"Ah? I am not dead."

From the heap of trash, a pale-looking teenager slowly stood up. From head to toe one could see various bruises and bleeding wounds all over his body. It is evident that he is beaten up really badly.

"Fortunately, those bastards didn't destroy my sweet buns. Otherwise, mother and little Mia would have starved tonight as well."

Despite his sorry state, the boy smiled looking at the three sweet buns covered in thin plastic paper.

The boy's name is Alvin Everhart. The only thing grand about him is his name; all other aspects are pretty opposite to the word grand. He wore a shirt with more holes than cloth in it and pants that are barely patched together into the shape of pants. He is skinny to the point that all his bones are visible, a perfect example of malnutrition.

He was beaten black and blue by some rich second-generation brats because he accidentally spilled some water over one of them.

Actually, it is that brat who ran into Alvin and knocked water off his hands, but no matter what, being poor is the greatest sin so naturally it became Alvin's mistake and those people who are born with a golden egg in their mouth beat Alvin up until he lost all signs of life.

Those people also thought he died so they tossed him onto the nearby garbage dump and ran away in panic. But somehow, Alvin woke up after passing out for some time.

Ignoring the searing pain in his body, Alvin ran back home. When he reached home, Alvin first used some water to wash his body of the blood stains in an attempt to hide his injuries from his mother and little sister.

After washing up, Alvin slowly pushed open the door to his home, which looked as though it would fall if a strong wind blew.

"Mia, big brother brought your favorite sweet buns for you," Alvin called out.

"Aye, sweet buns! Mia loves sweet buns!" a frail-looking small girl ran towards Alvin.

The little girl's name is Mia Everhart, Alvin's little sister.

Mia ran towards Alvin and started to dance around him in joy. Alvin watched her with a smile on his lips. In his heart, he felt pain watching her frail body; he knew she was starving from morning and the bun in his hands that even beggars found hard to swallow is like treasure for this little girl.

"Slow down, slow down, you little monkey, otherwise I won't give it to you," Alvin scolded Mia jokingly.

Mia suddenly stopped and looked at Alvin with her big watery eyes. "Big brother, Mia is a good girl, Mia won't make noise. Can we eat now... can we eat now?" Looking at the little girl, Alvin's heart melted. He rubbed her head dotingly and smiled.

Mia suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said, "Big brother, mother's illness is getting worse and worse from morning, hurry up and take a look." The little girl suddenly became anxious. Alvin also became worried.

Cough... cough Just then the sound of someone coughing came from the nearby room.