It was already dark, so she no longer needed to hide.
Now that she knew Yao Qianjin had her household registration booklet, she would have to return to town and find a way to get it.
It took Song Ning some effort to haul the bicycle up from the bottom of the slope.
Then she swung a leg over it and sped toward Luyuan Town.
She never noticed that behind her-
an agile figure had been following her the whole time.
Before entering town, Song Ning hid the bicycle down the slope outside town, just as she had before.
Then she straightened her clothes and shoulder bag and headed toward the town government compound.
It was already past seven in the evening.
A few scattered streetlights still shone in town, but there were hardly any pedestrians left.
In those days, there were no cell phones, and televisions were not yet common.
People had little nightlife and generally turned out the lights and went to bed sometime after eight.
Song Ning did not enter through the compound's main gate. Instead, she slipped down an alley beside it.
Behind it lay the housing area for government employees and their families.
There were two long rows of brick houses, each with a courtyard.
In an era when most homes were built of earth, this counted as an enviable "upscale residential area."
Yao Qianjin had once lived here too.
After the government encouraged people to build their own homes, Yao Qianjin had been the first to answer the call, building himself a large red-brick courtyard house behind this "upscale residential area."
It qualified as a "mansion" in Luyuan Town.
He had left his previous home to his intellectually disabled younger brother as a marital home.
Song Ning went straight to the brother's house.
Although