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

Holding Tian Tian in his arms, Liang Zhe asked softly, "Tian Tian, ​​tell Daddy, when did you see something on the ground?"

Sweetie tilted her little head, trying hard to recall, but that memory was too confusing for her.

"Then... when you're with your mother, can you see her too?" Liang Zhe asked in a simpler way.

Sweetie still shook her head.

"Okay, Sweetie, look in the sand below. Is there anything else that Daddy can dig out?"

Liang Zhe tried to guide him.

Sweetie blinked her big eyes, looking around with a blank expression.

She doesn't quite understand her father's demands.

"It's alright, it's alright." Seeing his daughter's wrinkled face, as if she were disappointed, Liang Zhe quickly comforted her. "The desert is so big, it's okay if Tian Tian can't find it now, we'll look for it slowly later."

"Yes, Sweetie, don't be discouraged. We are all indomitable warriors. Like the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains and Jingwei who filled the sea, we may not find it now, but we will find it sooner or later! Uncle will take you to the next place."

Sweetie giggled when she heard what he said was funny.

"Daddy, tell Sweetie a story. What does 'moving mountains' mean?"

The morning passed quickly, and when we returned to the base at noon, we could see a military helicopter landing steadily in the open space in front of the base, with strong winds swirling in the sky.

"What's going on? Where did this helicopter come from?" Seeing this, Song Dazhuang didn't dare to park the car too far forward and turned to ask Liang Zhe.

Liang Zhe was also confused, as he hadn't received any notification that morning.

But when he saw Commander Liu, along with Chief Designer Wang, Professor Qian, and other key personnel, lined up at the gate to greet them, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—

During yesterday's meeting, Chief Designer Wang mentioned hiring external experts from Beijing. Could they have arrived so soon?

Sure enough, the cabin door opened, and five people stepped out one by one. In addition to the orderly carrying the luggage, the two scholars, both over fifty years old and looking travel-worn, were geologist Zheng Hong and water conservancy expert Jiang Guoqiang, followed by their respective assistants Gao Yanzhou and Wan Hongxin.

Gao Yanzhou was in his early forties, with an ordinary appearance; he was the kind of person you'd easily lose in a crowd. Wan Hongxin had a refined appearance, wore glasses, and had studied abroad for several years.

Commander Liu immediately welcomed the four experts into the base.

Their mission is to investigate the river and fish that were suddenly discovered at the base yesterday, and to conduct professional exploration and protection of the river.

"It must be the experts from the capital who have arrived," Liang Zhe quickly concluded.

"So fast?" Song Dazhuang was surprised. The actions in the capital were quick enough. The people were already in place as soon as the report was sent out.

"Dazhuang, the commander said yesterday that Tiantian's abilities must not be leaked. Remember to remind everyone."

"Yes, Commander Liang!" Song Dazhuang replied earnestly.

Inside the base, when they saw the clear, shimmering pond and the swimming carp, even Zheng Hong and Jiang Guoqiang, who were well-traveled and knowledgeable, couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"This...this is impossible!" Jiang Guoqiang strode to the edge of the pond, squatted down, picked up a bit of damp mud with his fingers, and carefully observed the fish in the water. He exclaimed repeatedly, "Incredible, absolutely incredible!"

The water has a near-neutral pH, is soft, has extremely low chloride ion content, is not significantly contaminated by salts or alkalis, contains very few dissolved impurities, and requires minimal purification.

Looking at the data, Jiang Guoqiang exclaimed once again, "Commander Liu, this water can not only be used for domestic purposes, but also directly for cooling precision instruments and for some high-purity experiments! Moreover, the water has a high oxygen content, allowing fish to swim freely. This can be recorded in the history of ecology."

Professor Zheng Hong, after examining the soil structure and water infiltration, was also deeply shocked: "There is very likely a dynamic ancient river system with flow and replenishment below. I suspect that its upstream is snowmelt, otherwise it could not be so pure."

The two experts ultimately suggested: "We need to conduct hydrogeological mapping of this 'water vein' to determine its flow direction and volume. If the reserves are considerable, we can design a tiered utilization plan that can not only solve the base's domestic and industrial water needs, but also utilize the drop in elevation to build a hydraulic device to provide auxiliary power to the base."

"You two are absolutely right." Commander Liu was overjoyed. The base's current impoverished and dilapidated conditions were severely slowing down the missile development process, but with the support of water and electricity, many problems would be easily solved.

Just as Commander Liu was about to invite everyone into the camp for discussion, Wan Hongxin suddenly spoke up, asking a crucial question: "Commander Liu, how exactly did you discover such an important water source? It doesn't seem like something that could be easily found through conventional exploration."

"Ah, this?" Commander Liu smiled and gave a prepared explanation: Sweetie's special ability was a top-secret information of the base and could not be easily revealed to outsiders.

"It's quite a coincidence. The sand here was originally very compacted, but yesterday a section suddenly collapsed. The sentry was going to fill the hole, but after a few shovelfuls, he found some wet soil, and that's how he dug it out."

Jiang Guoqiang and Zheng Hong exchanged a glance. Although they found the story too bizarre, unexpected geological problems often occur in the vast desert, and such coincidences were not without precedent.

Their attention was quickly drawn back to the water source itself and the subsequent planning work, and they did not delve into it further.

But Wan Hongxin's gaze swept over the crowd, and he keenly noticed that several soldiers looked tense when they heard the explanation.

"Hong Xin, let's go!"

Seeing that the teachers had all walked ahead and that he and Wan Hongxin had fallen behind, Gao Yanzhou couldn't help but call out to him. Wan Hongxin quickly responded, his face regaining its humble expression, and hurried to catch up.

After they all left, Liang Zhe, carrying Tian Tian, ​​returned to the camp with Song Dazhuang. The three of them ate a simple meal and then continued wandering around the desert in the afternoon.

Liang Zhe originally thought that Tian Tian would discover something, but whether it was because the route was wrong or Tian Tian was not in a good state, Tian Tian did not give clues as decisively as she did yesterday.

It would be a lie for Liang Zhe not to be disappointed. The entire base had high hopes for Tian Tian's abilities, and today's fruitless efforts inevitably left him with some regret.

However, he quickly came to terms with it. This Gobi Desert isn't a treasure trove, and you can't expect to find a perfect spot every time you dig.

If that were the case, he and his daughter wouldn't need to be here; they would have been taken away by the government long ago. Why would they need to stay here and eat sand?

Thinking this, he kissed her sweet, milky face. "Baby, let's stop looking and go home to rest."

As the sun set, the group returned to base, where Li Dazui had left them dinner. Liang Zhe carried Tian Tian to the mess hall, passing a row of lit barracks. A dim, yellow light shone from the window of one of the barracks.