Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

Director Zhou's office is located at the far end of the corridor on the third floor of the administration building, with the words "Office of the Director of Education" neatly written on the door.

When Ye Yang pushed open the dark brown wooden door, a scent mixed with ink and a faint aroma of tea wafted out.

The office was much larger than Ye Yang had imagined, but every inch of space was used perfectly.

To the left, against the wall, is a row of bookshelves that reach the ceiling, crammed with student files from previous years, school rules manuals, and several well-worn books on educational psychology.

On the right wall hangs a huge table, densely covered with disciplinary scores and violation records for each grade in the school.

The window directly opposite is large, and the afternoon sun shines through the gaps in the blinds, casting rows of neat lattice patterns on the dark wooden floor.

The desk was made of a single, thick piece of dark red solid wood. Besides the computer monitor, there were several stacks of files, an old-fashioned pen holder, and a white ceramic teacup neatly arranged on the desktop.

Ye Yang stood properly in front of the desk, with the three Lin sisters standing side by side to his left.

Lin Yumin stood straight, her hands hanging naturally at her sides, her posture exactly the same as when she stood on the podium at the national competition.

Lin Xingran tried her best to maintain the same posture, but her calves were trembling slightly, probably because she remembered the painful memory of being punished to write a self-criticism last time.

Lin Ying stood at the very edge, her hands clasped in front of her, her head bowed, not daring to look up since she entered the office.

The skinny boy who was being bullied stood in the far right corner, curled up in a ball with his back pressed against the edge of the bookshelf, as if he wished he could squeeze himself into the gap between the files.

Only that cute little golden creature didn't treat this place like a lecture venue at all.

It flew around the office from the moment everyone entered, its round body gliding lightly through the air.

It first circled around Lin Yumin curiously, then flapped its transparent wings and flew to the top of Lin Xingran's head, gently brushing her hair with the tip of its tail.

Finally, it flew to Ye Yang, stared at him for a long time with its two bean-sized black eyes, and then landed on his right shoulder very naturally.

It folded its wings and pressed them against its sides, curled its furry body into a comfortable position, and then let out a soft call, as if to say, "This place is nice, I've taken it."

Lin Xingran, who was initially too nervous to speak, couldn't help but point cautiously to the little creature nestled on Ye Yang's shoulder after seeing this scene, and said in a low voice:

"Ye Yang—it seems to really like you. This little thing is Director Zhou's darling; normally, no one but Director Zhou is allowed to touch it. Last time, a student tried to pet it and was slapped on the back with its tail. Now it's actually perching on your shoulder; do you have some kind of pet scent on you?"

Ye Yang turned his head slightly and looked at the golden fluffy thing that was dozing comfortably on his shoulder. He could feel its soft breathing coming through the fabric of his shirt, carrying a hint of warmth.

He tentatively raised the index finger of his other hand and gently touched its little head. It didn't flinch; instead, it let out a more satisfied cry and rubbed against Ye Yang's fingertip.

A gentle smile appeared on Ye Yang's lips as he said softly, "Is that so? Perhaps there were residual energy fluctuations from the Decade Rider when I transformed into it—it's probably quite sensitive to energy."

Just as everyone was looking at the little creature dozing comfortably on Ye Yang's shoulder, a low cough came from behind the desk.

Everyone simultaneously straightened up as if by reflex, even the little golden ball bounced up instantly.

Its wings flapped rapidly several times, it shuddered in the air, and then obediently flew back to Director Zhou's shoulder and lay down properly.

Its two bean-sized eyes were looking intently ahead, completely unlike the way it had been cuddling on Ye Yang's shoulder just moments before.

Ye Yang thought to himself that this pet was indeed well-trained, knowing when to be affectionate and when to be serious, much more perceptive than Lin Xingran.

Director Zhou sat behind his desk, his hands crossed on the table, his gaze sweeping from Ye Yang to the three Lin sisters, and then to the thin boy in the corner.

"The three students you just injured are still lying in the school clinic. Li Pan's breastplate has several cracks from your punch, Zhao Kuan's shoe print on his back hasn't faded yet, and Qian Bo's palm has several cuts from the card you used. The school doctor said they'll need at least a few days to fully recover."

He paused for a moment, then suddenly shook his head slightly, his lips twitching almost imperceptibly, as if he were trying to suppress something. "But they really deserved it—three against one, and they still got killed. I'd be ashamed for them if word got out."

Ye Yang lowered his head slightly and said sincerely, "I'm sorry, Director Zhou, I should have gone easy on them. But I did hold back at the time—I just wanted to scare them with my transformation so they wouldn't dare to bully people again. But they started fighting with me first."

As he said this, he scratched the back of his head, making the few stray hairs stick up even more. "But it was indeed my oversight; I should have come to you to handle it. I'll definitely pay attention to the procedures next time."

Director Zhou took off his glasses and pinched his brow with his thumb and forefinger.

He put his glasses back on, looked at Ye Yang, and his tone was a little gentler than before:

"Ye Yang, the principal mentioned you to me today. He said you're a rare genius—not only did you awaken the power of Kamen Rider, but you can also sing, compose music, and help Yuan Yu solve several cases. You are indeed very capable, but you still lack experience in handling these kinds of matters."

