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

After settling the soldiers in, Song Dazhuang moved from one end of the tent and slumped heavily next to Liang Zhe, yellow sand falling from his body.

"Commander Liang, this can't go on like this." He wiped the sand off his face, pointed to the air outside the shed that was being distorted by the gale, and said, "It looks like this wind will keep blowing for a while. This makeshift shed of ours is just made of paper and won't last much longer."

Liang Zhe leaned against the cold shed wall, his brows furrowed. He knew this all too well. But with the sandstorm raging and directions impossible to discern, if he ventured out rashly, he would likely be swallowed by the sandstorm in an instant, let alone return to the base.

"Signal soldier, can you still contact the base?" Song Dazhuang turned and shouted to the communications soldier not far away.

The communications soldier was frantically banging on the radio, but all he could hear was a piercing electromagnetic noise. "It's no use, Deputy Regiment Commander Song! The sandstorm is interfering too badly; the radio's completely malfunctioning!"

"Even if we make contact, we can't send reinforcements from the base anymore; that would only increase casualties." Liang Zhe reached out and pressed Song Dazhuang down. "Right now, we can only rely on ourselves to hold out until the sandstorm stops."

"But look at this awful weather! How many more minutes can we hold out!" Song Dazhuang roared.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers in the shed also showed signs of anxiety, making the already oppressive atmosphere even heavier.

Just then, a soldier suddenly pointed outside the shed, his voice filled with excitement: "Commander! Deputy Commander! Look!"

Liang Zhe and Song Dazhuang looked up at the same time and saw two faint points of starlight flickering in the sandstorm in the distance, like stars in the night, weak but firm.

The glimmer of light, braving the fierce wind, slowly approached the shed. Sometimes it was completely swallowed by the churning yellow sand, and sometimes it struggled to pierce through the chaos, gradually lengthening and stabilizing, transforming into two beams of light that cleaved through the yellow mist.

At the same time, the roar of the engine pierced the howling wind. Accompanied by swirling dust, the blurry yet solid outline of a truck slowly came into focus in everyone's view.

"It's our vehicle! The comrades from base have come to pick us up!" Song Dazhuang's voice was filled with unbelievable excitement. "Comrades, we're saved!"

Liang Zhe felt a sudden sense of relief, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. However, this relief lasted less than two seconds before his brows furrowed involuntarily.

He stared at the approaching car, his heart pounding inexplicably, a strong premonition rising within him—this convoy probably carried not only rescue personnel from the base, but also someone he was deeply concerned about.

As if stunned by the headlights, the raging sandstorm subsided slightly. The truck moved with difficulty across the sand, its wheels leaving two deep ruts as it rolled over the undulating dunes, finally coming to a stop just two meters from the makeshift shelter.

The blinding headlights suddenly swept over, and everyone in the tent held their breath instantly, all eyes fixed on the direction of the car, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The car door was pushed open forcefully, and two soldiers jumped out first. They quickly formed a barrier on either side of the door, using their bodies to block the wind. Immediately afterward, a familiar, tall figure bent down and crawled out of the car.

Braving the fierce wind, he and two soldiers formed a horizontal line and moved with difficulty toward the shed.

With only one or two steps left, Liang Zhe rushed forward, grabbed the man's arm, and forcefully pulled the three of them into the shed.

The man's overcoat epaulettes and hat brim were covered with a thick layer of sand, but his eyes and brows remained sharp as an eagle's; it was none other than Brigade Commander Bai.

"Chief? Why did you come in person!" Liang Zhe was both surprised and anxious. Just as he was about to ask more questions, his gaze suddenly froze, and the blood in his body instantly went cold.

Commander Bai raised his sand-covered arms. His heavy military overcoat wasn't naturally open; instead, something inside had gently pushed it open. The next second, a small hand wearing a woolen glove emerged, followed by a crooked child's cotton hat, almost stained a yellowish-brown by the sand. Finally, a small face, red from the cold wind, covered in sand, and with large eyes brimming with tears, was revealed.

