November 4th, 341, 10:00 AM.
Tang Li stayed home today, not going to the supermarket.
Looking at the overcast sky outside, Tang Li sighed.
"The freezing rain, it must have started already?"
As soon as Tang Li finished speaking, a drop of rain landed on her window.
It was water when it fell, but the moment it hit the window, it turned into ice!
Tang Li quickly called Tang Guo.
...
At the same time, at Tang Li's supermarket, an old grandmother left the store after exchanging for the supplies she needed.
*Splat!*
Not long after walking, the old grandmother noticed a drop of rain land on her clothes.
The old grandmother didn't pay it any mind, intending to quicken her pace and get home quickly. However, her foot slipped, and she almost fell.
Looking down, she saw that the ground was already covered in a thin layer of ice!
*Splat! Splat! Splat!*
More and more raindrops fell from the sky.
They were water when they fell, but the moment they hit the ground, they froze into ice!
The old lady hadn't walked a few steps before she realized that her shoes, her hat, her clothes, were all covered in a layer of ice!
Rainwater also hit her face, flowing down, chilling her to the bone.
Raindrops below 0 degrees Celsius, in air slightly below 0 degrees Celsius, can remain supercooled and look the same as normal raindrops.
When they land on an object at or below 0 degrees Celsius, they instantly freeze into a smooth, transparent layer of ice!
Such precipitation is called "freezing rain," and the ice layer formed by freezing rain is called "rime ice."
Freezing rain and rime ice have pleasant names and look beautiful, but their danger is immense.
Before the catastrophe, someone had commented that it was "enough to destroy a city."
And this time, the freezing rain that descended upon City A was more severe than any freezing rain before the catastrophe!
The old lady quickly turned around, wanting to go back into the supermarket to shelter from the rain.
However, the increasingly thick ice layer on the ground made her walk slower and slower.
As she walked, she also had to brush off the ice clumps that had stuck to her body.
Just as she was nearing the supermarket entrance, she found that the ice on her shoes had become very heavy. With her strength, lifting her feet again was extremely difficult!
The old lady put down the supplies she had just exchanged, lowered her head, and broke off the ice clinging to her shoes.
When she tried to pick up her supplies from the ground, she found that the supplies had already stuck to the ground.
And just as she exerted all her strength to break her supplies free, her feet also became stuck to the ground!
The freezing rain intensified.
More and more rainwater fell to the ground, solidifying into ice.
The old grandmother, relying on her own strength, could no longer pry her feet from the ground.
And on her body, the ice layer grew thicker and thicker.
Even when she lowered her head, her hat had many thin icicles hanging from it, which were becoming thicker and longer...
"Help! Help!"
In her panic, the old grandmother could only shout out loud.
Xiao Mo, who was at the supermarket checkout counter, looking curiously at the freezing rain outside, suddenly heard someone calling for help.
Out of curiosity, she walked to the entrance.
Looking out, she saw the old grandmother.
Xiao Mo asked puzzledly, "Grandma, what's wrong? Why are you standing in the rain?"
"Girl, my feet are stuck to the ground! Come quickly and help me!"
Seeing that someone had heard her cries for help, the old grandmother was overjoyed and shouted to Xiao Mo.
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Xiao Mo quickly grabbed an umbrella from beside the door, opened it, and walked out.
She came up to the old grandmother and asked, "Grandma, what's wrong?"
"Quick! Girl, help me pull my feet up from the ground!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Mo finally saw the old grandmother's feet stuck to the ground by the freezing rain.
She quickly crouched down, propped the umbrella on her shoulder, and used both hands to pull her feet up.
She pulled up one, then the other.
After pulling up the second foot, the first foot she had pulled up became stuck to the ground again!
In this way, one side was pulled up and then stuck, the other side was pulled up and then stuck, repeating several times.
"It's no use, Grandma, you have to pull both feet up at the same time, otherwise it's just an endless cycle here," Xiao Mo said anxiously.
While cooperating with Xiao Mo to pull her feet, the old grandmother continued to clear the ice from her body.
At this moment, she heard Xiao Mo and looked down, only to see a thick layer of ice had formed on Xiao Mo's umbrella!
The old grandmother felt herself; the supplies in her hands were now firmly stuck to her hands, and her back and legs were also covered in a thick layer of ice.
Knowing that she was probably beyond saving, the old grandmother no longer panicked.
She said to Xiao Mo, "Girl, you should go. I don't think I can make it."
"No, Grandma, you'll die!"
Xiao Mo still didn't want to give up.
"Child, it's no use. I've lived long enough, but you're still young. I can't drag you down with me to die here!"
Hearing this, Xiao Mo finally realized that she herself was also in danger.
"Xiao Mo, come back quickly!"
Just then, Tang Guo's call came from behind Xiao Mo.
The moment she turned her head, the umbrella on her shoulder finally couldn't bear the weight and fell to the ground!