Jake looked the new currency exchange
clerk in the eye, and at the same time tried to think quickly about
whether he had missed something. "So," he checked with the
man behind the counter, "if I sign this contract, then under
this deal you will exchange all of my current belongings, everything
I own, for the centillion yen note and a flight to China in twenty
years time?"
"Yes." The man simply nodded.
Jake, still not moving, searched the
man's face for any sign of mischief or illusion, but found nothing
beyond the friendly smile. So his mind went over the facts.
Centillion yen! It would make
millionaires look poor and desperate. It could buy countries. It
could end world hunger, and it could afford world peace, but he could
only spend it in China twenty years from now.
Centillion yen was easily worth more
than everything he owned here in England, but he would have nothing
for twenty years. Twenty years of poverty for riches he would never
get to the end of.
Twenty years of poverty...
The small print in the contract said
that he was not allowed to leave this country during that time. It
also said that he wouldn't receive any income he worked for during
the next two decades.
But when the time in England ended,
Jake would be given every courtesy and service to transport him
across the world, and there the precious note would be worth
something. Something? It would be worth everything!
Centillion yen! It would not really
feel like being rich because he owned lots of money; it would feel
like being rich because he could own everything in the world. Life
without limits, life to the full!
Jake started to suspect that he would
never really be able to grasp the size of this offer, so instead he
made his choice based on the little he felt he could understand at
this moment. He simultaneously hoped it would be worth it, and knew
that it would be. He leaned down onto the desk and signed his name on
the contract, pondering that such a small and quick gesture could
change his destiny.
He straightened up again, and the
currency exchange clerk, now smiling at him as though he were family,
lifted something out of his jacket pocket and held it towards Jake.
Jake looked at the object in the man's hand. It was the note for
centillion yen. It had been offered in this deal, and Jake had
accepted it. He took it and put it safely into his own pocket.
The deal apparently done, Jake walked
outside and stood by the door. He looked around the village high
street and up at the English clouds, mostly to keep his body
occupied, while his mind kept looking at the difficult present and
the astounding future. He felt both scared and excited, and he wanted
to tell someone, or everyone that he knew, what had just happened to
him, but at the same time he didn't know what he was going to do
next.
Image source: http://blog.chinatraveldepot.com/2010/12/air-china-flight/
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