The QR Code Judge

Zhang San woke up, and the first thing he did wasn't to wash up, but to "beep" his wrist-mounted QR code scanner. The screen lit up, displaying: "Today's Health Code: Green. Risk Assessment: Low. Allowed to go out."

Only then did he dare to get out of bed.

In this world, there were no ID cards, no cash, no trust between people, only QR codes. You had to scan to go out, scan to eat, and even to go to the toilet, you had to scan the QR code at the entrance, and only if it showed "Available" could you enter.

Zhang San was an honest and loyal programmer. His daily job was to maintain this vast QR code system. He knew how buggy the system was, and how many people were crippled by it, but there was nothing he could do.

One day, Zhang San was walking down the street when he saw an old woman selling vegetables. The old woman didn't have a QR code scanner, so she had to write a sign by hand: "Fresh Vegetables, No Scanning."

The city management officer came and, without saying a word, was about to confiscate the old woman's vegetables.

"What for?" the old woman said anxiously. "I didn't break the law. I'm selling vegetables I grew myself!"

The city management officer sneered: "Not scanning is breaking the law! This is a society ruled by law, everything must be scanned!"

The old woman refused to accept this and started arguing with the city management officer. People gathered around to watch, but no one dared to help.

Zhang San couldn't stand it anymore, so he stepped forward and said to the city management officer, "How about this, I'll scan the code for the old woman, it's on me."

The city management officer looked at Zhang San, then at the QR code scanner on his wrist, hesitated for a moment, and agreed.

Zhang San walked up to the old woman, took out the scanner, and "beeped" it on the old woman's face.

The screen lit up, displaying: "Risk Level: High. Reason: Unregistered. Suggestion: Immediate Isolation."

Zhang San was dumbfounded. He knew the system was nonsense, but he didn't expect it to be so outrageous.

The city management officer laughed: "See? The system says she has a problem, don't take her away quickly?"

Several security guards rushed up to take the old woman away.

The old woman was terrified, struggling desperately: "I didn't break the law, I didn't do anything! You can't arrest me!"

Zhang San couldn't stand it anymore, so he pushed away the security guards and said to the old woman, "Run!"

The old woman was stunned for a moment, then turned and ran.

The city management officer was furious: "Catch them! They are accomplices!"

Zhang San also ran. As he ran, he looked back and saw the old woman's figure getting farther and farther away, and he felt a little relieved.

Suddenly, he tripped and fell to the ground. The city management officer and security guards chased after him and surrounded him.

"Running? Aren't you good at running?" the city management officer said with a sneer. "Now, scan your code honestly!"

Zhang San knew he couldn't escape, so he had no choice but to resign himself to fate and raise his wrist, "beeping" his face.

The screen lit up, displaying: "Risk Level: Extremely High. Reason: Assisting illegal personnel to escape. Suggestion: Immediate Elimination."

Before Zhang San could react to what "elimination" meant, he felt a sharp pain. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

The next day, the news reported:

"Our city has successfully eliminated a high-risk person, maintaining social stability. The QR code system has once again played an important role in building a harmonious society."

Zhang San's name was completely erased from the city database. As if he had never existed.

The old woman hid in a dark corner, watching the news report, and shed tears. She knew that Zhang San had sacrificed himself to save her.

She silently took out her phone, turned on the camera, and took a picture of her face.

Then, she uploaded the photo to a mysterious website. On the website, there was a huge QR code with the following written below:

"Scan me, open a new world."

The old woman hesitated for a moment, but finally pressed the scan button.

The screen lit up, displaying: "Welcome to the Anti-Code Alliance. Our goal is: Eliminate all QR codes!"