Demanding Wages

Lily Evans quickly got dressed and went out, with Alexander Hayes following closely behind her.

Only when they reached the main gate did they realize why Bailu had insisted early this morning that Lily Evans come out herself. It turned out that Midwife Zhang had brought along her six sons, six daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren—about twenty people in total—blocking the entrance to Lily Evans's house.

All the servants from Su Li's house came out, standing on both sides, facing off as if a fight was about to break out.

Zhang Midwife saw Su Li come out and shouted loudly, "There she is! She's deliberately trying to withhold my wages!"

Just as Lily Evans was about to step forward, Yuanbao wrapped an arm around her waist and said with a smile, "Wife, it's too windy and cold out here. Let's talk inside."

Lily Evans hesitated for a moment. "But there are so many people from the Zhang family. If we let them in and they cause trouble, remember there's a postpartum woman and a baby in our backyard."

Yuanbao smiled warmly and said, "They're just here for the money. It's not worth letting my wife catch a cold because of them. Besides, if a fight breaks out, we have plenty of servants, plus me, Zhang Mu, and Tudan. The Young Master is here too; we won't lose out."

Lily Evans thought it over and agreed with Yuanbao. She then let the Zhang family into the main hall to discuss matters.

The main hall was warm and cozy. Sitting down, Su Li felt much more comfortable than standing outside in the cold wind.

Lily Evans and Yuanbao sat in the main seats. Lily Evans looked at Midwife Zhang and said, "Yesterday I made everything clear and set the rules, but you deliberately defied me! With your outdated midwifery methods, if one of my sisters died from infection during childbirth, how would you compensate for their lives? How dare you ask for your wages now?"

Midwife Zhang shouted, "I've been delivering babies this way all my life, don't try to scare me! I've figured it out—you just want to find an excuse to withhold my wages! I've met many wealthy people, but none as miserly as you!"

As Midwife Zhang shouted, her sons, daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren joined in, their voices overlapping in a chaotic jumble of about twenty loud mouths, making it impossible to distinguish who was saying what. Lily Evans felt like her head was about to explode.

At this moment, Lily Evans's four apprentices and Xiao Yun also came in, and Lingdang casually walked over to stand beside Lily Evans.

"Stop yelling!" Lily Evans shouted at the group, but unfortunately, her loud voice was drowned out by the noisy chatter of over twenty people.

Lily Evans massaged her forehead; these people were really annoying.

"Shut up!" Suddenly, Alexander Hayes spoke from the side. His voice was not loud, but it was full of penetrating power. The chattering sons and grandchildren of Midwife Zhang suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure and stopped talking, looking around in confusion, not understanding why such a normal command made them feel an inexplicable urge to obey and fear.

Of course, only Midwife Zhang's group felt this way. In Lily Evans's eyes, Yuanbao just said once for them to be quiet, and they really shut up.

Lily Evans massaged her forehead, thinking to herself that having a man speak at home really made a difference; when she spoke, the others simply didn't take her seriously.

Midwife Zhang originally thought her sons and grandchildren would back her up, but when everyone fell silent, she turned around with dissatisfaction and glared at Lily Evans. Then she said, "Anyway, you have to pay me my wages today, and give me triple the amount like Midwife Liu. Otherwise, I'll stay here with my sons and grandchildren and refuse to leave!"