A thousand pieces of gold

The premise is demonstrated beautifully when Charlie attempts to win Lalu from Hong King by playing poker. Clearly, Charlie is willing to gamble on Lalu because he loves here whereas Hong King is willing to gamble on her to maintain her slavery. Tragically, Lalu does not see this because she has always been viewed as a chattel and therefore presumes that Charlie views her much the same way. The problem that Charlie has is that he will never win the love or affections of Lalu because ultimately, she is the product of a bet. I suspect, however, that had Charlie allowed Lalu to kill Hong King or had assisted her in the murder, he would have ultimately won her over.
No matter how hard any man may try, a woman’s dignity will not be stolen from her without her consent. Women, all women want protection, but not at any price. Finally, once a woman has decided that a man sees her only as chattel, he can never shake that impression from her.