S.H.E.: "你最近还好吗?" (nǐ zuìjìn hái hǎo ma?)

He recognizes me immediately and greets me cheerfully as soon as I enter the gents, on my way out of the airline lounge. I come here often, and he is here every day. His cream-coloured uniform makes him belong here. It’s a different world where he comes from in the morning and a different world where he’s going to in the evening, when he trades his uniform for his own cloths after too long a working day. Coincidence has been ruled out and nothing is without a reason in this luxurious and posh oasis of tranquillity, where people come and go, from somewhere, to somewhere. They are treated like king, or some at least act like one. We exchange our usual small talk. ”Nǐ zuìjìn hǎo ma?”, I ask. ”Nǐ jīntiān qù nǎlǐ?”, he wonders. Small talk, big smiles, both of us. A little conspiracy, a silent understanding. Human kindness, binds us.