The granddaughter of the writer, Valentina Katayev, told how her girlfriend at school was asked to write a piece about what Katayev invested in the image of Vany from the novel "Son of the Regiment". A friend came to Katayev in visit and asked about this the writer himself, taking his words as the basis of his work. As a result, for the composition, she received a three with a minus with a comment that Katayev thought about something completely different.