These couple days has witnessed a noticeably sharp drop in temperature in Shanghai , which was evidenced by the disruptions of water use resulting in my washing face and brushing teeth at school . honestly speaking , I never thought there could be a freezing day here when the river flowing not far away one of the busy roads with cars and shuttle buses driving forth and back continuously from early morning to midnight reached the tip of being frozen by such cold attacking so suddenly and so secretly .

There are about six lodgers in this three-floored building apart from me with only two outside taps in communal use , so the unprotective taps are vulnerable to cold weather in which as low as minus 5 degree can be expected . yesterday morning when I struggled out of the warm bed and prepared to wash hands and clean teeth , to my surprise , the two taps were apparently too cold to discharge any water , beneath it was coated with a layer of white-gleaming ice and the ground near the tap which was obviously splattered with water was also covered with ice , I attempted to turn the tap on , but the tap failed to function normally .

I recalled that it seemed the first time that I had ever met with such a icy day in shanghai where even in later November I still regard a heavy sweater burdensome and quite unsuitable to wear .

At last I had to give up , later it occurred to me that washing and cleaning can be finished in school , when I arrived home in the afternoon , the air was still infused with a bit coldness and rather icy wind came and vibrated in the sky , causing the streets to be emptied of any people , though cars swept away now and then , the three towers in the distant factories were discharging columns of white smoke which seemed irrelevant to the cold , and above the river white air seemed flowing and drifting aimlessly .

The taps seemed functional . later I was told that it can not been used until midnoon when the ice seemed to have yield to the highest temperature reached during the day .

So I can happily cook and make a palatable supper featuring lamb and enjoy it .

However I am not wise enough to think of reserving some water for today’s use at that time , because today in the morning when I woke up and was about to do the routine work , to my obsessment , the tap again failed as the preceding day .

Until now i suddenly realized that reservation of enough water for tomorrow use was a wisable choice .