During Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition against the warlords and then again during the Anti-Japanese War, military procurement officials often came to his grandfather for financial assistance.
沒想到李奇茂獨情於繪畫，將讀書人用以怡情養性的閒趣看得比讀書重要，閒來總是塗塗抹抹，不肯安心讀書。父親因此經常嚴加責罰。