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

The experts and leaders were all busy, rolling up their sleeves and heading to the fields. They all came from humble backgrounds, so they were quite adept at farm work. As they harvested, they praised the wheat's impressive growth—as long as crop rotation was done properly, there would be no need to worry about future harvests.

Some experts even suggested, "If you ask me, we shouldn't plant sweet potatoes on the land we discovered earlier. We should plant vegetables directly on it. Then we can be self-sufficient in vegetables and noodles and never have to worry about food again!"

"Yes, yes, once the vegetables grow, our plates will be overflowing with everything we could want!"

"Oh my, this is a life I never dared to dream of!"

Professor Qian smiled and put Tian Tian down, preparing to join the wheat harvesting team. Suddenly, Tian Tian tugged at his sleeve, "Grandpa Qian."

"Hmm? Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Sweetie took his hand and walked towards the other side of the wheat field with her little feet. After a few steps, she turned back and waved to Liang Zhe, "Daddy, come here."

Liang Zhe adjusted his military cap and quickly caught up. "What's wrong, Tian Tian?"

"Shh!"

Sweetie held up a finger, mysteriously pressed it to her lips, and whispered, "Daddy, keep your voice down."

Liang Zhe immediately covered his mouth and gestured for Tian Tian to be quiet.

Sweetie giggled at his joke, but quickly stopped laughing and pulled Professor Qian along as they continued walking.

Commander Bai straightened up from the wheat field, saw the three figures from behind, and was about to follow them.

His responsibility is to protect Sweetie's safety.

Commander Liu stretched out his hand and stopped him.

"Don't worry, with Liang Zhe with you, nothing will happen."

A sense of curiosity also arose in his heart: What new discovery has this little girl made this time?

The three walked to the edge of the sea buckthorn forest, where waist-high weeds grew abundantly. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the grass blades, casting a thin layer of golden light.

Sweetie stood in front of the grass, her small body almost completely submerged by the weeds.

She tilted her head, as if listening intently to something.

The expression on his face was serious and focused.

Professor Qian and Liang Zhe exchanged a glance, feeling both expectant and nervous—had this little lucky star discovered something again?

Without prior arrangement, both of them held their breath.

Liang Zhe opened his mouth, wanting to ask but not daring to speak. Now his daughter was the apple of everyone's eye in the base, and even as her father, he had to step aside for her sake.

Professor Qian stood to the side, gesturing with his eyes for him to calm down, though he himself was also filled with curiosity.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes... Just when the two were about to lose their patience, Tian Tian suddenly clapped her hands, her face beaming with joy. She pulled up her little pants, took the lead, and darted into the bushes.

Liang Zhe and Professor Qian hurriedly followed. The three of them walked and stopped frequently. After a while, Tian Tian stopped under a tall sea buckthorn tree.

Beside her feet was a clump of lush grass. Sweetie pointed and exclaimed, "Big White Duck, here I come!"

No sooner had the words left her lips than a clear "quack!" rang out, and a pristine white wild duck flapped its wings, leaping gracefully from the depths of the grass. It circled low in the air for a moment, glanced down at Sweetie, tilted its long neck slightly as if nodding goodbye, and then spread its wings and flew towards the setting sun.

Sweetie stood on tiptoe, waving her little hands vigorously, and called out in her childish voice, "Big White Duck, thank you!"

On the ground, Liang Zhe and Professor Qian were completely bewildered, unable to understand the mystery behind what they were witnessing.

But then Tian Tian quickened her pace, reached out and parted the grass, "Daddy, look!"

Liang Zhe then discovered that right where the wild ducks had appeared, there was a nest carefully built with soft grass and feathers. Inside the nest lay a pile of wild duck eggs, their shells smooth and bluish-white, seemingly still steaming.

It turned out that Sweetie was waiting for the wild duck to lay eggs, and the intelligent wild duck, for some reason, left all the eggs for her.

Professor Qian squatted down and carefully picked up a duck egg from the nest of grass. The duck egg was heavy, about the size of an adult's palm, and had a warm, smooth texture.

"A total of twelve!" Liang Zhe counted them one by one, his voice barely able to contain his excitement.

"And there's more, Dad!"

