While with Lianhua, he played a number of roles, notably as the love-interest Yu Haichou in the film New Women opposite Ruan Lingyu.

[1]: 106 After the Sino-Japanese War Zheng began to focus his efforts on directing, most notably with The Spring River Flows East (co-directed with Cai Chusheng) (1947) and his anti-Kuomintang polemic Crows and Sparrows (1948).

He moved his family from a dilapidated dormitory in Kunlun Studio to the best residential area in Shanghai, opposite the house of Soong Ching-ling.

At 2nd meeting of 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong mentioned some issues of CCP cadres after entering the cities.

Zheng immediately followed the directive and made the movie The Married Couple (我們夫婦之間), starring Zhao Dan and Jiang Tianliu.

It told a story of a CCP cadre ditching his original wife in his village in order to marry a girl in the city, showing his failure to resist the temptation of "sugar-coated bullet".

[citation needed] Zheng was a member of Art Commission of Shanghai Film Studio and used to support the making of The Life of Wu Xun.

Due to the critical stance of The Life of Wu Xun, Shanghai Film Studio hoped Song Jingshi would redeem its "political mistakes".

The then vice director of the movie bureau, Cui Wei, even acted as Song Jingshi himself; other famed actors and actresses were all willing to perform minor supporting roles.

After continuous lack of success, Zheng's next two biographical pictures on Nie Er and Lin Zexu (both starring Zhao Dan) won wide acclaim, and alleviated his feeling of guilt.