Zhou Li went to the farmers' market to buy scallions. He also saw coriander seeds for sale, so he bought a packet of those too.
After returning, he handed two volcanic rock flowerpots to Huai Xu, requesting, "Please help me go outside and bring back two pots of soil."
On the other side of the highway above the noodle shop lay farmland, much of it barren, which was very convenient.
Huai Xu took the flowerpots without a second thought.
But just as he was about to go and fill them with soil, he suddenly stopped as if he remembered something. His expression gradually turned serious, and he handed the flowerpots back to Zhou Li, saying, "I can't do that. That's stealing soil!"
"???" Zhou Li was bewildered.
"This is theft!"
"How can taking soil be theft? It doesn't belong to anyone!" Zhou Li, utterly confused, asked, "What are you on about?"
"Then who does it belong to?" Huai Xu asked.
"It belongs to nature—"
