Chapter 7

It's not common to see someone die at the threshold of death while eating in a classroom.

But it's not impossible either.

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 these is choking.

This occurs when food blocks the airway, causing the person to suffocate.

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

The Heimlich maneuver involves standing behind the person whose airway is blocked, adopting a slightly bent posture, and pressing on their abdomen to dislodge the food from the airway.

The next possible accident after choking is anaphylactic shock due to an allergic reaction.

Like the daughter of the middle-aged man.

From 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 from another table.

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

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

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

"Clean her mouth, lips, and tongue."

"What? Clean 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 know what caused this strange illness?!"

It seemed the middle-aged man was half-convinced, his voice filled with a mix of hope, fear, and concern.

I looked at the bowl of jajangmyeon the daughter 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, spinach, and bamboo shoots. These could be ruled out.

If gluten had been the cause, she would have died long ago in a place where wheat-based foods are common.

The shiitake mushrooms and kelp in the tenmen sauce could also be ruled out.

Shiitake mushrooms and kelp are relatively rare ingredients, and from the look of the daughter, it seemed she didn't eat them often.

So, what was left?

Peanuts.

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

Her luck was really bad. If she hadn't eaten it, nothing would have happened...

I lamented my own 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 probably has a peanut allergy."

"Peanuts? Really, peanuts?"

The middle-aged man asked in a disbelieving voice. It was understandable that he found it hard to believe that peanuts could be fatal 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, but from what I understand, the body misinterprets certain substances in the food as harmful, triggering an immune response.

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

If a person with such an allergy accidentally consumes the food, they can experience a wide range of symptoms, from hives, abdominal pain, and cold sweats to breathing difficulties and a drop in blood pressure, which can be fatal. 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 due to a food I had prepared, leading to my dismissal from a hotel.

This was the incident that led to my current situation.

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 related to the hotel owner, so I, a foreigner, took the fall.

After that, I ended up on a boat and died, leading to my current life...

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

He seemed to be waiting for my answer.

I replied to his question.

"Yes, it's probably peanuts."

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

After a while, he said, recalling something from his memory,

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

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

"Without knowing it?"

The middle-aged man looked confused.

"Chinese cuisine often involves frying or stir-frying, and peanut oil is commonly used in stir-fries."

The middle-aged man looked shocked.

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

He seemed to think I was just a beginner who knew a little about food.

Hormone imbalances can affect one's taste.

Stir-fried vegetables have a strong peanut flavor, but dishes that are lightly stir-fried and mixed with sauce might not be recognizable as containing peanuts.

Moreover, if peanut oil was left in a pan or on a knife used to prepare other dishes, it could easily have been consumed unknowingly.

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

The man said, looking dejected.

In China, it's difficult to find good water. Rivers are often muddy, and during the rainy season, it can rain mud.

This is why the culture of drinking hot tea developed, as boiling the water prevents diarrhea and eliminates the earthy smell.

Similarly, cooking methods that require less water, such as steaming, frying, and stir-frying, are more common.

"You wouldn't know. Anyway, if your daughter regains consciousness, she must never eat peanuts, even in small amounts."

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

The middle-aged man shook me, his voice trembling with hope.

"I can't do much in this situation. I can only help her keep breathing."

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

I knew only basic first aid for anaphylactic shock.

I knew that epinephrine was needed, but it was impossible to get it 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 were massaging their master's limbs, called out to me urgently.

"Sir! The young lady!"

The servants had upgraded my title from "master" to "sir."

It seemed they were more socially adept than the middle-aged man, who only used selective awareness.

I followed the man, who had suddenly jumped up and rushed to his daughter.

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

Her wheezing was getting more labored.

- Wheeze, wheeze

She was probably having trouble breathing again.

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

Her tongue was more swollen than before, almost completely 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.

I bent her jaw further to open her airway and gently pinched her nose.

The softness of her skin and the sharpness of her nose were noticeable.

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

A strange thought crossed my mind.

'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" to myself as I pressed my lips to her plump ones.

I blew air into her mouth.

- Hoo

But it was difficult to blow air into her mouth.

Her tongue was blocking most of the airway.

- Hoo, hoo

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

- Hoo

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 the hell are you doing?"

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

'Damn... '

I tried to explain, but the moment he saw me licking my lips, his eyes lost their sanity.

- Choke

"Heyyyyyy!"