Deng started working at this time with the woman brocade workers in support of their causes, albeit her husband pursued her to return to the marriage. But Matilda Thurston, president of Ginling College, intervened and sent Deng to Shanghai to join the YWCA in 1921, and in the next few years, she moved several time. After returning to Changsha, she met Maud Russell who was working at the YWCA who offered her employment. Then Deng's divorce came through and she was able to lead an independent life, continuing her work with the YWCA. After the bitter marriage, she resolved to work exclusively on social work and not to marry again. With professional and financial help from Russell, she participated in international conferences and in the middle of 1920s, she continued her studies at the London School of Economics with a scholarship for one year. After her studies, she interned with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, learning about the security and rights of women and child workers. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, with her return to China, she headed the Students and Workers's Departments in YWCA and eventually became General Secretary of the Chinese YWCA. She also worked as a consultant from time to time to the YWCA of Changshu, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Guiyang, Kunming, and Hong Kong. She then established night schools in Shanghai and Guangzhou for women workers. In the later part of 1930s, she was sponsored for graduate studies at Columbia University. While serving as the head of the YWCA Industrial Department, Deng reopened schools for women workers in the factory districts. These schools provided impetus for organizing labor into political stream.
