YES!!! YES!!!

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE A PLOT!!!!
I HAVE A PLOT!!!!

Or rather, I can now improve my plot. Thank goodness for historians! *historian love*

So the "plot" idea I had before was to have Zhengbu and Chengdao torn by mixed emotions on the verge of going down very different paths in life. Zhengbu was to pursue her study of Japanese language and culture in Japan; she'd gotten an opportunity to be really useful (for lack of better words) and could not miss it. Chengdao is very supportive of this, and they plan to continue their relationship overseas as he continued his study of physics.
BUT THEN BUT THEN!
Chengdao receives an opportunity to go to America on a fellowship (of the ring! ...) and in a fit of excitement, exhorts Zhengbu to go with him. She is extremely affronted by this, thinking he wants her to give up her dream.

See, this is where I improve things.

So according to The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence, with China newly opened to international relations in order to bring China up to level of the big powerful countries at the time in terms of modern technology, they had this thing going for college students:

"During 1978 a preliminary group of 480 able Chinese students was dispatched to twenty-eight countries to study; as the 'normalization' talks with the United States moved into high gear in late 1978, the Chinese presented a much larger list of requests for higher technical training to the American Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China. Though not all these requests could be immediately met, the list is indicative of the priority placed in the post-Maoist era on technical training." (The Search for Modern China, pg. 656)

Do you see what I'm getting at now?


Chengdao would be recruited to go to the U.S. (or some other country, *whatever*) to study physics. Now, this is a HUGE deal for him. Having come from a rustic family and being the first in GENERATIONS to go to college, to have the honor of serving his country in such an elite group of students...can you imagine?

And Zhengbu, who so prides, so prides herself in putting achievements before emotions, must struggle with duty vs. self...she knows it would be right for him to leave her and study and be of use to their country. She would probably do the same without a heartbeat if she was in his case. In fact, her middle school had assigned students to learn Japanese or English because foreign relations were opening up and she had even gave tours of the school to visiting Japanese teachers!

Chengdao probably didn't even have a choice as to where he would go (yeaaaaaah the Chinese government has that effect on people doesn't it...); Zhengbu probably felt her own (maybe even fate-given) purpose was to serve her country through her study abroad in Japan. They would be destined to be apart, perhaps. Lovers have suffered lengthy times apart, certainly. But here Zhengbu is, caught in duty vs. self (an offshoot of conformity vs. identity, the struggle I was working with before)...

...Maybe she could still serve the greater good if she was to follow her love to the U.S.? Would that be betraying her country as well as herself-- all her life had been devoted to fighting against her physical weakness with her mental strength: in school, leadership positions were given to those who were good students. Though shy, she had been thrust into these positions and had emerged the better person for them.

And was she to give up everything now...for love? Isn't that exactly how all her favorite adventure stories ended-- the hero relinquishing his exciting, purposeful life, for his emotions.