In 1875, a woman named Jeanne was born in Arles, France.
In 1896, the woman married her wealthy distant cousin, and lived a comfortable life without having to work for the rest of her life.
In 1934, at the age of 35, her only daughter died of pneumonia, and in 1942, her husband died. And in 1963, her grandson also died in a car accident.
And she has been living a very healthy life.
The story of this woman, known to the world, was a deal she made with a lawyer.
In 1965, at the age of 90, she chose to use her house in Arles to sign a "reverse loan" agreement with a lawyer named François Raffray because she had no heirs.
François Raffray, a lawyer who was 47 years old at the time, agreed to pay Jeanne for living until her death, and in return, the house would go to François after Jeanne's death.
At that time, the French liked to buy the property of the elderly in this way, on the one hand, it allowed the elderly owners to stay in their own properties and retire with peace of mind, and on the other hand, the buyers could have the opportunity to get a windfall.
- After all, at such an old age, if an old owner is not careful, he will earn it.
At that time, François was very clear that she was now 90 years old, and she had to pay 2,500 francs a month, which would take 10 years to equal the value of the house itself.
- Unless the old lady lives to be 100 years old, it is a sure deal.
However, this shrewd lawyer is clearly not in a good way. He should have investigated Calment's family background before signing the agreement.
Many members of her family lived very long. For example, her brother lived to be 97 years old, and her father was just a few days away from being 100 years old. And her mother also lived to be 86 years old.
Even if you don't investigate her family background, you should investigate Jeanne's physical condition.
Thus, a marathon begins.
Year.
2 years.
3 years.
……
The days passed unhurriedly in the lawyer's daily expectations, but Jeanne did not have the slightest ill health at all.
Speaking of which, she is indeed a unique person in ten thousand.
She only started fencing at the age of 85.
When he was 100 years old, he was roaming around the city on his bicycle.
At the age of 114, he walks everywhere and moves freely.
At that time, when Jeanne was 110 years old, she felt very embarrassed, sent a Christmas card to the lawyer, apologized that she had not died for so long, and wasted so much money on him.
At this time, the lawyer's fees have far exceeded the price of the house itself.
By this time, the lawyer had already repented. But he couldn't go back. Because according to the agreement, if he stops paying the fees, the estate agreement will automatically be invalidated, and his previous investment will be wasted.
What you do has to be done with tears in your eyes.
The days went on.
The point is that Jeanne's lifestyle habits are not particularly good either. She ate two pounds of cake a week, drank wine for a long time, and smoked — she smoked until she was 117. And it's not for health reasons. She couldn't see clearly at the time, but she was too embarrassed to ask others to help her light the fire, so she simply quit.
In 1994, Jeanne moved into a nursing home, giving François a glimmer of hope.
However, in 1995, the year after she was admitted to the nursing home, the 77-year-old lawyer died of cancer before her.
……
By the year of his death, lawyer François Raffray had paid Jeanne 920,000 francs, several times the value of the house itself.
However, this is also a lawyer with professional ethics, and when he was dying, he still did not forget this loss-making business and told his wife to continue to pay the monthly fee.
And his wife complied with his last wish and continued to pay Jeanne's fees.
Jeanne died on August 4, 1997, at the age of 122.
She is the oldest woman in the Guinness Book of World Records to date, Jeanne Louise Calment.
She experienced many things in her life, such as attending the funeral of Victor Hugo in 1885, witnessing the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889, and living through two world wars. Even before her death, she witnessed distant China celebrating Hong Kong's handover.
Her story began to go unnoticed until 1988, on the occasion of the centenary of Van Gogh's visit to Arles, in which she said that she had met Van Gogh in her father's shop when she was 14 years old, and described him as "dirty and difficult to get along with".
Then everyone pinched their fingers and was stunned.
The conclusion of this story is that good health is the best investment.
Source | Global Digest