Chapter 42: Meteorite Hunters
“Meteorite collecting is becoming increasingly popular. There are even meteorite hunters appearing in China now.”
Jing Shizhen pointed at the meteorites inside the glass display case and said, “I bought all of these at overseas auctions. China’s meteorite market isn’t very mature yet, but it has great development potential.”
“Meteorite hunters? How do you hunt meteorites?” Zhao Zhengshan was also intrigued and walked over.
“Does being called a hunter mean you actually have to hunt animals?”
Jing Shizhen shook his head with a laugh.
“They’re a group of people who wander through the Gobi, deserts, and uninhabited wilderness areas. Wherever meteorites fall, you’ll find them.”
According to Jing Shizhen, there were now more than ten thousand meteorite hunters around the world. Their main job was to search for fallen meteorites in various parts of the world.
There were no laws in any country specifying ownership of meteorites, but anyone who discovered one was expected to donate 20% of it free of charge to academic institutions for research.
Of course, if you chose not to donate anything, no one would pursue the matter. You simply wouldn’t be able to obtain official registration and certification, which could cause some difficulties when trying to sell the meteorite on the market.
Many wealthy people and research institutions were now collecting meteorites, so meteorite hunters could earn very good incomes. If they happened to discover a rare meteorite, it was entirely possible to sell it for several million or even tens of millions of dollars in a single transaction.
“These things are relatively rare. Whenever one appears, people immediately compete for it. I’ve only managed to collect a little over a dozen myself.”
Jing Shizhen had a very keen sense of the market. He had only started getting involved in meteorite collecting ten years ago, so he hadn’t accumulated that many pieces.
However, the meteorites Jing Shizhen had collected were all among the finest specimens. Compared with the prices he had originally paid at auction, the value of his collection had already increased considerably.
The only problem was that China’s meteorite market still needed to be warmed up. He would have to wait for the right opportunity before selling them.
“My dad gave me a meteorite once, too. I just have no idea where it went.”
Su Xiaofan suddenly remembered his previous pendant.
The meteorites in front of him were about the size of an adult’s fist at their largest, while the smaller ones were even smaller than the piece he had once possessed.
Out of habit, Su Xiaofan concentrated his attention and looked at the meteorites one by one.
Immediately, information about them appeared in his mind.
[Repair Value: 5 points!]
[Stony-iron meteorite: Cannot be repaired!]
[Tektite: Absorbable. Absorb it?]
“This… this tektite can actually be absorbed?”
When Su Xiaofan saw a meteorite that looked completely like glass and had a layer of fluorescent light shimmering across its surface, the information that appeared in his mind left him stunned.
He had originally just been looking around casually to broaden his horizons. He never expected to encounter a meteorite that could actually be absorbed by his restoration system.
Apart from high-level ritual artifacts and Yin Sha Stones, this was the third type of object Su Xiaofan had encountered that could be absorbed by the restoration system.
For a moment, Su Xiaofan was completely flustered because he had been caught off guard.
“Don’t absorb it!”
Su Xiaofan rejected the option.
After his previous experience absorbing a Yin Sha Stone, he was afraid that if he absorbed this one now, the glass-like meteorite would also turn into powder.
“Xiao Su, what’s wrong? Are you interested in these meteorites?”
Seeing the strange expression on Su Xiaofan’s face, Jing Shizhen assumed that he had taken a liking to one of his meteorite specimens.
“I am interested.”
Su Xiaofan forcibly suppressed his excitement and said, “Uncle Jing, I was just thinking about something. If someone wanted to start collecting things in China nowadays, which category would be the best to focus on?
“Calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, and miscellaneous antiques have all been collected for a long time. People have already gotten into these fields. Just look at you—most of the good stuff has already been hidden away by collectors like you, and there are very few high-quality pieces left on the market.
“But meteorites seem different. Meteorite collecting only really became popular during the past ten or twenty years, and their prices have continued to rise.
“And becoming a meteorite hunter actually sounds pretty good too. You could carry a backpack, travel the world on your own, and gain a lot of knowledge along the way.
“Uncle Jing, what do you think about me specializing in meteorite collecting?”
In an instant, Su Xiaofan had come up with an explanation for his strange behavior.
At the same time, he forcibly moved his gaze away from the tektite and looked toward Jing Shizhen.
“Collecting meteorites is indeed quite suitable for a new collector, but these things aren’t cheap.”
Jing Shizhen frowned slightly and said, “Being a meteorite hunter isn’t as easy as you think, either. You have to frequently travel into various uninhabited wilderness areas, which is extremely dangerous. Without wilderness survival training, I strongly advise you not to go.”
In Jing Shizhen’s eyes, Su Xiaofan was simply a hot-blooded young man who had gotten carried away.
The idea of venturing across the world probably sounded wonderful in his imagination, but reality would eventually make Su Xiaofan regret it.
Put simply, Su Xiaofan had not yet experienced enough of society’s harshness.
“Uncle Jing, tell me about these meteorites. I’d like to learn more.”
Su Xiaofan pointed toward several meteorites in front of him, especially the tektite.
“Meteorites can be divided into several major categories. The main ones are iron meteorites, stony meteorites, and stony-iron meteorites…
“As their names suggest, iron meteorites contain iron minerals, stony meteorites are primarily stone, and stony-iron meteorites are naturally a mixture of the two…
“There are also some rarer and more unusual types of meteorites. For example, this tektite is extremely rare and also very valuable…”
“Oh, right. There’s also a Martian meteorite here. It’s the most expensive meteorite in my collection…”
Jing Shizhen continued introducing his collection.
