“How many of these did you collect on your own?” asked Zhang Beihai, pointing around the room.

“Only a small part. The majority were bought from the private sector or traded from the community.… So, let’s hear it. What sort do you want?”

“Nothing too valuable. It should be high density, shouldn’t break easily under impact, and should be easily workable.”

“I see. You want to engrave it.”

He nodded. “You could say that. It would be great if I could use a lathe.”

“Then an iron meteorite,” the collector said as he opened a glass case and took out a dark-colored stone the size of a walnut. “This one. It’s composed mainly of iron and nickel, with cobalt, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, and copper. You want dense? This one’s eight grams to the cubic centimeter. It’s easily workable, and highly metallic, so the lathe won’t be a problem.”

“Good. It’s just a little too small.”

The collector took out another piece the size of an apple.

“Do you have anything even bigger?”

The collector looked at him and said, “This stuff’s not sold by weight. The big ones are expensive.”

“Well, do you have three the size of this one?”

The collector brought out three iron meteorites of roughly the same size and began to lay the groundwork for his asking price: “Iron meteorites are not very common. They represent just five percent of all meteorites, and these three are fine specimens. See here—this one’s an octahedrite. Look at the crisscross pattern on the surface. They’re called Widmanstätten patterns. And here’s a nickel-rich ataxite. These parallel lines are called Neumann lines. This piece contains kamacite, and this one is taenite, a mineral not found on Earth. This piece is one I found in the desert using a metal detector, and it was like fishing a needle out of the ocean. The car got stuck in the sand and the drive shaft snapped. I almost died.”

“Name your price.”

“On the international market, a specimen of this size and grade would have a price of about twenty USD per gram. So how’s this: sixty thousand yuan per piece, or three for one hundred eighty thousand?”19

Zhang Beihai took out his phone. “Tell me your account number. I’ll pay right away.”

The collector said nothing for quite some time. When Zhang Beihai looked up, he gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Actually, I was ready for you to counter-offer.”

“No. I accept.”

“Look. Now that space travel is for everyone, the market price has dropped somewhat even though it’s not as easy to get meteorites in space as it is on the ground. These, well, they’re worth—”

Zhang Beihai cut him off decisively. “No. That’s the price. Treat it as a sign of respect for their recipients.”

*   *   *