diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c1b5db3e..bb62fc38 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -94,3 +94,6 @@ Check out models' performance, usage and source code here.
     <td> readers & savers </td>
 </tr>
 </table>
+
+
+*In memory of @FengZiYjun.  May his soul rest in peace. We will miss you very very much!*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fastNLP/modules/encoder/variational_rnn.py b/fastNLP/modules/encoder/variational_rnn.py
index 5a2e99f3..827b0abc 100644
--- a/fastNLP/modules/encoder/variational_rnn.py
+++ b/fastNLP/modules/encoder/variational_rnn.py
@@ -148,11 +148,10 @@ class VarRNNBase(nn.Module):
             seq_len = x.size(1) if self.batch_first else x.size(0)
             max_batch_size = x.size(0) if self.batch_first else x.size(1)
             seq_lens = torch.LongTensor([seq_len for _ in range(max_batch_size)])
-            _tmp = pack_padded_sequence(x, seq_lens, batch_first=self.batch_first)
-            x, batch_sizes = _tmp.data, _tmp.batch_sizes
+            input = pack_padded_sequence(input, seq_lens, batch_first=self.batch_first)
         else:
-            max_batch_size = int(x.batch_sizes[0])
-            x, batch_sizes = x.data, x.batch_sizes
+            max_batch_size = int(input.batch_sizes[0])
+        input, batch_sizes = input.data, input.batch_sizes
 
         if hx is None:
             hx = x.new_zeros(self.num_layers * self.num_directions,