As Tian Tian spoke, she parted the grass beside her—there was a nest of duck eggs hidden there, but the eggs had some fine cracks on their surfaces, and you could faintly hear soft pecking sounds coming from inside. Those were ducklings that were incubating, and the little lives could hatch at any moment.

"Eight... Mr. Qian, there are eight more over here!" Liang Zhe could hardly believe his eyes.

With her hands behind her back, Tian Tian explained earnestly, "Daddy, the big white duck said that eating these eggs will make us less tired, so we're giving them to the grandpas."

She then pointed to another nest: "These eggs will hatch into ducklings. They were left to us by the mother duck."

"A miracle! It's a miracle!" Professor Qian was extremely excited. Who would have thought that while discovering sea buckthorn berries and a wheat field, Tian Tian also found a whole twenty duck eggs? Even in the city, a nest of fresh duck eggs would be a nourishing delicacy that no one would even dare to dream of.

Moreover, if they're lucky, they might even hatch a brood of wild ducklings, and the base might be able to have its own flock of ducks.

He looked into Tian Tian's clear and bright eyes and was momentarily at a loss for words to praise her.

"My dear girl," Professor Qian picked up Tian Tian, ​​stroking her little face, his eyes slightly warm, "You've found such a wonderful thing for your grandfathers, we must make good arrangements for it." Liang Zhe had already turned around to call for help.

Twenty eggs is no small number, and he dared not make the slightest mistake.

Soon, Commander Liu and Brigade Commander Bai arrived after hearing the news. Seeing the two nests of round duck eggs on the ground, everyone's faces showed surprise and delight.

"Our little lucky star, is there anything you can't do!"

Song Dazhuang, being impatient, reached out to pick it up, but Zhao Youtian quickly stopped him: "Hey, hey, you can't do that. You're good at fighting, but you can't do this kind of delicate work. We need two careful comrades to make sure the eggs aren't broken."

Soon, four young soldiers stepped forward, first lining the bamboo basket with soft, dry straw, then carefully moving the duck eggs one by one inside. They even separated the eggs with soft straw to prevent them from colliding during transport. As for the few ducklings that were about to hatch, the soldiers meticulously covered them with a thin layer of straw, fearing that heat loss would affect their incubation.

"Commander, these eggs have arrived just in time. Everyone's been working themselves to the bone lately, and you and Elder Qian have lost a lot of weight. These duck eggs will help you recover," Zhao Youtian said happily.

"Don't give me special treatment." Commander Liu waved his hand. "Old Qian, I'm not a tech guy. You researchers are the most important. Take half and have the cooks steam it for you. Give the rest to the soldiers."

Professor Qian smiled and turned to Liang Zhe, saying, "Go tell Li Dazui from the mess hall to cook these duck eggs into a pot of egg drop soup, so that every comrade can get a spoonful, and everyone will have a share."

"This..." Liang Zhe hesitated for a moment, then subconsciously looked at Commander Liu.

Commander Liu laughed heartily: "We gunmen just can't think as fast as intellectuals. Let's do as Mr. Qian says!"

"However," he added, changing the subject, "we'll reserve one more for Comrade Xing Yuxiu from the cookhouse."

Everyone remained silent upon hearing this, except for Song Dazhuang, who looked puzzled: "Why save one for Sister Xing alone?"

Brigade Commander Bai glared at him and said irritably, "Just let them stay. Why all the 'whys'?"

"As for those eggs that are about to hatch, we must take good care of them. If they do hatch into goslings, we can raise them at our base," Commander Liu continued to instruct.

Professor Qian squatted down again, looking Tian Tian in the eye, and asked softly, "My dear girl, do you agree to Grandpa and the Commander's arrangement?"

The little girl nodded vigorously and responded with a crisp "Mmm," her cute pigtails swaying gently with the movement. Her adorable appearance made everyone present laugh.

Commander Liu picked her up and carried her on his shoulder.

Behind me, the wheat harvest was nearing its end, with bundles of wheat neatly stacked like golden hills.

In the distance, the last rays of sunset were slowly sinking below the horizon, turning the Gobi Desert into a warm orange-red.

"Let's go!" Commander Liu called out. "We'll have sea buckthorn berries and egg drop soup tonight! Grandpa'll steam buns for you when we get the stone mill from the city!"