166: The betting agreement concludes, granting access and upgrading one's inner power, which also includes a ring.

In the courtyard of the Xihong City Stray Animal Public Welfare Fund, the morning sun cast long shadows of the last batch of adoption gift packs. Big Smart, wearing a faded "Public Welfare Caretaker" vest, was helping Aunt Zhang move the remaining imported cat food into the warehouse. His grip slipped, and with a "clatter," half a bag of cat food spilled onto the freshly mopped floor. This immediately attracted the Calico Cat squatting nearby (Sister Li didn't take it yesterday and was coming to pick it up today), which rushed over and started pawing at the kibble incessantly.

"Big Smart! Can't you keep your hands steady!" Aunt Zhang stood with her hands on her hips, still holding a floor mop. "This bag is part of the last batch. If it's spilled, what will the cats eat? Besides, I just finished mopping this floor, and now I have to do it all over again!"

Big Smart squatted on the ground, carefully gathering the cat food back into the bag, his face flushed red. As his fingertips touched some food dust, the cat licked him. "I... I just wanted to finish moving everything quickly so Sister Li could take the gift directly when she picks up the cat. I wasn't paying attention..."

Xie Hui had just walked in with Xia Zhu, carrying breakfast for Aunt Zhang and Big Smart—fried dough sticks and soy milk for Aunt Zhang, meat buns for Big Smart, and a sugar-free whole wheat sandwich he had saved for Xia Zhu. Seeing the scene, he smiled and handed a meat bun to Big Smart. "It's fine. If it's spilled, we'll just replace it. I had Little Zhang transfer two hundred pounds of backup food from the warehouse. That's another forty thousand in expenses, which happens to use up the last bit of change. By the way, add a non-slip mat to the warehouse to prevent spills next time."

Xia Zhu, clutching an account book, walked over quickly, her eyes full of excitement. "Xie Hui! I've finished the calculations! Adding the 3.66 million from yesterday's adoption event and the forty thousand from this morning's replenishment, exactly two billion has been spent! Not a single penny is left!"

She handed the account book to Xie Hui, the numbers recorded clearly line by line: from the initial AI Fortune-telling and Shared Umbrellas to the later Intangible Cultural Heritage Park and Space Science Museum, and finally the public welfare fund and adoption events. Every expenditure was compliant, perfectly avoiding the "no malicious waste" and "no donations" clauses that Wang Zongyao had previously emphasized.

Just as Xie Hui was about to speak, the sound of an Automobile horn came from the courtyard entrance—it was Wang Zongyao's black sedan, followed by two bodyguard vehicles. The door opened, and Wang Zongyao, dressed in a sharp Zhongshan suit and holding a red document folder, walked over quickly with his assistant. A rare smile played on his face. "Little Xie, not bad. You spent exactly two billion in a month and even accomplished so many practical things. You're much better than that kid Duoyu."

Xie Hui went to meet him and said with a smile, "Second Uncle, you flatter me. It was just spending money reasonably and helping some small animals along the way."

"Well helped!" Wang Zongyao handed over the document folder. "Inside is the confirmation of the bet's completion and the fund authorization certificate for this world—from now on, in Xihong City, you can call upon unlimited funds at any time for public welfare or investments as you please. Additionally, I'm giving you a personal reward: the 'Wealth Scent' skill. From now on, whenever you get close to a project that can lose money, you'll have an intuitive warning, ensuring you spend money even more smoothly."

Xia Zhu leaned in to look at the certificate in the folder, her eyes lighting up. "Unlimited funds? And a skill? This is too amazing!"

Wang Zongyao smiled and patted Xia Zhu on the shoulder. "The young lady has a good eye; you followed the right person. Unlike Duoyu, who wanted to use you as a tool before. Now you know he was wrong, right?"

As they were speaking, a commotion suddenly came from the distance—Wang Duoyu was running over out of breath, followed by Zhuang Qiang. He was wearing a crumpled suit, his hair was a mess, and he was clutching a piece of paper. "Second Uncle! I've also spent one billion! Where's the inheritance you promised me? Why is Xie Hui's reward so much more than mine!"

Zhuang Qiang followed behind, carrying a torn plastic bag containing several cans of expired imported cat food (picked up from the public welfare fund's entrance yesterday), panting as he spoke, "Brother Duoyu, don't run so fast. My leg hasn't healed yet..."

Wang Zongyao glanced at Wang Duoyu and said crossly, "You still have the nerve to ask for an inheritance? The billion you spent was all on hollow nonsense like dilapidated buildings and Land Swimmers; in the end, I had to help clean up your mess. Little Xie spent two billion to build an Intangible Cultural Heritage Park, a science museum, and even set up a public welfare fund, helping so many animals and people. You compare yourself to him? You're far behind! The inheritance for you is only ten million. Take it or leave it!"

Hearing "ten million," Wang Duoyu instantly froze in place, and the paper in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud"—it was his "Expected Inheritance Table," which read "at least one billion." He pointed at Xie Hui, his hand shaking with rage. "Xie Hui! You did this on purpose! You just wanted to steal my inheritance!"

"Steal yours?" Xie Hui raised an eyebrow and pulled out the evidence of the sabotage Wang Duoyu had previously commissioned (photos of stolen blueprints, hacker chat logs) from his pocket. "First, think about the things you did: hiring hackers to destroy my app, stealing my equipment blueprints, replacing snacks with inferior ones. If these were exposed, you wouldn't even get ten million."

