157: Smart collars save the day at Fashion Week, upgrading anti-theft measures and breaking up mischief schemes.

On the day of the Pet Fashion Week rehearsal, the catwalk at the Convention Center was a chaotic mess. That Calico Cat, which had scratched the princess dress a few days ago, had just been dressed in a tiny rhinestone suit by the stylist when it 'whooshed' up the light stand. It hooked its claws into a skirt hem and swung like a pendulum, scattering rhinestones all over the floor. A Crested Duck, wearing a mini tuxedo, refused to walk in a straight line, instead chasing its own shadow in circles on the stage. Most absurd of all was the Samoyed; despite the trainer spending ages teaching it the 'catwalk,' it was too busy licking the ribbons at the edge of the stage, biting the decorations to shreds.

"This isn't a rehearsal; it's a demolition!" The costume designer crouched on the floor picking up rhinestones, frowning in distress. "I sewed eighty rhinestones onto this suit, and now there are only thirty left!"

Xia Zhu held a spare skirt hem, sweat beads forming on her forehead from anxiety. "Should we simplify the designs? Use fewer fragile decorations?"

"Simplify? The more complex, the more it costs!" Xie Hui suddenly pulled a palm-sized black collar out of his bag and snapped it around the Calico Cat's neck. The collar was a modern smart pet collar he'd scavenged from his 'inner universe,' capable of guiding pet behavior through sound waves. He pressed a button on the collar, and the Calico Cat instantly quieted down, obediently jumping off the light stand. It walked a perfect straight line down the catwalk and even struck a 'tail flick' pose at the end.

The people around were stunned. The designer leaned in to touch the collar. "CEO Xie, this thing is miraculous! Where did you buy it? My cat tears up the sofa every day; I want one too!"

"You want one? We'll make them ourselves!" Xie Hui waved his hand grandly. "Contact an electronics factory and mass-produce them in this style. Every pet gets one, equipped with GPS positioning and anti-lost features. Set the cost at two hundred yuan each; a hundred pets is twenty thousand. Then hire five programmers to develop 'Catwalk Mode' and 'Interactive Mode' for the collars. Set their monthly salary at fifteen thousand and sign them for a month—that's another seventy-five thousand. Wait, let's make it an even hundred thousand for the month—it's the perfect way to spend!"

Xia Zhu quickly pulled out her ledger to record it. "Smart Collars plus programmer salaries, that's another hundred and twenty thousand in expenses! Plus remaking the damaged costumes... today alone, we've spent three million on Fashion Week. At this rate, the eighty million budget will be gone in half a month!"

As they were speaking, a loud 'clatter' came from nearby. Big Smart, carrying imported cat food intended for the pets, slipped and stumbled. The cat food spilled everywhere, and several stray cats darted out from the corners of the exhibition hall, fighting over the food and knocking over a nearby decorative flower stand.

"Big Smart! Can't you be careful!" The trainer jumped in frustration. "That flower stand is rented; if it's broken, we have to pay five thousand in compensation!"

Big Smart crouched on the ground picking up the cat food, his face flushed red. "I... I just wanted to give the cats an extra meal. I didn't expect them to be so aggressive..."

Xie Hui walked over and patted his shoulder. "It's fine! If the cat food is spilled, buy more; if the flower stand is broken, rent more. Order another ten thousand pounds of imported cat food to distribute to rescue stations and the Fashion Week pets. Rent twenty spare flower stands with a thousand-yuan deposit each. That's another three hundred thousand in expenses. This gives you something to do; from now on, you're in charge of feeding the cats. Stop carrying trays."

Big Smart's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly. "Thank you, CEO Xie! I promise to feed the cats until they're nice and chubby!"

Just as the cat food matter was settled, a call came in from the Shared Umbrella Maintenance Team. The captain's voice sounded panicked. "CEO Xie! That batch of umbrellas in the suburbs with solar panels was vandalized with paint last night! The solar panels are completely ruined! The surveillance caught two masked men; their build looks like Wang Duoyu's former henchmen!"

Xia Zhu grew anxious upon hearing this. "Wang Duoyu is already locked up, and he's still not behaving! These solar panels cost two thousand each; thirty of them is sixty thousand. It's such a waste for them to be ruined!"

"What's there to be sorry about? It's the perfect excuse for an upgrade!" Xie Hui pulled Xia Zhu toward the exit, silently chanting "Time Stop." The pets and staff in the exhibition hall froze instantly; even the ribbons floating in the air stopped mid-motion. He drove straight to the suburban umbrella deployment point and saw from a distance the two masked men hiding in an alley, holding buckets of paint, preparing to strike another batch of umbrellas.

Xie Hui took a video with his phone and quietly circled behind them, suddenly shouting, "Gentlemen, is that not enough paint? I have some newly bought imported paint here; want to try it?"

