The wife arrives in Qinyuan by bus on the twenty-third of May at six in the evening. At the relatives' center there is an officer in a grey uniform who asks her her name. She gives it. He asks the husband's name. She gives it. He writes it down for her on the sheet. He shows her the form. The form says that as of the twenty-third of May there are nine missing. One of the nine is her husband. The form says that the miners' union is cooperating with the search. The form says that the rescue is still under way. He points her to a row of orange plastic chairs. He tells her she can sit there. He tells her they will bring her tea. The tea comes in a plastic cup. The tea is cold. She holds it with both hands. Above the row of chairs there is a sign. Above the sign there is another sign. Above the second sign, hung on the wall, there is a map.

The map is the section of the deposit three hundred meters underground. The map is drawn in black pencil with the main tunnels colored in red. The map is the copy of the official chart of the deposit. The wife looks at it from the twenty-third until the morning of the twenty-fifth. She passes in front of the map forty times. She hears the voices of the other relatives in the hall. One of the relatives, an old man dressed in country clothes, repeats that the map does not correspond. His voice is always the same. On the evening of the twenty-fourth he addresses the map with the formal you. He says that the map is a lie of the Party. No one shushes him. On the morning of the twenty-fifth a rescue technician in an orange suit comes into the hall and confirms it. He says that the map does not correspond. He says that tunnel eleven, the one where the group of the missing is believed to have taken shelter, is not where it is marked. He says that they are digging in three other points. The wife listens. She holds in her hand a cup of cold tea that they have just brought her back. The old man turns toward the technician. The old man says nothing. The technician goes out. The wife sets down the cup. She stands still in front of the map.

On the morning of the twenty-sixth at a quarter past seven a second officer arrives with another form. The form is two pages. The form asks for authorization for the taking of DNA from the wife for a comparison. The form asks for authorization for the taking of DNA from the children, one boy and one girl, whom the wife has brought with her on the bus. The form says that the taking of DNA will be used to identify the bodies that might be found. The form says that the taking of DNA is a consent on a voluntary basis. The form says that the signature does not imply recognition. The wife looks at the form. She sees the date. She sees the consent number. She sees the two signatures she had already given elsewhere for other things. She feels the orange plastic pen in her hand. The boy is seated on her left. The girl is seated on her right. They have said nothing to her for three days. They look at the form. They cannot read the form because it is written in office Mandarin. She can read it. She signs. She signs with a steady hand.

The officer takes the form. He tells her thank you. He tells her to wait half an hour for the taking. He brings her the envelope with the plastic swabs. The envelope has three swabs. One for her. One for the boy. One for the girl. He tells her to open the swabs. She opens the swabs. He tells her to rub the swab on the inner wall of the cheek for twenty seconds. She rubs. She rubs for twenty seconds. She puts the swab back in the envelope. She does the same thing to the boy. She does the same thing to the girl. She hands the envelope to the officer. The officer writes on the label. The officer writes the number. The officer writes three names. The officer leaves. The wife goes back to the orange chair. The map is still above the sign. The map has not changed. The wife knows that the map does not correspond. The wife has signed the consent to DNA for a man who might be found in tunnel eleven which is not where it is marked. The wife has signed the consent to DNA for a man who might be in a tunnel that no one knows where it is. The wife has signed the consent to DNA. The boy, seated on her left, rests his hand on her hand. The girl, seated on her right, rests her hand on her other hand. The wife moves neither the right hand nor the left hand. In the hall someone coughs. The old man no longer speaks of the map.