Wang Duoyu's face turned pale instantly upon seeing the evidence. Zhuang Qiang added from the side, "Brother Duoyu, I even saw you asking someone to steal cat food from the public welfare fund yesterday, only to get scratched by a cat..."

Everyone around laughed. Wang Duoyu turned and ran in anger, and Zhuang Qiang quickly chased after him with the plastic bag, shouting, "Brother Duoyu! Wait for me! This cat food can still feed stray cats!"

Watching their pathetic retreating figures, Wang Zongyao shook his head helplessly. "That kid still hasn't learned his lesson. Little Xie, if you and Xia Zhu ever want to come back to Xihong City, come find me anytime. I'll look out for you."

Xie Hui nodded and turned to Xia Zhu. "Come, let me take you somewhere."

He led Xia Zhu to a deserted corner of the courtyard and silently thought "inner universe"—the next second, the scene before them suddenly changed. It was no longer the courtyard of the public welfare fund, but a vast expanse of land. In the distance were the silhouettes of skyscrapers, and nearby was a clear river. There was even a pedestrian street identical to the one in Xihong City, except the street was empty of people and any living creatures, though the air carried the fresh scent of greenery.

Xia Zhu covered her mouth in surprise, the account book in her hand nearly falling to the ground. "This... where is this? Why does it look exactly like Earth?"

"It's the upgraded inner universe," Xie Hui explained with a smile. "Before, it was just a storage space, but now it's upgraded to an environment just like Earth. Except for the lack of people and living creatures, everything else is the same—look, doesn't that building look like the Intangible Cultural Heritage Park we went to? And that river is exactly like the one next to the Space Science Museum."

Xia Zhu looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw the familiar building silhouettes. She reached out and touched a nearby tree trunk; the texture was no different from a real tree. Her eyes turned red with excitement. "This is too miraculous! Can we stay here from now on?"

"More than that." Xie Hui pulled two silver rings from his pocket, engraved with intricate patterns and set with a small blue gemstone. "This is a small universe projection ring; here's one for you. Put it on, and you can enter and exit the small universe at any time, and even go directly from the small universe to the Real World—in the future, no matter which Transmigration world I go to, if you want to find me, you can just put on the ring and come in."

He placed the ring on Xia Zhu's ring finger. The gemstone instantly lit up with a faint glow, adjusting to fit her finger perfectly as if it were custom-made. Xia Zhu looked at the ring, then at Xie Hui, and suddenly threw herself into his arms, her voice choked with emotion. "Thank you, Xie Hui. I never thought I'd have such a miraculous experience, and even be with you."

Xie Hui gently patted her back, feeling warm inside. "There will be even more miraculous things in the future. For example, the Hogwarts we talked about, and the Avengers Alliance world. I'll take you to all of them."

Xia Zhu raised her head from his chest, wiped her tears, and said with a smile, "Okay! But next time we go to Hogwarts, we have to build a magic castle in the small universe too, so the stray animals can experience magic!"

"No problem!" Xie Hui ruffled her hair. "Now let's head back to the public welfare fund to say goodbye to Aunt Zhang and Big Smart, and then get ready to go to the next world."

When they returned to the courtyard, Aunt Zhang was helping Sister Li put the Calico Cat into a carrier, while Big Smart was hanging decorations (the paper planes he made earlier) on the carrier. Seeing Xie Hui and Xia Zhu, Aunt Zhang said with a smile, "If you two ever want to come back, come anytime. The public welfare fund will always have a place for you!"

Big Smart also came over, holding a newly drawn paper plane with cartoon figures of Xie Hui and Xia Zhu on it. "CEO Xie! Accountant Xia! This is for you. Look at it whenever you miss us!"

Xie Hui took the paper plane, his heart full of warmth. "We'll definitely come back. When we do, I'll bring you treats from other worlds, like magical candies from Hogwarts."

After saying goodbye to Aunt Zhang and Big Smart, Xie Hui and Xia Zhu got into the car, ready to leave Xihong City. Xia Zhu wore the cosmos ring, looking down at it from time to time with a constant smile on her face. Xie Hui gripped the steering wheel and asked, "For the next world, do you want to go to Hogwarts, or check out the Real World first? For instance, my home in the Magic City—I'll take you to eat authentic soup dumplings."

Xia Zhu thought for a moment, her eyes lighting up. "Let's go to the Real World first! I want to see the Magic City you mentioned and taste those soup dumplings, and then we can go to Hogwarts to learn magic!"

"No problem!" Xie Hui stepped on the gas, and the car slowly drove away from the public welfare fund as Xihong City faded into the distance. Xia Zhu leaned back in the passenger seat, looking at the cosmos ring on her hand, her heart full of anticipation—she knew that this Transmigration journey with Xie Hui had only just begun. There were countless wonderful worlds waiting for them to explore and countless warm memories waiting for them to create.

Meanwhile, in the detention center, Wang Duoyu was staring blankly at the iron bars. Zhuang Qiang had just handed him that bag of expired cat food and said, "Brother Duoyu, let's do public welfare in the future too. Maybe Second Uncle will give us more inheritance..."

Wang Duoyu looked at the cat food and suddenly sighed, tossing it to a stray cat outside the window. "What public welfare? With my brain, I'd better just focus on spending that ten million first..."

As the car drove onto the highway, Xie Hui looked at Xia Zhu beside him and then at the cosmos ring on his hand, his lips curling up involuntarily—from the Nine Yin Manual in the condor heroes world to the human warmth and coldness in all is well, and then to the money-spending battle in Xihong City, every journey had its rewards. And now, he finally had someone to travel through the myriad worlds with. The road ahead would only get more exciting.