This is one of my sketches from the last century (about 90s). Back then, I lived in an old neighborhood on Xingguo Road, and there was a big tree outside my window that would bloom with pink flowers in spring. At that time, I happened to be in a landscape painting class for a few lessons, a little itchy, and went home to the big tree outside the window to paint up. I didn't have the heart to show it to anyone after I finished it. A few winters and springs later, every time the red flowers outside the window bloomed with great fanfare, I muttered in my heart: how come this tree looks so much like my painting?

In pursuit of maximizing profits, higher levels of sweeteners have been successively invented, heralding the expansion of the saccharin (sodium) family: acesulfame, saccharin, aspartame, etc.—only a tiny amount is needed to simulate the sensory experience of "sweetness," and because they do not participate in metabolism, provide no energy, and do not cause tooth decay, they have long been widely present in various packaged foods, freshly made beverages, and daily chemical products. At the same time, "industrial saccharin" has also entered contemporary cultural vocabulary, around which there have been many discussions interwoven with love and hate.