"Next time you encounter bullying at school, don't rush in and fight by yourself. Find a teacher, understand? You're not the only one in this school who cares about the students who are being bullied. I'm sitting in this office not just to catch students skipping class and fighting."

As he spoke, he pointed to the red landline on his desk, "This phone is on 24/7. Any student who is bullied can call my office directly. You can go to any teacher, or come directly to me."

Lin Xingran muttered quietly to herself, "He's enough on his own. The three of us are just there to create atmosphere."

Ye Yang nodded seriously and said, "I remember. Next time I encounter something like this, I will definitely find the teacher first and not act recklessly on my own."

He paused for a moment, then looked up and added, "Director Zhou, but I did this all by myself. It has nothing to do with my three older sisters. They just happened to be passing by and heard the commotion before coming over."

Director Zhou's gaze shifted from Ye Yang to the three Lin sisters.

His gaze lingered on Lin Yumin's face for a moment, and he nodded slightly, clearly having nothing to criticize about the student council president's performance.

Then his gaze fell on Lin Xingran. Lin Xingran felt a chill run down her spine under his stare and subconsciously straightened her back.

She pressed her hands tightly against the sides of her pants, instantly switching from the second sister who was just muttering about "atmosphere group" to military training mode.

Director Zhou looked at her reflexive stance, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face, and sighed, saying:

"You three, prepare well for the next national competition. Our school has won the team championship for several consecutive years. The three contestants from the Lin family have a heavy responsibility on their shoulders—especially you, Lin Xingran. Your fire control technique still has a lot of room for improvement."

Lin Xingran nodded repeatedly: "I promise I won't embarrass the school. I'll practice fire control precision as soon as I get back."

Director Zhou added, "Also, go back and write an 800-word self-criticism. There are two key points: First, as the older sister, you failed to keep a close eye on your younger brother, letting him get into a fight on campus alone; second, regarding the matter of giving teachers nicknames behind their backs, a school-wide reprimand is unnecessary, but the self-criticism must be profound."

Lin Xingran visibly wilted. Writing eight hundred words was probably more painful for her than a head-on duel with Han Shuang, but she dared not say a word of dissent. She simply said, with great grievance, "I understand, Teacher Zhou."

Director Zhou's gaze returned to Ye Yang. He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk twice, then slowly said, "Ye Yang, although you are not a student of our school, you made a mistake here and injured one of our students. You must write a self-criticism of two thousand words when you get back."

Ye Yang tentatively asked if he could write a shorter piece. Writing two thousand words wouldn't be difficult for him, but he still needed to go over the arrangement with the band one last time, and he also had to reply to Qin Buwen about the crystal core identification on Su Tan's side. Time was indeed a bit tight.

Director Zhou picked up his teacup, took a sip, then put it down and looked at Ye Yang, saying in a calm tone, "No, it'll be two thousand five hundred if you insist."

Ye Yang immediately shut his mouth, his lips pressed into a straight line, and his posture was even more upright than before.

He silently thought to himself that this Director Zhou was really stubborn; no wonder he was called "Elbow Brother." But to be honest, although he was strict, every word he said made sense.

His homeroom teacher in his past life was the same kind of person. He was never one to mince words, but whenever a student got into trouble, he was always the first to step in and protect them.

Ye Yang pursed his lips even tighter, suppressing these thoughts deep inside.

Director Zhou ignored Ye Yang's changing expression. He picked up his teacup, took another sip, then put it down and turned to look at the thin boy huddled in the corner.

His gaze lingered on the boy for a while. The boy had his head down and his hands were tightly gripping the sides of his school uniform pants.

The office was so quiet that the only sounds were the ticking of the clock on the wall and the gentle rustling of the golden pom-pom's tail.

Director Zhou tapped the table and said in a much gentler voice, "What's your name?"

The boy whispered his name, so softly that only he could hear it: "Director Zhou, my name is Wang Ming."

Director Zhou nodded and then asked, "You were bullied at school before, why didn't you tell the teacher about it?"

The boy bit his lower lip, his lips twitching several times, his fingers pinching deep creases into his pants, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Director Zhou looked at him like this and remained silent for a long time.

Then he tapped the table again, lowering his voice slightly: "Say what you want to say boldly. School bullying is a bad phenomenon. As the dean of students, it is my dereliction of duty to allow my students to be bullied."

"You've been studying here for years and been bullied for so long, and I only found out today—that's my problem, not yours. Just tell me, no matter who bullied you, no matter how many people there are, I will investigate them one by one."

The boy looked up at Director Zhou, his lips moved, and something welled up in his eyes.

Director Zhou stood up, waved to Ye Yang and the others, and his tone returned to its usual crisp and decisive manner:

"Alright, you guys can go out now. Ye Yang, remember—you'll be responsible for the follow-up medical expenses of those people. Also, submit a two-thousand-word self-criticism to the school affairs office by next Monday. It must be handwritten, not printed. The format requirements are in accordance with Article 34 of the student handbook."

Ye Yang nodded, then bowed slightly to Director Zhou. The three Lin sisters also bowed slightly at the same time.

Then the four of them walked out of the office with stiff steps, leaving only the thin boy and Director Zhou in the office.