The sudden reversal caught Lin Jing off guard, leaving her a little overwhelmed.
Sheng Kuang glanced at her side, then shoved the bag he was holding into Chen Jinghuai, who was standing nearby. "Give it to me."
Lin Jing stared blankly at Sheng Kuang, unmoving.
It wasn't until Sheng Kuang's pale, slender hand extended in front of her that she snapped back to reality, blinking twice. "Ah?"
Sheng Kuang: "The suitcase."
"Oh." Lin Jing obediently handed over her luggage.
The path in the courtyard was paved with pebbles. Sheng Kuang took the suitcase, pressed the button to retract the handle, and easily lifted it with one hand. "Remember to close the door," he said, then walked inside.
"Did you hear that? Remember to close the door," Chen Jing repeated like a broken record, clutching the large bag Sheng Kuang had handed him and following Sheng Kuang.
Lin Jing sleepwalked as she closed the door and followed them into the house.
Sheng Kuang had just finished changing his shoes and, seeing her enter, gestured towards the shoe cabinet beside him. "Slippers are inside."
"Oh."
Lin Jing opened the shoe cabinet. There were several pairs of slippers inside, all quite large. Unsure which pair would fit, she spotted an unopened hotel-gifted pair tucked away in a corner. She took them out, slowly unwrapped the packaging, and bent down to change her shoes.
As she stood up, she happened to see the suitcase Sheng Kuang had casually placed by the entrance.
It was only then that the realization dawned on her. When Sheng Kuang had offered to carry her suitcase earlier, she hadn't refused, not even politely.
And later, when he told her to close the door, she closed it. When he told her to get her own slippers, she got her own slippers.
It was as if she were an emotionless robot controlled by Sheng Kuang.
As Lin Jing was silently berating herself in front of the suitcase, a voice called out from not far away, "You're on the third floor, right?"
Lin Jing looked up and met Sheng Kuang's gaze. She opened her mouth. "...Oh."
The moment she uttered the word, Lin Jing realized she was being robotic again. It was too late to retract it.
To make sure she remembered, she silently admonished herself three times.
There absolutely cannot be a next time, absolutely not...
Sheng Kuang saw her standing still and assumed she was shy in a new environment. "Let's go, I'll take you up."
...Absolutely not...
Before the third admonition had even settled, Lin Jing nodded. "Oh."
Half a minute later, suppressing the urge to bite off her own tongue, Lin Jing reluctantly dragged her suitcase and followed Sheng Kuang into the elevator.
The family elevator wasn't large. Sheng Kuang was tall, and with a large suitcase, it felt a bit cramped.
Lin Jing secretly glanced at Sheng Kuang.
The young man stood perfectly straight, looking straight ahead, earbuds in, his expression nonchalant.
He looked a bit taller than he did in his competition footage, and his face was more refined. No wonder he looked so good on camera even without makeup; his natural features were exceptional.
The elevator door opened, and Sheng Kuang turned his head slightly.
Lin Jing quickly averted her gaze, her grip on the suitcase handle tightening as she followed Sheng Kuang out.
The third floor was much smaller than the first and second, but it still had two or three rooms.
Sheng Kuang gave her a brief introduction. "The room at the very back is Aunt Qin Yao's storage room. This middle room is quite large, you can stay in this one."
"Oh."
Sheng Kuang didn't say anything and pressed the elevator button.
Before the elevator doors closed, Lin Jing turned back. "Um..."
Sheng Kuang stopped his movement into the elevator and looked at her. "Yes?"
Seeing his face, Lin Jing, to her shame, started to feel robotic again. Although she had momentarily forgotten what she wanted to say, thankfully, her mind still had some agency this time. She looked at him and thought hard for two seconds. "...Thank you."
After a moment, Lin Jing added, "Thank you for carrying my suitcase."
When Sheng Kuang heard her thanks, he assumed she was just being polite and was about to nod in response. Then he heard her follow-up sentence.
It completely stunned him.
He stared at her for two seconds, then let out a low, amused chuckle. "Your reaction time is quite slow."
Lin Jing: "..."
Sheng Kuang: "It could circle the Earth."
Lin Jing: "..."