Watermelons were once (曾经) the fruit of only rich families. They are now on the table of common people. And they are many people’s favorite fruit.

Liu Wanlin lives in Xining, Qinghai. She describes watermelons as the “fruit of the people” because they are cheap and common people can buy enough of them.

Liu grew up in the countryside of the dry Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (青藏高原). The weather there is not good for the planting of watermelons. “I never tasted watermelons as a child,” she said. “But ‘freedom of watermelons’ is not a dream now in my place.” People in her place can have as many watermelons as they wish. They get the fruit mostly from Gansu, Shanxi, and Xinjiang.

Song Shaozhe works in a restaurant in Wuhan, Hubei. He says that watermelons are really ▲ at many restaurants as the after-meal fruit, partly because they are cheap.

However, the “freedom of watermelons” didn’t come easy. For many years, scientists have tried hard to improve watermelon breeding (育种). Watermelons become abundant. The large number of watermelons makes them cheaper. Also, thanks to the development of farming techniques (技术), it is possible for people to enjoy the fruit all year around.