna, a German teacher at their institute.
At this very time, all sorts of unpleasant events began at the institute, which directly affected Glebov as well. First, a teacher of linguistics Astrug was fired, then the turn came to Sonya's mother, Yulia Mikhailovna, who was offered to take exams in order to get a diploma of a Soviet university and have the right to teach, since she has a diploma from Vienna University.
Glebov was in his fifth year, writing a diploma when he was unexpectedly asked to go to the educational part. Someone Druzyaev, a former military prosecutor who recently appeared at the institute, along with graduate student Shireyko hinted that they knew all the Gleb circumstances, including his closeness to his daughter Ganchuk, and therefore it would be better if someone became the head of the Gleb diploma other. Glebov agrees to talk with Ganchuk, but later, especially after a frank conversation with Sonya, who was stunned, he realized that everything was much more complicated. At first, he hopes that somehow he will resolve itself by itself, over time, but he is constantly reminded, making it clear that both graduate school and Griboedov’s scholarship due to Glebov after the winter session depend on his behavior. Even later, he realizes that the problem is not in him at all, but in the fact that they “rolled a barrel” on Ganchuk. And there was fear - “completely insignificant, blind, formless, like a creature born in the dark underground.”
Once, Glebov suddenly discovers that his love for Sonya is not at all as serious as it seemed. Meanwhile, Glebov is forced to speak at a meeting where they should discuss Ganchuk. Shireiko's article condemning Ganchuk appears, in which it is mentioned that some graduates (meaning Glebov in particular) refuse his scientific leadership. It comes to Nikolai Vasilyevich himself. Only the recognition of Sonya, who revealed to her father their relationship with Glebov, somehow relieves the situation. The need to speak at a meeting depresses Vadim, who does not know how to get out. He rushes about, goes to Shulepnikov, hoping for his secret power and connections. They get drunk, go to some women, and the next day Glebov, with a heavy hangover, cannot go to college.
However, he is not left alone at home. The antidruzayev group hopes for him. These students want Vadim to defend Ganchuk on their behalf. Kuno Ivanovich, secretary of Ganchuk, comes to him with a request not to remain silent. Glebov lays out all the pros and cons, and not a single one suits him. In the end, everything is arranged in an unexpected way: on the night before the fateful meeting, Glebov’s grandmother dies, and with good reason he does not go to the meeting. But with Sonya it’s already over, the question for Vadim is resolved, he ceases to be in their house, and with Ganchuk, too, everything is determined - he was sent to the regional pedagogical university to strengthen peripheral personnel.
All this, like many other things, Glebov seeks to forget, not remember, and he succeeds. He received postgraduate studies, a career, and Paris, where he went as a member of the board of the essay section at the congress of the MALE (International Association of Literary and Essayists). Life is developing quite well, however, everything that he dreamed about and what later came to him did not bring joy, "because it took so much strength and that irreplaceable thing that is called life."
