 At age 16, Cheng entered the Wesley College (Powen Middle School) in Wuchang, where he was among the first Chinese to study with the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden.After graduation, Cheng took a job in a local business in order to support his parents, but his new marriage, apparently a happy one, ended after only six months in 1906 with the death of his wife.Her death brought on what he later called "the greatest crisis in my life".