160: A beauty pageant at the rescue station turns into a farce, and a conspiracy is foiled at a trade fair.

In the courtyard of the Xihong City Stray Animal Shelter, the morning was filled with chaos. Big Smart was holding a corgi wearing overalls, frantically trying to hang a competition number plate around its neck. In his haste, he misread the numbers and hung "80" instead of "08." The corgi shook its head, and the number plate flew off, hitting the cat food bowl in the hands of the caregiver aunt who was feeding the cats. Cat food scattered everywhere, and a dozen stray cats immediately swarmed to grab the food, stepping all over Big Smart's leather shoes.

"Big Smart! Can’t you be more careful? These number plates are custom-made, costing fifty yuan each. If they're broken, they have to be reprinted!" Aunt Zhang stood with her hands on her hips, stamping her feet in anger.

Big Smart crouched on the ground picking up cat food, his face flushed red. "I... I just wanted the corgi to look handsome, I didn't notice the number..."

Xie Hui had just walked in with Xia Zhu, carrying modern pet supplies he had pulled from his inner universe—automatic feeders, smart litter boxes, and several crates of imported pet wipes. Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh. "It's fine. If they're broken, print more. Order two hundred spare number plates at sixty yuan each—that's another twelve thousand. Then order five thousand catties of imported cat food to distribute to the shelter and surrounding community strays—another hundred thousand in expenses. I'll find a dedicated job for you: from now on, you're in charge of hanging number plates on the pets, and don't touch the cat food."

Xia Zhu helped set up the smart litter box, her eyes lighting up. "This litter box can actually clean itself! It's much better than the manual ones we bought before. How much is one? Let's buy a few more; the shelter has many cats, so they'll come in handy."

"If you like them, buy more. These are new models I brought from elsewhere, costing fifteen hundred each. Buying fifty will be seventy-five thousand. Then hire five pet equipment technicians at a monthly salary of twelve thousand to specifically maintain these devices—that's another sixty thousand. All together, that's another hundred and forty-five thousand, all reasonable expenses." Xie Hui handed over a bottle of sugar-free yogurt. "I know you like drinking this in the morning, so I specifically grabbed it from the car. It's your favorite strawberry flavor."

Xia Zhu took the yogurt, her fingertips touching the cold bottle, feeling a warmth in her heart. Xie Hui always remembered these small details, being even more attentive than she was. She bit the straw and pointed to the competition stage not far away. "Have the judges for the beauty pageant been found? We said we'd invite veterinarians and pet groomers. I contacted the City Pet Association, and they said they're willing to send five experts, but they require an appearance fee of twenty thousand each."

"Pay them! We must pay!" Xie Hui slapped the table. "Also, book five-star hotel accommodations for the judges at a thousand per day. Three days is fifteen thousand. Give every spectator a 'Pet Love Gift Pack' containing pet snacks and deworming medicine, costing thirty per pack. With an expected two thousand people, that's sixty thousand. That adds up to another hundred and seventy-five thousand, perfect for spending more money."

As they were speaking, the shelter's veterinarian suddenly ran over, holding an empty smart collar box, his voice urgent. "CEO Xie! Something's wrong! The three smart collars intended for the beauty pageant champions are gone! The surveillance footage shows two Men in Black did it—their builds look like Wang Duoyu's former subordinates!"

Xia Zhu grew anxious upon hearing this. "Wang Duoyu is already in custody, so why are people still helping him cause trouble! These smart collars cost two thousand each, so three is six thousand. They must want to steal them to sell for money!"

"Stealing from me? They don't have the skill." Xie Hui pulled Xia Zhu toward the security room, silently chanting "Time Stop." Instantly, the cats and dogs in the courtyard froze, the number plate Big Smart was holding hung in mid-air, and even a cat food bag caught in the wind stopped in place. He quickly reviewed the surveillance, tracking the two Men in Black along their escape route. He found them hiding in a scrap yard near the shelter, talking on the phone with Wang Duoyu's outside contact, saying they were going to sell the smart collars to raise money to find connections to overturn Wang Duoyu's case.

Xie Hui also saw in their chat history that they planned to sneak back into the shelter tonight to smash the competition's sound and lighting equipment so the beauty pageant couldn't be held. He took screenshots and noted the scrap yard's address, then deactivated Time Stop. Turning to the veterinarian, he said, "Contact the security team immediately. Have them ambush the area around the scrap yard tonight and catch these two along with Wang Duoyu's contact. Additionally, order ten more smart collars at twenty-five hundred each, with 'Shelter Beauty Pageant Champion' engraved on them. That's another twenty-five thousand in expenses."

The veterinarian nodded and hurried to make the call. Xia Zhu helped organize the surveillance screenshots and looked up to ask, "Should we start a new project? The money spent on the beauty pageant isn't enough; we're still over two hundred million away from the two billion goal."

