Chapter 453: The Unsolved Case of a Loofah
"Is everything here?" Chu Yue looked up at everyone and asked.
This was the second day after Lu Zhanlin's operation. After a night's rest, Chu Yue entered the Lingbao space to adjust her body and finally recovered from the continuous fatigue.
But as long as she was in the disaster area for one day, things kept happening one after another and she couldn't stop at all.
Chu Yue went to check on Lu Zhanlin's body early in the morning. There were no postoperative complications, and his heartbeat, pulse and breathing were all normal. She fed Lu Zhanlin Lingquan stream water as she did in the previous few days. This was also one of the keys to Lu Zhanlin's life.
Afterwards, Chu Yue had just walked out of Lu Zhanlin’s tent when Tan Siqi arrived.
In other words, Tan Siqi was waiting for her outside, but because Lu Zhanlin was more important to Chu Yue, he was embarrassed to go up and disturb her.
Afterwards, Chu Yue was brought to the temporary residence of the family who had suffered from food poisoning yesterday. A pile of things were placed in front of her.
Tan Siqi said, "Everything is intact and all here."
Doctor Lin from the health team said, "I came here yesterday too. Green vegetables, dead melons, old pumpkins... yes, these are the ones."
The man from the family with food poisoning said, "We really didn't hide anything else. We just brought some crops from home. They're all here. Really, they're all here! We just made some vegetables and melons to eat. We eat these every day at home. How did something like this happen yesterday?"
The man felt regretful and upset.
Because the whole family suffered from food poisoning, the youngest of whom was a three-year-old child, it made people feel heartbroken and helpless.
The flood destroyed their homes and left them homeless. Now they have encountered such a terrible thing, and it is easy for people's hearts to collapse as well.
Tan Siqi also had other concerns. He was afraid that if it was not food poisoning but some other epidemic disease, not only the whole family would be sick, but all the people in the relief station.
To be on the safe side, the source of the poisoning must be found.
After hearing this, Chu Yue checked again the food their family had eaten. It was indeed simple, consisting of the most common vegetables in rural families, and they still looked fresh.
She picked up a loofah and didn't feel anything at first. But after touching it carefully, she found that the skin of the loofah was very thick and hard.
This loofah is obviously old.
Chu Yue held the loofah in her hand, lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then suddenly looked up and said, "Let's stir-fry this loofah."
ah?
What?
Should I stir-fry the loofah at this time?
Everyone frowned and looked at Chu Yue in confusion.
Chu Yue said, "Since we can't see it with the naked eye, why not try eating it? Then we'll know everything."
Is this...trying the poison on yourself?
But this is just an ordinary loofah, and it may not be poisonous even if it is cooked.
The man shouted, "This is the loofah I planted myself. It can't be poisonous. No way! If it were poisonous, how could I feed it to my whole family?"
"Fellow villager, don't panic. We're not accusing you of poisoning. We're investigating to prevent something like this from happening again." Tan Siqi comforted the villager first, then called over the young soldier, "Listen to Comrade Chu and stir-fry the loofah."
It only takes five minutes to stir-fry a plate of loofah.
It was served steaming hot, and it smelled really good, making you drool.
Chu Yue picked up the chopsticks and was about to take a bite when two hands quickly reached out from the side.
"Comrade Chu."
"Doctor Xiao Chu."
Tan Siqi and Dr. Lin both reached out to stop them. If it was really poisonous, Chu Yue would be the one to be poisoned. In their current situation, they could not afford to lose Chu Yue as a helper.
They wanted to replace Chu Yue, so the three of them were in an awkward stalemate for a while.
The little soldier following Tan Siqi was actually a smart guy. Anyway, no one would be suitable to come, so why not -
"I'll eat it!"
The little soldier didn't care about anything. He just grabbed a piece of stir-fried loofah with his hand, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it with a few slurps. He was so fast that no one could stop him.
Now there is no need to argue at all.
Chu Yue asked, "What does it smell like?"
The young soldier smacked his lips and frowned as he said, "It's just loofah, tasteless. The kitchen staff are good at cooking and it's delicious. It's just that the loofah is a little old, with some old fibers growing inside... It's also a little bitter, but not too bitter, so I can still eat it."
Soldiers are the most able to endure hardships. Even the slightest bitterness in the food is like something stuck in their teeth, and they don't care at all.
Chu Yue actually got the key point from it, "So it's bitter."
Dr. Lin pressed on, "Dr. Xiao Chu, do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. After fruits and vegetables become bitter, they produce cucurbitacins. Cucurbitacins are toxic and highly stable, difficult to break down even at high temperatures. This toxin attacks the human nervous system, causing dizziness, vomiting, abdominal pain, and in severe cases, even organ failure." [Image]
The little soldier who just ate the bitter loofah: ...Am I going to die?
Doctor Lin listened to Chu Yue's words and nodded frequently. "So it's cucurbitacin... That makes sense. The symptoms of cucurbitacin poisoning are exactly the same as those of the patient yesterday. Exactly the same!"
After finding the cause of the poisoning, Tan Siqi ruled out the possibility of an epidemic, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
There were many people gathered around them, and after listening to Chu Yue's explanation, they all began to nod.
"I see... No wonder the old man told us not to eat bitter fruits... It really is poisonous..."
"I can't be so stingy in the future. I have to throw away broken things. If I get poisoned, I'll have to spend money on medical treatment, which will waste even more money..."
"This young girl looks so young, but she's even more capable than Doctor Lin. It's incredible..."
Chu Yue walked over, gently patted the soldier's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, you only ate one piece. There's not much toxin in it, so it won't be that serious. Drink more water later to increase your body's metabolism, and the toxins will be naturally excreted."
"Thank you, Doctor Xiao Chu." After hearing this, the young soldier immediately came back to life from his pale face.
After thanking Chu Yue, Tan Siqi immediately took his people to do the next work, making sure to popularize this knowledge point so that people would not eat rotten and spoiled food to avoid a second similar incident.
At the same time, Dr. Lin let out a long sigh in his heart.
"Doctor Chu, I'm glad you're here. Otherwise, I'd be racking my brains trying to figure it out. The problem is actually with a loofah."
"Doctor Lin, you can just call me Xiao Chu." Chu Yue smiled and said, "I was just lucky. I happened to be lucky enough to catch a mouse."
Doctor Lin shook his head. He knew that Chu Yue’s discovery of the source of the poisoning was definitely not just luck.
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