The masked men's hands shook in fright, and the paint buckets 'clanged' as they hit the ground. They turned to run but were stopped after a few steps by patrolling security guards. Xie Hui had already called the security team in advance, doubling the patrol staff, raising their monthly salary to eight thousand, and equipping them with walkie-talkies.

"Speak! Did Wang Duoyu send you?" A guard pinned a masked man to the ground and ripped off his mask. Sure enough, they were two of Wang Duoyu's former underlings.

Seeing no escape, the two had to confess honestly. "It was Brother Duoyu. He sent word from inside saying if we didn't cause some trouble, he wouldn't pay us our back wages..."

Xie Hui sent the video to Wang Zongyao's assistant and turned to the security captain. "From now on, station two guards at every umbrella point. Install anti-theft alarms on the umbrellas; add a hundred yuan to the cost of each. For three thousand umbrellas, that's three hundred thousand. Replace all the solar panels with anti-graffiti ones; that's an extra five hundred per panel, another hundred and fifty thousand. I'll transfer the money tomorrow. Ensure the umbrellas are safe."

The captain beat his chest in guarantee. "Don't worry, CEO Xie! With us here, no one will touch those umbrellas!"

After releasing Time Stop, Xie Hui and Xia Zhu returned to the Convention Center. As soon as they entered, they smelled a wonderful aroma. The staff were preparing 'afternoon tea' for the pets—imported cat treats and goat milk pudding covered the table. The Calico Cat, wearing its Smart Collar, was elegantly licking pudding, no longer showing any of its previous naughtiness.

"This Smart Collar is truly a life-saving Divine Artifact!" Xia Zhu walked over and gently stroked the Calico Cat's head. "The designer just told me they want to collaborate with us to incorporate the Smart Collars into the pet formal wear designs, creating a 'Tech-Fashion Line.' What do you think?"

"Of course, that's great!" Xie Hui handed her a cup of sugar-free milk tea and wiped a milk stain from the corner of her mouth. "Let the designers go wild. Embed some small LED beads in the collars and include a mini remote control. Raise the cost to five hundred yuan each; a hundred units is fifty thousand—another legitimate expense. Oh, and let's start a 'Pet Fashion Week Spin-off Event'—a Pet SPA zone. Hire ten professional pet groomers at twenty thousand a month. Buy twenty pet massagers and fifty sets of shampoo. That should be another million. It's the perfect way to spend more."

Xia Zhu took the milk tea, her heart feeling warm. Xie Hui always managed to turn trouble into an opportunity to spend money, and he even remembered her habit of drinking sugar-free milk tea. She bit her straw and smiled. "You've really turned 'spending money' into an art form. But this is good; it solves the problems and brings us closer to the 2 billion goal."

At the end of the evening rehearsal, Xie Hui tallied the accounts: one hundred and twenty thousand for Smart Collar procurement, three hundred thousand for cat food and flower stands, four hundred and fifty thousand for the umbrella anti-theft upgrade, and one million for the Pet SPA zone. Combined with previous expenses, they had spent nearly 1.1 billion. Xia Zhu's eyes sparkled as she looked at the ledger. "At this rate, spending 2 billion in a month will definitely be no problem! And all our projects are compliant; Wang Zongyao won't be able to find any faults."

"It's still early; Wang Duoyu surely has more tricks up his sleeve." Xie Hui opened his phone and scrolled to a post made by Wang Duoyu's people online, claiming they would 'do something big' on the official opening day of Pet Fashion Week to humiliate Xie Hui. He smiled and put away his phone, saying to Xia Zhu, "Tomorrow, let's add a 'Security Budget' to Fashion Week. Hire twenty professional bodyguards at thirty thousand a month. Then give every audience member a 'Pet Interaction Gift Pack' containing cat teasers and dog treats. Set the cost at fifty yuan each; with an expected five thousand people, that's two hundred and fifty thousand. Let them come; we'll just wait and watch the show."

Xia Zhu nodded and took Xie Hui's arm. "With you here, I'm not worried at all. No matter what tricks they play, we can handle it."

The two walked side-by-side down the corridor of the Convention Center. The setting sun spilled through the windows, stretching their shadows long. Looking at Xia Zhu beside him, Xie Hui suddenly felt a sense of peace. This money-spending war in Xihong City had not only given him unprecedented fun but also led him to such a wonderful person. He secretly decided that once Pet Fashion Week was over, he would take Xia Zhu to see the world inside his 'inner universe' and share his secret with her.

Meanwhile, in the detention center, Wang Duoyu was losing his temper at the barred window, shouting, "Xie Hui! I'm not done with you! Even if I can't get out, I'll make sure your Fashion Week never happens!" He had no idea that his plans had long been seen through by Xie Hui. What awaited him next would only be a more complete defeat.