The people who barged in were all acting like thugs, immediately surrounding Tony.
One burly man raised a steel rod and smashed a plastic basin, shouting at Tony, "Tony, today you have to pay us our wages, or don't blame us if we make things difficult for your whole family."
"Yeah, you have money to buy milk powder for your kid but not enough to pay us?"
"If you don't pay today, we're not leaving!"
They were all determined, and it was clear they had no intention of backing down.
Tony smiled nervously. "Everyone, please don't get upset. I'm not refusing to pay you. You've all worked under me for so long. It's just that I'm having some temporary cash flow problems and didn't manage to pay on time. Please give me some time. Once I get the project funds from the higher-ups, I'll pay you all right away."
But they were not having it.