Following the direction of Jing Shizhen’s finger, Su Xiaofan’s eyes immediately lit up.
[Martian meteorite: Absorbable. Absorb it?]
Another meteorite that could be absorbed!
Su Xiaofan hadn’t finished examining the collection earlier. He never expected that there would be another absorbable meteorite among the remaining pieces.
Su Xiaofan immediately concentrated his attention and examined the remaining seven or eight meteorites.
[Stony meteorite: Cannot be repaired!]
[Iron meteorite: Cannot be repaired!]
[Stony-iron meteorite: Cannot be repaired!]
[Meteorite containing solar-storm energy factors: Absorbable! Absorbable! Absorbable!]
Suddenly, when Su Xiaofan looked at the final meteorite—a piece no bigger than his little fingernail—a line of information appeared in his mind that was completely different from anything he had seen before.
The three words “Absorbable!”, accompanied by exclamation marks, seemed to fill his entire mind.
Su Xiaofan had encountered objects that could be absorbed before, but in those cases, the decision had always been his.
This tiny meteorite containing solar-storm energy factors, however, gave him an extremely intense urge to absorb it.
“What exactly is this?”
It took Su Xiaofan considerable effort to pull his attention away from the solar-storm energy-factor meteorite.
Although he no longer looked at it, the desire to absorb it continued pounding relentlessly at his heart.
“Uncle Jing, is this also a meteorite? It’s so tiny. How can you determine that it’s a meteorite?”
The moment Su Xiaofan spoke, he noticed that his voice seemed slightly hoarse.
He swallowed hard and pointed toward the final meteorite with his finger.
“It’s actually uncertain whether this is a meteorite.”
Jing Shizhen shook his head when he saw which piece Su Xiaofan was pointing at.
“This was found by a meteorite hunter overseas. At the time, it was discovered together with that Martian meteorite, and it was attached to the surface of the Martian meteorite, so it was brought back together with it.
“However, after studying it with various instruments, they were unable to determine the specific composition of this little meteorite.
“They were both put up for auction at the same time, and I bought them both.”
Jing Shizhen couldn’t explain much about the small meteorite either.
It was probably a meteorite that had not yet been discovered or given a name.
In Jing Shizhen’s opinion, that alone made it extremely valuable as a collectible.
“Uncle Jing, I’ve decided. From now on, I’m going to focus my collection on meteorites.”
Su Xiaofan made no attempt to hide his desire for these meteorites.
In fact, the information constantly flashing through his mind made it impossible for him to continue pretending to be calm.
The fact that he had managed not to absorb the solar-storm energy-factor meteorite right there on the spot was already a testament to his strong self-control.
“This path won’t be easy…”
Jing Shizhen shook his head and said, “If you collect other antiques, there are people who have done it before you, and you can draw on a lot of existing experience.
“But meteorite collecting has only existed for a little over a decade. If you accidentally buy a fake meteorite, the loss could be enormous.”
Jing Shizhen himself wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about meteorite collecting.
He simply felt that it would become a hot collecting field in the future, so he had made some early investments.
However, he had never made meteorites the main focus of his collection.
“Uncle Jing, can you sell me the meteorites you have here?”
Su Xiaofan got straight to the point.
He didn’t particularly care whether he bought the stony meteorites, iron meteorites, or the other ordinary pieces.
He could even do without the tektite and Martian meteorite.
But he absolutely had to get the solar-storm energy-factor meteorite.
If necessary, he would rather take the risk of absorbing it right under Jing Shizhen’s eyes.
“You want all of them?”
Jing Shizhen was stunned.
He really hadn’t expected Su Xiaofan to be so decisive.
Once he took a liking to something, he immediately acted.
For a collector, this was actually an excellent quality.
The thing collectors feared most was someone who was indecisive and constantly hesitated.
By the time you finally made up your mind, the item would already be gone.
“If I can afford them, I’ll take them all!”
Su Xiaofan nodded.
“Uncle Jing, I don’t know much about meteorite prices. You name the price. If I think it’s reasonable, I’ll take all of them.
“That can also serve as the foundation of my meteorite collection.”
“What kind of nonsense is ‘building a base position’? That’s terminology for stock trading.”
Jing Shizhen laughed and scolded him.
“Collectors call it laying the foundation. With these meteorites as your foundation, if you can continue finding new meteorites, then you might actually be able to make something of it.”
Jing Shizhen had originally purchased these meteorites overseas for exactly the same reason.
Unfortunately, the domestic meteorite market was still too weak, and he was also busy with many other matters, so he had never had the opportunity to properly promote the meteorite market.
“I bought these meteorites at two different auctions. One was in Great Britain, and the other was at an auction in New York.”
Jing Shizhen pointed toward the meteorites at the front.
“At first, I didn’t know much about them, so I mainly bought iron meteorites and stony meteorites. They weren’t very expensive. The first ten meteorites here cost me a little over 140,000 yuan in total.
“But the few pieces at the back were much more expensive.
“I bought that tektite for 380,000 yuan. I almost failed to win it…
“That Martian meteorite was even more expensive. I paid 1.28 million yuan for it. There were more than ten people bidding against me at the time…”
“Uncle Jing, what about the smallest meteorite?”
Su Xiaofan immediately asked.
This was the one he cared about the most.
“That one cost me a little over 30,000 yuan. Since no one knew what it was made of and it was so small, there weren’t many people bidding against me.”
Jing Shizhen naturally remembered the details of the objects he had personally purchased at auction.
(End of Chapter)
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