Chapter 7

A bowl of jajangmyeon, the Ge Jia family's prospective son-in-law (7/605)

Prospective son-in-law

It's not common to see someone die at the brink of death while eating.

But it's not impossible.

Though rare, there are two types of accidents that can occur in a restaurant, which can lead to the death of a customer.

One of the two types of accidents that can lead to a customer's death is choking.

It's when food blocks the airway, causing suffocation.

In high-end hotel restaurants, they learn the Heimlich maneuver during safety training to prepare for such accidents.

It's an emergency procedure where you stand behind the person whose airway is blocked, place your hands around their abdomen in a slightly bent position, and press to dislodge the food from the airway.

The next type of accident that can occur is anaphylactic shock due to an allergic reaction.

Like the daughter of a middle-aged man.

Judging by the reaction of the middle-aged man's daughter, it was clear she was experiencing anaphylactic shock.

I quickly crawled over to the fallen daughter of the middle-aged man.

Her pulse was faint. She had lost consciousness but was still breathing. However, the wheezing sound indicated that her throat or tongue was swelling, blocking her airway.

"Bring the travel bag!"

I instructed the servants to bring the travel bag they were carrying.

"Understood!"

The servants moved very quickly, rushing to bring the travel bag they had left on another table.

First, I used one travel bag to prop up her neck to open her airway more easily, and the other to recline a chair and place her legs on it.

After propping up her neck and opening her jaw to help her breathe through her mouth, the bluish color of her face quickly returned to normal.

I immediately ran to the kitchen, fetched warm water and a piece of cotton cloth, and instructed the servants to clean her mouth.

"Clean her mouth, lips, and tongue."

"Excuse me? Her mouth?"

"Yes, it's probably due to the food she ate. If it remains in her mouth, her tongue might swell. Clean it thoroughly."

"Understood."

As the servants carefully cleaned her mouth, the trembling voice of the middle-aged man was heard.

"Sir, do you, by any chance, know the cause of this strange illness?!"

It seemed his selective intuition was at work, as he asked with half-confidence.

His eyes were a complex mix of hope, fear, and worry.

I looked at the bowl of jajangmyeon she had been eating, searching for the ingredient that could have caused her sudden anaphylactic reaction.

First, the vegetables used in the jajangmyeon were onions, cabbage, Chinese broccoli, and bamboo shoots. These could be ruled out.

If it were gluten, she wouldn't have survived to this age in Zhongyuan, where wheat-based foods are common.

The shiitake mushrooms and kelp in the teneimen sauce were also unlikely.

Shiitake mushrooms and kelp are relatively rare ingredients, and while I don't know how well-off the middle-aged man is, judging by his daughter's face, they don't seem to eat them often.

So, what was left?

Peanuts (hua sheng).

Chinese people love the taste of peanuts, so a few crushed peanuts are often sprinkled on top of jajangmyeon as a garnish. It seemed that this was the culprit.

What bad luck. If she hadn't eaten it, nothing would have happened...

I lamented my misfortune.

'What kind of disaster is this today?'

Lamenting the misfortune I had brought upon myself, I closed my eyes tightly and said to the middle-aged man,

"Your daughter seems to have a condition where she cannot eat peanuts."

"Peanuts? No, really peanuts?"

The middle-aged man asked in a disbelieving voice. Honestly, it's understandable that he couldn't believe someone could die from eating peanuts in this era.

People have different constitutions, and some cannot eat certain foods.

I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact reason.

From what I know, the body misinterprets a substance in the food as harmful and triggers an immune response.

Common foods that can cause allergic reactions include milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soybeans, fish, and shellfish.

If someone who cannot eat these foods accidentally consumes them, they can experience a wide range of symptoms, from hives, abdominal pain, and cold sweats to breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, and even death. This is collectively known as anaphylaxis.

The reason I, a mere cook, know so much about this is that in my previous life, a guest died from anaphylactic shock, which led to me leaving the hotel and heading to Korea.

The incident that triggered my spirit to awaken in this body.

A guest with a peanut allergy died after eating food I had prepared. Among the three chefs involved, I was the only one not related to the hotel owner, so I was the one who got fired.

The head chef and sous chef were the hotel owner's relatives, so I, a foreigner, had to take the blame and was fired.

After that, I died on a boat and ended up in this body...

