The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

Seeing his daughter's face flushed with anxiety, and then looking at the sand beneath her feet, Liang Zhe asked uncertainly, "Sweetie, do you mean there's water underground?"

"Mmm!!" Sweetie nodded vigorously, eagerly licking her lips. "There's water, Daddy, Sweetie is thirsty."

"Regiment Commander Liang!" Deputy Battalion Commander Song Dazhuang rushed over upon hearing the news and happened to see the scene. "We've dug all around here, and it's just sand, nothing but sand. There's no way there's water."

He looked at the thin little girl with heartache and, without hesitation, took out his own saved food rations. "Sweetie, Uncle has half a bowl of porridge. Come with Uncle, Uncle will take you to eat."

But Tian Tian didn't snuggle into his arms at all; she still clung to Liang Zhe's neck, her eyes filled with longing for the underground "water."

This expression made Liang Zhe feel a pang of sadness. Since the child insisted that there was water here, what was wrong with comforting her?

It's just a matter of digging a few shovelfuls.

"Go get me a shovel," he ordered the young soldier beside him.

Without saying a word, the young soldier ran inside and soon came out with three shovels. He and another soldier each took one, and the last one was given to Liang Zhe.

"Commander!"

"Hey, you're so clueless. The battalion commander is holding a child. Give me the shovel."

Song Dazhuang took the shovel, looked around, and asked with a troubled expression, "Honey, where do we dig?"

There's sand everywhere, and not even a sign.

"here."

Sweetie drew a big circle with her little hands.

Wow, it looks pretty big.

The three of them aimed at the circle that Tian Tian had drawn and started digging.

Before long, a pit half a meter deep was revealed.

The bottom of the pit was still sand; there wasn't even a trace of moisture, let alone water.

Song Dazhuang wiped his sweat and looked at Liang Zhe. Liang Zhe also looked a little embarrassed; his comrade had wasted his efforts for the sake of the child's words.

"Sweetie, let's go back and have some water and food, okay?" he gently persuaded.

But Sweetie shook her head, her little hand still pointing to the bottom of the pit, "There's more."

Liang Zhe frowned: "Sweetie, stop fooling around, the uncles are tired."

The sweet little body squirmed in her father's arms, "No! There really is!"

Song Dazhuang gritted his teeth: "Keep digging, just think of it as... entertaining a child!"

So, the passing soldiers and researchers saw the strange sight at the entrance of the base: the tall and strong Liang Zhe was holding a small dumpling, in front of him was a large sand pit, and three soldiers were sweating profusely, tugging and throwing sand upwards.

Base brigade commander Bai Shuyong was passing by with missile expert Professor Qian when he saw this and couldn't help but frown.

"What's going on up ahead?" Commander Bai called over a young soldier.

"Reporting to the commander! Liang's daughter came looking for her relatives. She said there was water underground, so Commander Liang asked Deputy Commander Song to dig it up."

"Nonsense." Brigade Commander Bai said with displeasure, "Why didn't you report to the organization before your family members came to the unit? Why are you wasting your energy here? Don't you know the base is short of water and food?"

He gave the order, "Give the child to Xiao Liang's wife and have her come to me."

"Report, Commander Liang's wife...didn't come."

"Hmm? Who brought that child?"

"Yes, it was her."

"Her alone?" Brigade Commander Bai shook his head. "Impossible. In this vast Gobi Desert, even an adult can easily get lost, let alone such a young child. Your vigilance is too low. Didn't you check if anyone was directing the child?"

The atmosphere immediately became tense upon hearing this. Just as Professor Qian was about to speak, Brigade Commander Bai said, "Professor Qian, you should go back first. Be wary of enemy agents using children to cause trouble. I'll go and see what's going on."

Professor Qian is a national treasure; there can be absolutely no mistakes.

He led several officers and soldiers, and quickly walked up to Liang Zhe. The sandpit was now two meters deep, but Tian Tian would start fussing the moment they tried to stop.

"Liang Zhe!"

Upon seeing the stern-faced Brigade Commander Bai, Liang Zhe immediately straightened his legs and gave a standard military salute.

"Greetings, Brigade Commander!"

"It's a good thing that your daughter is coming to the team, but we can't spoil her too much. There's sand everywhere here. You could dig until dark and still not find water. It's just playing around."

Liang Zhe blushed and realized he had gone too far. "It's my fault, Da Zhuang, stop digging now."

He had made up his mind. No matter how much Sweetie cried and fussed, he would take her back this time.

If it doesn't work out, we can always coax her later.

"Furthermore," Commander Bai looked around and lowered his voice, "your daughter is so young, yet she managed to find the base on her own. Don't you think there's something fishy about that?"

Liang Zhe was startled and immediately realized the seriousness of the situation: "Reporting, sir! My daughter, she..."

Before he could finish speaking, a soldier suddenly cried out "Ouch!" as his shovel struck a hard object. He bent down and dug around for a few moments, only to find it was a piece of tree root.

This immediately attracted the attention of those around them. Song Dazhuang pulled out the tree root, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "Liang Tuan!!!"

He shouted in a very loud voice, which startled both Liang Zhe and Brigade Commander Bai.

"Look, look!"

Song Dazhuang held up the tree root with both hands, his tone inexplicably excited. Liang Zhe glanced down and his pupils immediately contracted.

This ordinary tree root was covered with wet sand!

"It's wet, it's wet!" Song Dazhuang exclaimed excitedly, his words almost incoherent. The other two soldiers, seeing this, immediately perked up as well!

Considering that the tree roots were found to be damp less than three meters from the surface, it goes without saying whether there is water underground.

Brigade Commander Bai narrowed his eyes, his expression one of disbelief. He suddenly turned around and ordered his bodyguard, "Go and transfer a squad over." He paused, then continued, "Bring all the tools!"

"yes!"

Before long, more than ten soldiers came running out in a line, carrying shovels and pickaxes. But before they could get close, Song Dazhuang shouted "Ah!" as if he had discovered a gold nugget.

"Water! Water, water, water..."

His lips trembled so much that he could barely speak.

The other two soldiers also shouted "Ah!", dropped their shovels, and excitedly hugged each other.

Liang Zhe held Tian Tian and watched as a stream of clear water seeped up from the bottom of the sandpit, forming a small puddle in less than a minute.

"This..." He raised his head blankly, looked around at everyone who was staring wide-eyed with a look of disbelief, and then realized that he wasn't seeing things, it was true... he really had dug out water!

A soldier eagerly jumped into the sandpit, scooped up some water, licked it, and then looked up with a look of ecstatic joy: "Sweet! Commander! It's sweet water, you can drink it!"

"Very good!"

Two minutes ago, Brigade Commander Bai had been full of doubt, but now he excitedly slapped his thigh: "What are you all standing there for? Get your tools and start digging! Hurry!"