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Driven apart by the pandemic, a Malaysia-born woman finally returned home after spending 735 days apart from her family.

Unable to purchase tickets home initially

Wu Xiao Hui, who works in Singapore, shared the video of her surprise reunion on Facebook.

Unable to purchase a ticket, she told her parents she would not be returning home for Chinese New Year as she did not manage to secure a ticket.

This would be the first time that Wu would be able to return home since the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the bus tickets were snapped up as soon as they were released, noted the Straits Times.

Wu, however, was later able to get her hands on a bus ticket home but kept her parents in the dark to surprise them.

Mom did not recognise her

She embarked on her journey home from Queen Street Bus Terminal on the fifth day of Chinese New Year, Feb. 5.

Across the border, Wu met up with her older brother at Seremban for the final leg of her journey back to her hometown in Ipoh, Perak.

Upon arriving home, Wu approached her unsuspecting mother, who was cleaning up the kitchen and introduced herself as her younger brother's new girlfriend.

Wu's mother looked visibly confused and could not recognise Wu, hiding behind a face mask and a white cap.

Ever the gracious host, the older woman even went so far as to ask if Wu was from Kedah in an attempt to get to know her son's "new girlfriend" better.

A tearful, but joyous reunion

Wu's father, however, did not fall for Wu's trick and recognised her immediately. He gave her an embrace while Wu's mother remained none the wiser and even asked him who Wu was.

It was only after a closer look that she recognised her daughter, much to her surprise, and the waterworks began.

According to China Press, Wu had grown out her hair and lost a total of 13kg in the two years that she was apart from her family. Prior to her return home, her family had only seen her from the neck up through virtual video calls.

Wu and her mother shared multiple long embraces.

The joyous video has since garnered over 48,000 reactions on Facebook and shared over 12,000 times.

Speaking to China Press after, Wu said the moment was bittersweet, as she was heartbroken to see her parents cry, yet also really happy to be home after two long years.

She hoped her family would be reminded of the good memories when they look back at the video.

You can watch the full video here.

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Top image screenshot from video by Xiao Xiao Hui/Facebook.