The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

The doctor attending to Fan Shuzhi’s mother is Yu Hongfei, a specialist in gastroenterology.

As a seasoned gastroenterologist, Yu Hongfei has extensive experience in consultations.

When the imaging examination report came out, Yu Hongfei responsibly read through it carefully and frowned, saying, ”We can diagnose bile reflux gastritis. Earlier, you mentioned that the patient has a long habit of drinking strong tea and almost never eats breakfast, which are all causes of chronic gastritis.”

Fan Shuzhi took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Now that they’re at the hospital, being anxious won’t help; everything still depends on the doctor’s arrangements.

”Doctor, so... is my mom’s condition serious?”

Yu Hongfei frowned and said, ”Chronic gastritis is inherently difficult to completely cure and prone to recurrence. It mainly requires careful maintenance in daily life.”

”In addition to bad lifestyle habits, the patient also has apparent stress-related issues.”

Fan Shuzhi suddenly became anxious upon hearing this: ”How can that be? I live with my mom now, and I haven’t noticed anything unusual.”

Yu Hongfei explained, ”Just now, when I communicated with the patient, I found she has severe anxiety symptoms and is under significant mental stress. Do you not communicate much with your mother? Or when you do communicate, do you often have opposing opinions?”

Fan Shuzhi recalled carefully and realized it was indeed like that.

He’s been irritable lately due to work not going smoothly.

His mother, worried about his single status despite his age, often urged him to go on blind dates. Their conversations often ended unpleasantly.

”Then... Doctor, how should my mom’s mental health be treated?”

Fan Shuzhi’s acceptance of the doctor’s diagnosis came through in his manner.

Su Hong and Sun Wei, who were watching, both breathed a sigh of relief.

If it’s a chronic illness, then it has little to do with dining at the restaurant.

Yu Hongfei professionally discussed a detailed treatment plan with Fan Shuzhi.

After listening carefully, Fan Shuzhi suddenly asked, ”Doctor, my mom was fine before. Did she fall sick because the seafood she ate wasn’t fresh?”

Sun Wei, hearing this, couldn’t help but interject: ”Mr. Fan, you keep insisting our restaurant’s shrimp weren’t fresh. On what grounds? We have the receipts for our purchases, and the chef confirmed the taste on-site with no issues!”

”My mom tasted it and said the shrimp heads were very bitter! It definitely must be because of feeding them medication!”

With Fan Shuzhi’s firm words, the atmosphere got a bit tense.

”The shrimp we sold today weren’t exclusive to you. Other tables didn’t have similar complaints, and your mother wasn’t feeling well originally...”

Seeing an argument brewing, Su Hong quickly interrupted Sun Wei, turning to Yu Hongfei: ”Doctor, since the patient has bile reflux, wouldn’t that cause a bitter taste in the mouth and make food taste off?”

Yu Hongfei, who was introduced by Dong Jun Tian, understood the situation after the consultation.

Even if it wasn’t obvious, he was slightly inclined in his stance.

”Indeed, such a condition typically shows no-caused nausea, discomfort in the upper abdomen, vomiting of bitter gastric contents.”

”Due to the nausea and vomiting, patients often don’t feel like eating.”

This matched the symptoms!

The elderly lady indeed had no appetite and didn’t want to eat.

Fan Shuzhi’s attitude softened instantly.

He initially insisted on taking his mother out for a better meal at Qianlima.

The elderly lady didn’t want to go, but he insisted.

”I’m telling you, it’s not possible our seafood is the problem. I buy them every day; I’m familiar with the seafood quality...”

Hearing this, Sun Wei felt energized and more confident.

He worked in procurement, waking early daily for purchasing.

This time could have been a leisurely rest, preparing for another early, hard day tomorrow.

But because of customer issues, he had to stay late, feeling a bit unhappy.

Especially seeing a customer continuously questioning the seafood freshness, as if trying to extort the restaurant.

He couldn’t control his tone due to rising frustration.

Su Hong quickly interrupted Sun Wei again: ”That’s it! If the elder said the shrimp tasted bitter, a simple taste would show the situation but you’re allergic, so it was pure coincidence.”

Fan Shuzhi never intended extortion.

He didn’t lie; he had a friend’s family working in aquaculture, often discussing such matters during gatherings.

Understanding these things, his initial reaction to ”bitter shrimp heads” was assuming they weren’t fresh.

But they’re spoiled seafood, not smelly, just bitter due to possible excess medication during aquaculture.

Now, with the doctor’s explanation, Fan Shuzhi began to waver.

His mother’s condition being bile reflux, with a bitter taste, matched the symptoms.

Qianlima Restaurant had a good reputation, which was why he often took his mother there.

Today’s concern was misplaced.

His thrifty and hardworking mother always having lived a frugal life.

She understood his work hardships, so didn’t burden him with trivial domestic worries.

The doctor implied her condition had persisted unnoticed.

His mother never mentioned it, understanding his mother extremely well, he felt both sympathy and helplessness.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Observing the amiable Qianlima staff, he felt embarrassed.

Realizing his rash actions before.

The entire situation was a misunderstanding.

Recalling his words and attitude at the restaurant, he felt very embarrassed.

After calming down, he realized Qianlima staff arranged everything during the incident.

Yet blaming them was dishonest.

Changing his tone, feeling awkward: ”That might be. I’m allergic, so I couldn’t taste it. When Mom mentioned the bitter shrimp, I thought it might have been medicated. My friend in aquaculture shared similar insights with me.”