The train carriage carrying the female soldiers was also filled with cries.
In that era, although most girls weren't only children like the pampered little princesses of future generations, they had mostly grown up under the protection of their parents. Leaving home for the first time, and to such a distant place, not seeing their parents again within a year made it utterly impossible for them not to cry.
The act of "crying" is highly contagious, one affecting two, three affecting four in tandem; eventually, it resulted in everyone crying together, and nobody felt ashamed anymore.
Liang Xiangyang and Zeng Meili apparently were used to such scenes and did not try to console anyone, instead sitting there focusing on the view outside the window, each lost in their thoughts.
Half an hour later, the sobbing in the carriage subsided, and those sitting opposite each other looked at each other with red noses and swollen eyes, feeling instantly much closer to one another.