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

"Daddy, Daddy!"

A tender voice called out in his ear. Liang Zhe turned his head and saw his daughter looking up at him with her delicate, pretty face and big, dark eyes full of curiosity.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

He gathered his thoughts, his voice unconsciously softening, as if afraid of disturbing this innocence.

"Daddy, what are you thinking about?" Sweetie asked in her childish voice, her little fingers unconsciously twirling her braids.

"Dad was thinking, 'It would be great if we could build a road.'"

"Repair...the road?"

Sweetie repeated the unfamiliar word in a low voice, then stretched out her chubby little hand and gestured in the air, "Sweetie knows! It's like a big car whirring and going around on it, like the last time Daddy brought Grandpa Qian."

"Yes, Tian Tian is really smart." Liang Zhe rubbed her head, but a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes. "It's a pity that building a road in the desert is too expensive and too troublesome. With our current strength, we can't do it yet."

"Daddy, Sweetie can help you!"

The little girl puffed out her chest with a serious expression, as if she were already a capable adult.

Liang Zhe couldn't help but chuckle, and squatted down to her eye level: "Sweetie, how are you planning to help Daddy?"

"Hmm..." This stumped Sweetie. Building roads isn't as simple as building blocks or drawing a circle; it involves building roads that stretch for a very, very long time, and she had absolutely no idea about it.

"It's okay, sweetheart." Seeing his daughter pouting at the question, Liang Zhe's heart softened. He leaned over and kissed her rosy cheeks. "This is a problem that Daddy should solve. You just need to grow up and play happily."

Upon hearing this, Tian Tian hugged her father's neck tightly with her little hands and said somewhat sullenly, "Then... when Tian Tian grows up, she must help Daddy build a big road."

"Okay, I'll wait for our little darling to grow up." He smiled and lifted his daughter over his head, letting her ride on his shoulders. Sweetie giggled, her clear voice breaking the camp's somber mood, "Riding a horse!"

The two returned to camp, and the topic of road repair was temporarily put aside. Liang Zhe originally thought that this matter needed further consideration, but an event that followed made him realize that they could not wait any longer.

Two days later, the base spent a lot of money to purchase five sets of stone mills and three sets of hand mills from the city.

Although the items were successfully purchased, the transportation turned into a nightmare.

The stone mill was disassembled into two pieces, each weighing over 500 kilograms, and the whole set weighed a ton. The base dispatched three Jiefang CA10 trucks with a load capacity of four tons—which were the main transport vehicles of Daxia at the time. Even so, in order to avoid damaging the trucks, the goods had to be repackaged, and only a portion could be transported in one trip.

After finally loading the truck and setting off, the return journey proved to be exceptionally difficult.

The road conditions from the city to the town were already poor, and with the trucks being overloaded, the drivers had to be extremely careful, fearing that a bump would burst their tires.

However, the real test begins as soon as you leave the town.

Once on the sand, the tires were caught in a dilemma: either they would slip wildly or get stuck in sand pits. Several experienced drivers tried their best to avoid obvious sand pits, but they couldn't overcome the fluidity of the desert, and the sand under their feet did not harden with human will.

To make matters worse, sandstorms have been frequent these past few days. The sky is filled with swirling yellow sand, sometimes falling like curtains, covering the soldiers in the truck bed with sand from head to toe. The cab is also dimly lit with extremely low visibility, forcing the vehicle to move at a snail's pace, stopping and starting intermittently.

With only three kilometers of sandy road remaining to reach the base, an unexpected incident still occurred.

The left front wheel of the truck in front suddenly lurched downwards and instantly sank into a quicksand pit. No matter how hard the driver revved the engine, the wheel just spun futilely in the air, kicking up clouds of sand, but the truck itself remained motionless.

Seeing this, the soldiers jumped out of the vehicle and frantically moved the thick wooden planks they carried with them to place under the wheels. They then used shovels to desperately dig through the surrounding sand, trying to "pull" the car out. However, the more anxious they became, the more the wheels slipped. Not only did they fail to get out of trouble, but they also risked the tires overheating and bursting.

The group dared not try again and had to give up, running back to base on foot to report the news.

On a sunny day, walking this three-kilometer stretch of sandy road would take an adult only ten minutes or so. But in the raging sandstorm, with howling winds and flying sand and stones, the soldiers were blown about, staggering and struggling to move. By the time they returned to base, covered in dust and looking utterly disheveled, it had taken them an hour.

The young soldier was so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground as soon as he entered the base gate. Upon seeing this, the sentry on duty rushed over, picked him up, and ran inside while shouting for help.

Upon hearing the news, Brigade Commander Bai, Liang Zhe, and Song Dazhuang rushed over. Seeing the situation, they didn't have time to ask any questions. They first directed the young soldier to be taken to the medical station for examination, and then immediately ordered vehicles to be prepared and manpower to be gathered to go and support the truck stuck in the sand pit.

Just as the group reached the base's main gate, a small figure suddenly rushed out and stretched out a small hand to stop them.

It was Tiantian. The little girl had somehow gotten there; her face was a little dusty, but her eyes were unusually earnest. She looked up at Liang Zhe and Commander Bai and said, "Daddy, Grandpa Bai, it's windy outside, it's dangerous, we can't go!"

Liang Zhe's heart tightened, and he reached out to hug his daughter, using his broad hands to shield her from the wind and sand: "Sweetie, Daddy has to go save the uncles, I can't not go."

"But the strong wind will blow Daddy away!" Sweetie hugged his neck tightly, burying her little head in the crook of his neck, her voice muffled with sobs, "Grandpa Sun said that when a sandstorm comes, we should hide and not run around."

Commander Bai frowned as he looked towards the horizon. The already gloomy sky had darkened even further. In the distance, the yellow sand seemed to be churned by an invisible hand, forming a blurry, gigantic yellow wall that was approaching at a visible speed. He said in a deep voice, "This sandstorm is bigger than we expected. If we delay any longer, forget about rescue; we'll all get stuck."

Song Dazhuang stamped his feet anxiously: "But there's still a truckload of comrades and supplies ahead! What if they can't hold out if we just wait like this?"