It's sweet!

Liang Zhe's mind went blank for a moment, and all the sounds in his ears—the sound of the wind, the comrades' commotion, and his own heartbeat—faded away.

His pupils contracted sharply, and all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head at that moment, only to freeze into ice in the next second.

"Sweet...sweet?!!"

That low growl didn't seem to come from his throat; it was more like a broken syllable squeezed out from deep within his chest by immense shock and fear.

He rushed forward, his movements somewhat unsteady due to the extreme emotional impact. He almost pounced on Brigade Commander Bai, snatched the small figure hanging inside the military overcoat, and held him tightly in his arms.

The fabric felt cold to the touch, and my daughter's small body was shivering slightly.

The sensation was like an ice needle piercing his heart, sending a spasmodic pain through him.

"Brigade Commander!!" Liang Zhe looked up abruptly, his usual composure completely crumbling, replaced by the lingering fear of a father on the verge of losing control. His usual respect and hierarchical concepts were thrown to the winds, his eyes bloodshot from excitement and dust.

"How could you bring her here?! This is a deadly sandstorm! She's just a child!"

His chest heaved violently, and his furious roar drowned out the howling wind outside, causing sand to fall from the roof. Sweetie in his arms was startled by her father's flushed face; her little mouth trembled, and large tears instantly rolled down her cheeks.

Brigade Commander Bai removed his hat, his face also covered in sand and dust, but he showed no remorse. Instead, he was unusually calm, even displaying a heavy resolve. He wiped his face, met Liang Zhe's almost fiery gaze, and said in a deep voice:

"Are you done yelling? If you're done, listen to me."

"Liang Zhe, look carefully. It wasn't me who 'brought' her out; it was her who brought us here to rescue you!"

He turned to the side, pointing to the outline of the truck in the sandstorm outside, then turned back, his gaze fixed on Liang Zhe's face, which was filled with shock and anger.

"After you left, Tian Tian cried uncontrollably, constantly pointing towards the desert, saying, 'The sand is angry!' 'Twenty-two uncles!' Comrade Li Guihua, along with two soldiers from the guard platoon, three adults almost couldn't keep an eye on her! You know her capabilities, Liang Zhe, she risked her life to come and save people!"

Brigade Commander Bai stepped forward, staring intently at Liang Zhe: "You think I'm willing to take this risk? I've been leading troops for thirty years, don't I know kids can't go to the battlefield?! But how did she know there were twenty-two people trapped here? Including you, Song Dazhuang, that's exactly twenty-two, not one more, not one less!"

"Do you know how I found this run-down shack? The visibility was so bad I couldn't even see the road. I was holding her in the passenger seat, with her face buried in my clothes, and she still managed to point out the way perfectly!"

He took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress some equally turbulent emotion: "Twisting and turning, avoiding three places I later realized were quicksand pits, it went straight to your leeward slope! Not once did it go around, not once did it get stuck! Liang Zhe, tell me, what is this?!"

The shed was deathly silent.

All the soldiers held their breath, their eyes shifting back and forth between the furious Liang Zhe, the grieving Brigade Commander Bai, and the little girl who was curled up in her father's arms, clinging tightly to his neck.

Liang Zhe's arms, which were holding his daughter, trembled slightly. Commander Bai's words were like a cold chisel, cracking open a fissure in his fixed perception and his fatherly instinct to protect him.

He looked down at Tian Tian's tear-streaked face.

Sweetie also happened to look up, her thick eyelashes still covered with tears and grains of sand, her clear pupils reflecting his still furious face.

"Daddy..." she sobbed, her voice weak but clear, "...Grandpa Wind... is going to blow the shed down... If we leave now, we can go home... If we don't leave, the sand will get angry again..."

Her small hand pointed to a support point of the shed. The wooden stake looked sturdy, but there was a fresh crack that was slowly spreading in the middle of the plank at a visible speed.