Director Xu put a great deal of thought into selecting the delegation members, particularly regarding whether Wu Hua should be included. If he only selected the first-place winners from the provincial math olympiad across all grade levels, it would be unfair to the runners-up and those who placed in the top six, not to mention the negative impact it would have within the provincial educational community. Basing the selection solely on math competition scores contradicted the "moral, intellectual, and physical" comprehensive development policy they promoted. Eventually, a single remark from Deputy Director Zhu provided the clarity he needed.
Seeing Director Xu looking troubled, Deputy Director Zhu asked what the matter was. Director Xu vaguely replied that he was struggling with the selection process. Deputy Director Zhu laughed and said, "What’s so difficult about that? Just put up the list of this year's provincial 'Three Good Students' and be done with it!" With that, Deputy Director Zhu walked away.
Director Xu realized it was a brilliant suggestion. Wu Hua happened to be one of this year's provincial Three Good Students, and twenty-four such students had been recognized from this year’s math olympiad. Added to the twelve selected at the beginning of the year, that made thirty-six. This made Wu Hua’s selection entirely legitimate and spared him from idle gossip.
Chapter 25