"I'll see if I can pull them out first."
"Even if you can, it's not worth the effort. Listen to me—go buy a bottle of herbicide and spray it. It'll be fine in three to five days. If you pull them out like this, you'll clear the grass on the surface, but all the seeds will fall into the soil. Your family's land has been abandoned for over ten years. With all those accumulated weed seeds, there might be three inches' worth by now. Even if you pull everything out now, once you water it, the weeds will grow right back."
The old man had plenty of experience. Only after hearing him did Lu Ao realize how serious the problem was.
Seeing him lost in thought, the old man continued, "You should still plant at the foot of the mountain. It won't make much difference. The land down there has only been abandoned for a few years, and it's still fertile. Clear the weeds once and add fertilizer once, and it'll be easy to plant. The irrigation channels are bigger there too, so drawing water is much more convenient. Watermelons need quite a lot of water."
This was the first time Lu Ao had run into such a situation since returning home.
After thinking it over, he said, "Thank you. I'll try first. If it doesn't work, I'll plant down below next year."
The old man could do nothing about him. "Then remember to spray it with herbicide."
Lu Ao agreed.
Seeing that he could not persuade him, the old man muttered on as he returned to his own field.
Before long, the old man finished watering, called out a farewell to Lu Ao, and carried his buckets home.
Lu Ao pulled weeds in the field until his palms turned