"Of course we should!" Xie Hui's eyes sparkled. "We'll hold the 'Xihong City Pet Supplies Exhibition' on the vacant lot next to the shelter. We'll rent ten thousand square meters of space at a monthly rent of three million. Signing for two months is six million. We'll invite a hundred pet supply merchants to join and provide them with free booths and renovations. Each booth renovation costs ten thousand, so a hundred booths is one million. Then we'll have a 'Pet Supplies Flash Sale' where we subsidize the merchants. For every item sold, we'll supplement fifty yuan. With an estimated hundred thousand items, that's five million. Finally, hire fifty shopping guides at a monthly salary of eight thousand, which is another four hundred thousand. All this adds up to twelve million and four hundred thousand, just right for spending another chunk of money."

Xia Zhu recorded rapidly in the ledger, her pen tip barely keeping up. "Exhibition is twelve million four hundred thousand, beauty pageant is a hundred and seventy-five thousand, smart collars are twenty-five thousand, pet equipment technicians are sixty thousand... we can spend twelve million six hundred and fifty thousand in just one morning! Total spending is nearly one billion eight hundred and fifty million!"

At noon, Xie Hui took Xia Zhu and the shelter staff to a nearby home-style restaurant for lunch, specifically asking the owner to prepare steamed fish and cold spinach salad, which Xia Zhu liked. Looking at the fish in her bowl, Xia Zhu whispered, "How did you know I don't like spicy food? I don't think I ever told you."

"Last time at the disco square, you only ate vegetables for the barbecue and asked the owner to go easy on the spice. I remembered." Xie Hui placed a piece of fish in her bowl. "Eat up. We still have to check the exhibition site this afternoon, don't go hungry."

Xia Zhu's heart warmed, and she lowered her head to eat, her lips curling into a smile. Xie Hui always noticed these small details, making her feel particularly secure. Nearby, Big Smart was chatting with the caregiver aunt about the beauty pageant, saying he wanted to dye the corgi's fur pink. The aunt retorted, "Your aesthetic is terrible. A pink corgi looks like a little mutt; it's better to dye it yellow!" This made everyone at the table laugh.

In the afternoon, Xie Hui and Xia Zhu went to inspect the exhibition site. The construction team had already started setting up the booths, with blue fences surrounding a large area and cranes in the distance lifting steel structures. Xie Hui walked to a deserted corner and silently chanting "inner universe." The next second, a pile of modern pet supplies appeared out of thin air: automatic poop scoopers, constant-temperature pet beds, smart feeders, and several crates of imported pet toys—all collected from other worlds.

"These things are way too advanced!" When Xia Zhu arrived and saw the mountain of supplies, her eyes widened. "If we use these as the 'treasures of the show' for the exhibition, it'll definitely attract more people!"

"Exactly. We'll also hire ten pet supply demonstrators specifically to introduce this equipment at a monthly salary of ten thousand, which is another hundred thousand in expenses." Xie Hui said with a smile, "Once we catch the hackers and the collar thieves tonight, our project will be even safer, and we can spend money with more peace of mind."

By evening, the security team sent word that they had caught the two collar thieves and Wang Duoyu's contact. They also found a note written by Wang Duoyu on them, instructing them to "destroy Xie Hui's project at all costs." Xie Hui sent the note and chat records to Wang Zongyao's assistant, who quickly replied: "The Second Master says he will hold Wang Duoyu jointly liable. When he heard about it in the detention center, he was so angry he kicked the cell door out of shape."

"That's more like it. Let him know that going against me won't end well." Xie Hui put away his phone and said to Xia Zhu, "Let's head back. The beauty pageant and the exhibition start tomorrow, so we need to get some rest early."

As the car drove back to the city, they passed the studio of the Metaverse Dog Walking APP. The lights were still on inside, and Little Zhang was leading the programmers in debugging the venue for the "Virtual Dog Global Beauty Pageant." Xia Zhu leaned against the car window and said with a smile, "It would be great if the beauty pageant and the exhibition could be as lively as the APP."

"They definitely will be." Xie Hui held her hand. "The money we spend must not only be compliant but also make everyone happy. That's what makes it worth it."

Back at the shelter, Big Smart was helping the pets try on their competition outfits. The corgi was wearing a small suit, but because it was too fat, a button popped off and hit a nearby parrot. The parrot flapped its wings and shouted, "CEO Xie is mighty!" making everyone laugh. Watching the lively scene, Xie Hui felt a sense of peace. With Xia Zhu by his side and so many reliable people helping, the challenge of "spending 2 billion in a month" seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Xia Zhu helped the corgi change clothes and looked up at Xie Hui. "After the beauty pageant ends tomorrow, shall we go eat at that jianbing guozi place from last time? I want one with double eggs and double sausage."

"Sure. I'll go queue up early tomorrow and get you extra cilantro." Xie Hui said with a smile, already calculating in his head—tomorrow's exhibition and beauty pageant would spend a lot of money, and combined with the APP's new feature expenses, it should approach two billion. The remaining money could be used to set up a "Pet Charity Fund" to support stray animal rescue in poor areas, which is both compliant and meaningful.

Meanwhile, in the detention center, Wang Duoyu sat in a corner, staring blankly at the moon outside the window. A prisoner in the next cell called him for dinner, but he didn't move. He knew he had completely lost. Xie Hui was not only on the verge of spending all the money but had also won Xia Zhu's affection and everyone's approval. As for himself, he was left with nothing but a heart full of resentment and regret.