China News Service, Taizhou, August 18 (Fan Yubin and Ding Ling) In the hot weather, there is such a group of people who deal with ice every day, but they are sweating. From the ice storehouse at -7°C to the ground at 38°C, these "ice transporters" continue to shuttle between them, experiencing the "two heavens of ice and fire".

The ice transporter is sweating photo by Ding Ling

  On the 18th, in a cold storage near the Wanjichi vegetable market in Jiaojiang District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, making ice, transporting ice, delivering ice... Hong Po and his colleagues were busy methodically.

  The demand for ice in summer is large, and the sales of ice cubes are also increasing. "Now I can sell 300 pieces a day." Hong Po said that due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, sales this year have decreased compared with previous years, but sales can still be 2-3 times more than usual on hot days.

Shoveling ice photo by Ding Ling

  The summer is hot, but the ice storey is still cold. However, as soon as I left the warehouse, the temperature difference of 45°C seemed to suddenly cross from the "North Pole" to the "Equator". What's more, ice transporters have to constantly carry heavy ice blocks, sweating like rain, which is not an exaggeration.

The scene of the ice transporter working photo by Ding Ling

  "These ices are mainly used to keep seafood fresh." Mr. Wang, who came to buy ice cubes, said that it is very important to buy ice cubes to cool down in the hot summer.

  It is understood that the ice cubes in the cold storage are mainly sold to farmers’ market stall owners and to hotels. The average aquatic product user buys about 5-8 bags of ice cubes a day, and hotels can buy from a dozen to dozens of bags.

  Every day, the cold storage needs 5 trucks of ice. One master arranges the goods from the carriage, and then passes through the conveyor board. Strips of ice slide down from the carriage and drag it to the cold storage. The other master uses a hook to put the ice cubes into the ice crusher.

The scene of the ice transporter working photo by Ding Ling

  "Rumble, rumbling..." The whole cold storage shop was busy amidst the sound of crushed ice and shovels. The masters were sweating profusely, but they kept working.

  The 50-year-old Hong Po has been in this business for seven or eight years. Pushing a truck full of ice cubes to deliver ice to the market is one of his main tasks. Take the shovel and put the crushed ice into a bag, and then put a bag of crushed ice on the cart. Occasionally, there are some ice bars needed by the merchant on the cart.

With an iron hook and a cart, Hongpo has to go back and forth a dozen times a day. Photo by Ding Ling

  A bag of crushed ice is 30 kilograms, and a cart full of seven or eight bags of crushed ice weighs nearly 250 kilograms. Hongpo's pace is steady and fast, and he doesn't hesitate to push it up.

  The cold storage is open every day from 3 in the morning. At 9 in the morning, Hongpo has worked for more than 5 hours. The clothes he was wearing were already soaked, and the sweat kept flowing. But he has no time to consider: "Which one of them wants ice, we will send it there immediately."

  For the aquatic product shop in the vegetable farm, Hongpo is already well-prepared. Pushing a bag full of ice, he came to the merchants familiarly, unloaded the ice cubes, and put them in the designated location of the merchants.

  The car full of ice cubes was pushed around the market, and when it came back, it was empty. He went back non-stop to load ice cubes and repeated the ice delivery work just now.

  At 9:16 in the morning, Hongpo ushered in a free break at work. He picked up the buns he had bought, and finally had breakfast. After a few minutes without eating, the customer here came over: "Come on with a bag of ice!" Hong Po answered immediately, wiped a sweat, and drove again. (Finish)