It has to be said, Maxwell Lorenzano's audacious move of wishing to the wishing stone to become the wishing stone itself and then accepting others' wishes was quite ingenious.
The most important thing is that after he became the wishing stone itself, he could freely intercept anything from the person making the wish!
What does this mean?
It means he could take anything from the person making the wish, whether it was good or bad!
Even if he took the cancer cells from the person making the wish, as long as the 'gaining and losing' requirement was met, the wishing stone's wishing mechanism could be fulfilled!
Of course, if he did that, the cancer cells would appear on his own body, and he certainly wouldn't do something so self-sacrificing.
Moreover, when he wished to become the wishing stone itself, what he lost was 'health.' Judging from the outcome shown in the movie, the 'health' he lost couldn't be intercepted back from others.
So Maxwell Lorenzano's outcome was almost certainly predetermined.
After all, this wishing stone came from the god of lies. Just by the name, you know it's definitely not some righteous and benevolent artifact.
However, saying it's evil isn't quite right either, because the wishing stone's other mechanism is even simpler and more direct: as long as you cancel your wish, everything will revert, and you don't even have to pay a price!
With such lenient conditions, it truly isn't afraid of being messed up by people!
All in all.
Samuel didn't need to wish to the wishing stone to become the wishing stone itself or possess its abilities, nor would he lose anything.
He just needed to give Maxwell Lorenzano a few solid punches after he became the wishing stone itself to unlock the ability, and he could become the 'God of Wishes' without any effort or cost!
It was precisely for this reason that Samuel had never gone to find this yellow crystal wishing stone.
"Do you believe it?"
Barbara Minerva's voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Samuel paused, then smiled and said, "Sorry, I was thinking just now. What did you ask me?"
Barbara Minerva shook her head, pointing to the advertisement on the TV: "Do you believe this Black Gold Cooperative can really make ordinary people money through investment?"
Samuel shrugged: "Whether ordinary people can make money, I don't know. I only know that he definitely doesn't have money."
"Why?"
"Everyone knows how profitable the oil business is. If you had money and a project, would you give the opportunity to make money to ordinary people you don't know at all?"
"No."
"Neither would I."
Samuel smiled noncommittally, steering the conversation back to the jewelry: "How about it? How much are these jewels worth approximately?"
Barbara Minerva glanced around, lowering her voice and whispering, "You're too bold. You actually took them out just like that. What if they get robbed?"
"I calculated it, and the total value of these jewels is at least five million or more. If you sell them slowly, the price should be even higher."
Five million, huh? It was a bit less than he expected, but it was currently 1984, and the average annual household income in the U.S. was only nine thousand dollars. Five million was already considered a super-large sum.
Samuel smiled calmly at Barbara Minerva and asked, "Can you help me sell them?"
"Me? You, you plan to give them to me?"
Barbara Minerva was very surprised. They had only known each other for half a day, and he actually dared to entrust such valuable jewels to her to handle?
Samuel said affirmatively, "I don't know how much you should take according to the industry rules, but with me, you can take one-tenth."
One-tenth?
That would be five hundred thousand?
Barbara Minerva was so excited she was about to say that was too much, but Samuel continued.
"There are additional conditions."
Barbara Minerva took a deep breath: "What conditions?"
"First, you need to exchange half of this money for gold; second, I want you!"
Barbara Minerva was stunned after hearing this. She could understand exchanging half the money for gold, after all, gold is the most stable in value, but 'I want you' - what did that mean?
He, he fancies me? Impossible, he's so rich and handsome, what kind of beauty can't he find? How could he fancy a country bumpkin like me?
His meaning must be that he wants me to work for him, right? It must be!
Barbara Minerva nervously tucked her hair, whispering, "Mr. Samuel, although you are very handsome and generous, and I really hope to work for you, I don't want to give up my job at the museum."
"If, if you just hope I can help you appraise and sell jewelry, there's no need to propose such a condition."
Samuel looked at her with a half-smile, gently shaking his head, "Then - alright, as you wish."
Barbara Minerva opened her mouth as if to speak but stopped. She felt that Samuel's reaction seemed to indicate she had misunderstood, and she wanted to ask, but she was also afraid she was being self-indulgent and asking would only increase the awkwardness.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally chose to give up.
Coming out of the restaurant, Barbara Minerva returned to her office in a daze, carrying the briefcase.
As a country bumpkin who was ignored and disliked, Samuel's words, "I want you," caused her heart to churn, making it impossible for her to concentrate on work.
One moment she felt she should muster the courage to ask for clarification, the next she felt she was being self-indulgent and asking would only make her look foolish.
She muddled through until closing time before forcing herself to stop thinking about these things. She carefully picked up the briefcase containing the jewelry, preparing to leave the museum and go find her friend, Veronica.
Veronica Cale, a top scientist and businesswoman whom she greatly admired.
She had mentioned wanting to buy some jewelry a while ago, and this was a good opportunity to let her take a look.
Just as she walked out of the museum, Barbara Minerva was somewhat surprised to see Samuel getting ready to leave not far away, and a tall beauty holding onto his arm.
"Did you see that? That's Diana's boyfriend. I heard her boyfriend donated a large sum of money to our museum just so she could work here."
"Really? That's too enviable."
"What's there to envy? If I were Diana, with such a rich boyfriend, why would I still go to work? Getting up early, staying up late, working myself to death, not knowing how to enjoy life at all."
"If you want to find a rich person to enjoy life, you have to be as beautiful as Diana!"
"That's right."
Several colleagues seemed to not recognize or see Barbara Minerva, discussing enviously among themselves and walking straight past her.
"Diana - haha, I knew I was overthinking it," Barbara Minerva muttered to herself and silently walked away.
...
PS: Planted a small Easter egg.
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