Lost in thought, I felt the middle-aged man's gaze on me, waiting for my answer.

I replied to his question.

"Yes, it's most likely peanuts."

My confident answer made the middle-aged man pause, thinking for a moment.

He seemed to be recalling something from his memory, then said,

"But my daughter doesn't really like peanuts. And thinking about it, she has fainted after eating peanuts before, but she has also fainted after eating ordinary food. I'm not doubting you, but it's just strange..."

"That's possible. She might have eaten them without knowing."

"Without knowing?"

The middle-aged man looked puzzled.

"Chinese cuisine often includes fried or stir-fried dishes, and peanut oil is commonly used in stir-fries."

The middle-aged man looked at me with wide eyes, clearly surprised.

He must have only eaten food prepared by others and had no idea what kind of oil was used.

He seemed to think I knew a lot about food, but in reality, I was just a beginner.

Hormonal imbalances can affect one's judgment.

Stir-fried vegetables have a distinct peanut flavor, but for dishes that are lightly stir-fried and mixed with sauce, the consumer might not know.

Moreover, if other foods were cooked in the same pan with leftover peanut oil or if the cooking utensils, like knives, had peanut oil or peanuts on them, she could have unknowingly eaten them.

"Using peanut oil for frying and stir-frying... I had no idea..."

The man said with a defeated expression.

In this vast land of China, it's very difficult to find good water.

Rivers are often muddy, and during the rainy season, it even rains mud (tou).

This is why the culture of drinking hot tea even in the scorching summer has developed. If the water isn't boiled, it can cause severe diarrhea, and the earthy smell makes it necessary to boil it before drinking.

The same applies to cooking, which is why steaming and boiling are less common than steaming, frying, and stir-frying, to minimize water usage.

"Of course, you wouldn't know. Anyway, if the young lady regains consciousness, she must never eat peanuts, even in small amounts."

"Are you saying my Qing might not wake up?!"

The middle-aged man shook me, clearly believing I could save her.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do in this situation. I can only help her keep breathing."

In my previous life, I was a chef, not a doctor.

A Chinese cuisine chef, to be precise.

My knowledge of anaphylactic shock is limited to basic first aid.

I know that epinephrine is needed, but it's impossible to obtain in this situation.

The man, calling his daughter's name, collapsed in a daze.

"Qing..."

At that moment, the servants' urgent voices were heard.

The servants, who had been massaging their master's limbs, called out to me in a panic.

"Sir! The young lady!"

My title was upgraded from "master" to "sir."

Indeed, the servants, who serve their master, seem to have better social skills than the man with selective intuition.

I followed the man, who had collapsed in a daze and then rushed to his daughter, to the young lady.

The woman, lying on the cold floor, had her lips turning blue again.

Her wheezing was getting more and more labored.

*Wheezing*

It seemed she was having trouble breathing again.

I pushed through the servants and looked into her open mouth.

Her tongue was more swollen than before, almost blocking her throat.

I had no choice but to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Seeing her face turning blue, I knew I couldn't delay any longer.

I quickly bent her jaw further to open her airway as much as possible and gently pinched her nose.

The softness of her skin and the sharpness of her nose were felt at my fingertips.

As I leaned in, a fragrant scent mixed with the warmth of her body wafted up.

The sweet scent made me have a strange thought.

'Snap out of it, you fool! She's a patient! A patient! This is a medical procedure. A medical procedure.'

I repeated "medical procedure" and "patient" in my mind like a mantra as I brought my lips to her plump ones.

I then blew air into her mouth.

*Puff*

But it wasn't easy to blow air into her mouth.

Her tongue was blocking most of the entrance to her airway.

*Puff Puff*

I had to use my tongue to push her tongue up and slowly blow air in.

The air slowly pushed through.

*Puff*

I repeated this several times, and suddenly, something grabbed my neck.

"Choke..."

The strong grip on my neck made me gasp and pull away from her mouth.

The trembling sensation on my neck.

I turned my head to see the middle-aged man, who had grabbed me by the neck.

His voice, filled with suppressed anger, was heard.

"Sir, what, what are you doing?"

Thinking about it, I had been putting my tongue in her mouth and pushing her tongue up in front of her father.

'Damn...'

I tried to explain, but as I licked my lips, which were wet from pushing her tongue, his eyes had already lost their sanity.

*Snap*

"Heyyyyyyy!"