Filth (2)

Cai Peizhi and Zhang Tianyu met partly by chance, during one of his visits to Yu'fei, his eyes met hers by accident, while she was attending to other customers, as he walked by. It took a lot not appear surprised when he first saw her, wanting to be discreet, Zhang Tianyu didn't ask the other employees who she was. On that very day he paid a huge sum of money to look at the file of current female employees at Yu'fei, going through each one, until his eyes landed on the picture of Cai Peizhi. She bore a close resemblance to the woman that took a strong place in his heart, Ji Jinxia also known by another name.

What happened that day between them was unplanned, not knowing if she was going to be at work, the day he paid a visit to the establishment. His plan was to get a couple of drinks, have someone come in to service him and be driven home afterwards.

Ever since that day, Zhang Tianyu would come in almost everyday, asking solely for her to be in the room with him and his aide. There was no escape, it was as though her schedule was designed to coincide with his visits.

Every night after work Cai Peizhi would cry herself to sleep, drinking from her stash of hard liquor, that was the only medicine that could block the pain in her mind and body. Bleary eyed and drunk, she would pass out on the cold hardwood floor, leaving the bed most of the time unused.

Feeling depressed, she mechanically took her "pills" daily, not counting on the effect the alcohol was doing to her while taking them. Losing track of time, Cai Peizhi didn't notice that her "monthly visitor" was late.

Weeks after the incident, while carrying out her usual duties of customer check-in and placing calls. The usual smell coming from one of the dishes, caused a nauseous sensation to rise from within, making her throw up right in front of the other attendants and customers.

Embarrassed, she ran straight to the bathroom room, locking the door firmly behind her. An indescribable feeling of great trepidation came over her, not because she was scared of being told to take an unpaid time off. It was as though, she came to a sudden realization that she was about to face something she wasn't ready for.

After crying her eyes out for almost an hour, Cai Peizhi fearful rose from the covered toilet seat, where she had cried her heart out earlier.

With head hanging down, she made her way to the recruiting support office to take an early release off work, because she wasn't feeling well.

On getting out of work, her first stop was at a local pharmacy, where she bought a pregnancy test kit. With her heart almost in her mouth, running all the way from there to her apartment, which was a couple of blocks away.

Reaching the front of the apartment complex, Cai Peizhi ran up the stairs to the second floor, turning to make a left and four doors later, she stood at the front of her flat, punching in some numbers, which unlocked after a beep.

Opening the door by the handle, she ran straight into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Pulling out the kit from the paper bag, she took it apart and began reading the instructions. Shortly after, she carried out the pregnancy test. It didn't take too long to see the red strips on the plastic stick, it was the indicator that meant she was Pregnant!

A couple of seconds after reading the test, Cai Peizhi fainted from the shock of the discovery. A few minutes passed before, she was able to slowly gather herself from where she passed out from the devastating news. One thing was certain, her life would never be the way it was, before knowing what she now knew. Thinking back, she recalled some of the warning signs that she had foolishly dismissed.

A new thought took root in her mind, which was to take an extended time off work for health reasons. Leaving the city, to look after her unborn child.

She remained true to her words, leaving behind the high paying job and changing her name to move to Qui'an town where Zhang Tianyu will never think to look for her.

Months after months, the search went on for Cai Peizhi, as it didn't take long for Zhang Tianyu to find out she had left, after paying the people at Yu'fei recruiting support and security office to view the surveillance tape, it was there he was able to figure out the meaning behind the "health issue" she tendered as a reason for taking that much time off. On file the doctor's note she got from a clinic close by stated that she had liver disease and needed to be looked closely after for several weeks, but that didn't explain why she couldn't be reached at her address and the emergency contact was not of any help either. What struck Zhang Tianyu as "odd" was where the note came from.

The relentless search went on, until almost a year after, did they get a tip from an unusual location, of someone that looked like Cai Peizhi. At first, Zhang Tianyu wanted to give up that it might be one of those unreliable sources, having heard of similar sightings in the past, but his desperation finally won over.

That late afternoon, they drove all the way to Qui'an town, where the private investigator said she was, it took almost six hours to get there, arriving at a humble small bungalow mostly made of wood. It was a rural town, by seven everyone was already behind closed doors, leaving the streets deserted.

Zhang Tianyu didn't wait for his door to be opened. Leaving his driver series of instruction, before put his dark shades on and dark gloves. Getting out of the car, to walk in the direction leading to the house. On getting there, he pushed open the metal gate into the building, whose light shined brightly in the dark.

Not bothering to knock, he pushed open the door, seeing Cai Peizhi breastfeeding her baby in the spacious living room. Having lost some weight, she appeared very fragile to the eyes. His eyes fastened on her, as he spoke in a tone that conveyed anger and deep hurt, while pointing at the child.

"Is that mine?!"

Tired both physically and mentally, Cai Peizhi managed to give a weak nod at what he asked, while staring blindly at the man that just barged into her home, looking extremely upset. She had become used to the way people in the town lived, not locking the door until she was ready to sleep for the night.

Waiting almost impatiently for her to finish feeding the child, that was when Zhang Tianyu whisked the little baby from her mother's arms, without so much as a backward look. It was when she saw him take her child that she snapped into action.

Cai Peizhi tried to stop him, crying and pleading for him not to take away her baby, only to be block by Gao Yifeng who arrived in time to intercept the young woman.

The instruction was to make her death appear as though she committed suicide and show a picture to him as proof. Unfortunately, no one saw the men that walked in that night, the next neighbor was almost a thousand feet from where she lived.

Half an hour passed, before Gao Yifeng walked back to the car, showing an image of Cai Peizhi hanging from a closed door with a thick shawl wrapped around her neck.

The sound of the crying newborn accompanied them throughout the entire drive, back to the Zhang Manor.