"Lower the rolling shutter."
Inside the supermarket, Tang Guo finally made a decision.
"No, Old Lu is still outside!" Old Wu objected.
Tang Guo said, "It's precisely because they are outside that we need to lower the rolling shutter. Otherwise, are we going to watch them die?"
The registrar also said, "Yes, Old Wu, Manager Tang is right."
"Old Lu has already tried, and there's nothing we can do to save them. Besides, Old Lu gave up hope of survival himself. Even if we keep the doors open, it won't help."
"And look at the icicles on the doorframe, and the ice layer outside is about to flood into the supermarket. If we don't close the doors, all the supplies in our supermarket might be ruined!"
"Who knows how long the freezing rain will last? What if it's like the previous floods and thunderstorms?"
"The supplies in our supermarket are for the survival of all the residents in the community, concerning thousands of households. We absolutely cannot afford any losses!"
Hearing the registrar's words, Old Wu finally came to his senses and stopped objecting.
Together, they used mops to break the icicles on the doorframe and shovels to clear the broken ice from the ground. After a while, they managed to lower the rolling shutter.
Tang Li, at home, felt relieved after receiving this news.
Tang Li first asked Tang Guo to extinguish all the carbon heaters.
This was because the external rime ice would soon block the exhaust vents of the carbon heaters. The exhaust fumes produced by the carbon heaters would poison people in enclosed spaces.
Then, she asked Tang Guo to go to the control room to start the diesel generator, restore power to the supermarket, heat water, and turn on the electric oil heaters to ensure heating in the supermarket.
The supermarket could not close. After all, residents' survival supplies still needed to be exchanged at the supermarket.
Finally, she told Tang Guo to use the walkie-talkies to communicate after the mobile phone signal was interrupted.
Tang Li had previously exchanged two vehicle-mounted walkie-talkies at the物资交易所 (Material Exchange), with a communication range of 5 kilometers, which was enough for Tang Li to communicate with the supermarket from home.
The unprecedented freezing rain had covered the entire city of A with a coat of ice.
Tang Li's apartment building was no exception.
Tang Li took out 18 large-capacity lithium batteries, which she had prepared and fully charged, and connected them to an inverter, from her spatial dimension. She then placed them in the wardrobe.
With the power outage, no generator at home, and the inability to use carbon heaters, she had to draw power from the lithium batteries to use appliances for heating.
The freezing rain did not last long, only 2 hours.
Just as Tang Li finished lunch, the freezing rain ended.
The sun came out again.
However, Tang Li knew that there would be more freezing rain later.
Although the freezing rain was not continuous like the previous heavy rain and thunderstorms, it had rained intermittently for three days.
On the first day, today, it rained from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 17:00.
On the second day, it rained from 11:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00. On the third day, it rained continuously from 12:00 to 15:00.
After the freezing rain, the temperature in City A would remain below zero, and it would not rise above zero even during the day.
And City A, City S, Jiangcheng, and Shancheng were the places where the ice rain first began.
Cities further north, such as Capital City and Longcheng, did not experience freezing rain; they directly experienced snowfall after the cold snap.
Cities further south, such as Haicheng, began to experience it gradually after the freezing rain in City A ended, and they had already made preparations.
After the freezing rain stopped, Tang Li went downstairs.
She planned to go to the supermarket and return before 15:00.
Since the power was out, Tang Li did not take the elevator but walked down the stairs.
Upon reaching the ground floor, she put on her ice skates and glided towards the supermarket.
All the buildings and vehicles she encountered along the way were covered in a layer of ice.
In the sunlight, they were crystal clear, possessing a breathtaking beauty.
It was indeed a beauty that could be suffocating.
Tang Li saw many pedestrians on the road who were encased in ice and frozen to the ground.
They were men and women, old and young.
Because they were frozen too quickly, their faces still held various expressions, as if they were still alive within the ice, not yet dead.
But the airtight ice layer had already caused them to suffocate to death.
Tang Li also saw many vehicles that could not move because their tires were frozen to the ground.
However, the people inside the cars were still alive. A hole had been broken in the ice on each car window, allowing the occupants to breathe the outside air.
But because the car doors were sealed by ice, they could not get out for the time being.
Since the freezing rain had just stopped, no one dared to go out yet.
On the street, Tang Li was the only one active outdoors.
These people, looking through the car windows, were very surprised to see Tang Li skating on the road.
However, because Tang Li was wearing a scarf, these people could not leave their vehicles, so no one could see her face, nor did anyone know who she was.
Knowing that someone would come to rescue them, Tang Li ignored their calls for help.
She soon arrived at the supermarket entrance.