在江西安源路矿时，刘少奇生活非常艰苦，每年冬天天气寒冷，他总是穿着一件旧大衣过冬。因为衣服又长又大，穿在身上时极易拖到地上，活像京戏中的“戏袍”，工人们便戏称他穿的是“唱戏的旧戏袍”。而刘少奇同志的保卫员张明生十分好面子，每次外出时总要打扮得漂漂亮亮。洗煤台的总干事陈楚卿经常打趣他说：“刘主任，你的勤务兵都比你阔气多了。”刘少奇哈哈大笑说：“那当然，工人生活改善了，应该穿好点，将来还要穿得更好。”

Liu Shaoqi lived a rather tough life when working at the Anyuan Colliery and Railway in Jiangxi. Every year, he went through the harsh and chilly winter in an old ragged overcoat. Long and large, the coat could easily draggle on the ground, quite resembling the “costume in Peking Opera”. So the fellow workers jokingly said he was wearing “an old costume for performing opera”. In contrast, Liu Shaoqi’s security guard, Zhang Mingsheng, was quite face-saving and always dressed smartly whenever going out. Chen Chuqing, the general director of the coal-washing sector, often joked, “Director Liu, your orderly seems much wealthier than you!” “You bet! The workers’ lives are improving, and they are expected to wear better clothes. They will wear even better in the future!”Liu Shaoqi laughed.